Hey there, long time reader, first time poster(jeez)!! I’m a local Calderdale rider, been at it for 20+ years and i’ve ridden pretty much everywhere round Calderdale. But the one place i’ve never ridden are the moors above Hebden, and by above Hebden i mean to the North towards Oxenhope and over towards Warley and Wainstalls!! I was just wondering if any local riders can advise me on access rights up there cos i fancy having a blast around. (And advice on where the most technical bits are too!!) Thanks, Kev

I’ve tried looking on t’net for local access rights but have drawn a blank, maybe i’m looking in wrong place?? Is there a website for this kind of info??

There are one or two bridleways over Midgley Moor
Limers Gate
Which is good if you ride from Keighley Road to Castle Carr.
There are also loads of tracks, most of which arent on maps, that are great to ride, but are footpaths!
I occasionally get a bit of grief off walkers but tend to take no notice of what they have to witter about 😉
Best thing to do, as you suggest, is go and ride 😉

slightly off topic but does anyone know where I can get a copy of the actual rules of what bikes can and cannot ride and such?

Anything after 6pm on a weekday 😉

haha, i tend to find after 6 at weekends and before 6 on week days is best. no one is about in the day in the week, they all come out after work and visa versa for weekends.

Thanks nige, I remember walking up there with school many, many years ago and there is a bit somewhere where a quarrying viaduct used to stand, i think!!! I’m just gonna head up there and see whats what!! I’ve never had any grief from walkers anywhere!!! I think it must be the tattoos!!!

There used to be a wooden railway near to Blakedean, is that the one your thinking of?
I always seem to bump into the same few guys walking thier dogs behind Midgley, guess when you buy a dog up there you get a small amount of moor with it 😆 , miserable buggers.

Yeah thats prob it, sounds vaguely fimiliar!! I remember a scheme in the courier a few years back where if you took in a dog from the RSPCA you got given half an acre!! I’m a Norland moor regular and theres a bloke up there with an excitable labradoodle, its no harm and its just being friendly but the owner is a bit softly spoken and petrified your gonna beat the dog!!

I used to do a night hike / ride to Blakedean (my dad was a scout leader) between Christmas and New year but that was all of footpaths

I lack the intelligence to distinguish between bridleway or footpath! However i would tend to avoid this area on or around the 12th of August!!

Don’t ride it when it’s wet.

Seems a good rule, plenty of rocky tracks when the weathers bad.

I was thinking more about the Grouse annihilators you get up there in August. But point taken!

It’s all on the map. Start from Limer’s Gate and explore. Great descent into Luddenden Dean . As Nige says plenty of Cheeky options as well.

You are allowed on bridleway and byway as marked on the map.

Best get out before it rains though.

Thanks, i do like a decent descent!! Time to break out the old OS i think!!! Or try google maps!!

Google Earth and a bit of exploration will pay dividends…

Just looking for Limers gate on the old OS south pennines, cant find it on Google!! I feel hopeless considering i did orienteering world champs in my youth!!!

Ah, found Limers Gate!!Looks like a good starting point!! Can’t find Blakedean tho!!! I’ll get there!!!

Limers gate starts just above Pecket Well, its the lomg dotted line on the map.
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=399500&y=429500&z=120&sv=pecket+well&st=3&tl=Map+of+Pecket+Well,+Calderdale+%5BCity/Town/Village%5D&searchp=ids.srf&mapp=map.srf

Good advise from Dave about keeing off when wet, its crap!

Found it thanks, i’m loving the names!! Dick Delf Hill, Clattering Edge!!

don’t forget the House of Shite!
(opposite side of the valley from Limer’s Gate, where BW to Stairs Lane meets the one to Laithe)

Lol, Little Cock Hill, ok thats enough now!! I want a good new route not a tour of comedic locations!!!