I don’t think I’ve ever been to Brighouse before, though I’m very familiar with its name being one half of the prize-winning Brighouse and Rastrick brass band. I could get a through train to the town and then it was just a 15 minute walk to Wellborn park where the walk, put on by the Calderdale council was to start from. I arrived with lunch, water bottle, sun hat, raincoat, hiking boots, but was very surprised when I realized I needed sun tan lotion too! Luckily there was a tube at the bottom of my rucksack.
There were 16 of us on the hike which was took in part of the 22 mile circular walk around the town which was devised years ago by Peter, one of today’s hikers. We were only hiking 7 1/2 miles. There were some very steep tracks, narrow passageways with nettles up to our ears. I enjoyed the company of several of the hikers, one of whom, Don, was a wealth of knowledge on old Halifax. In the 1950’s he’d gone around taking photos of ancient buildings that were about to be demolished. Straight off the bat he mentioned Gaol Lane, 
where George Gledhill had lived but which has been demolished. Don remembers one up, one down houses there in which a family of six would live. He knew of Bath Street, where members of my family lived and gave me some ideas of where to find out more information about the baths after which it was named. Lunch was taken sitting on the
grass. We passed the gatehouse to Titus Salt’s estate, the mill owner who brought alpaca into the woollen trade, thus causing my great great grandfather’s death. the mansion itself was demolished due to dry rot, and is now a golf course. In Salt’s day the estate was 700 acres. Another fascinating feature were the 2 walls built of incredibly large stones which were quarried there by Marshall’s. I felt as if I was in an Inca temple. There were remnants of the rails that were used to transport the stones. You could see the drilling marks where the powder was put to detonate the explosives to separate the blocks of stone. Later I found that the pathway is supposedly haunted.
When the walk was over interestingly the people who chose to go to get a drink at the local hostelry were the women – hmmm. They chose a Methodist church which has been converted by Wetherspoons into a large pub! The organ and gallery are still intact – quite stunning, in fact.
A trip to the Co-op for food supplies ended the day relatively early for me. I have another hike planned for tomorrow.
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