Shibra three

Verified Slow Way

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Walked from Bradford to Shipley. I found this quite hard work, partly because my knees no longer cope well with steep downhills (especially having done a longer route with a lot of hard surfaces earlier in the day). The route past Bolton Woods quarry is confusing and could do with more waymarks. I also went slightly wrong, taking what looked like the better trodden path downhill through the wood, then had to climb back up to the correct path to find a way out. The rest of the route is easy to follow, but in danger of getting overgrown unless the new bramble shoots are cut. There are also some fallen trees creating minor obstacles. Some steps at the Bradford end but in any case the route is not wheelable.

There is a lot of development work going on north of Bradford Interchange station, and it appears that the pedestrian areas are being enlarged. This simplifies route finding, as there is currently no alternative further west. We go down the now pedestrianised Bridge Street and turn right along Market Street, then use the alleyway with steps left of the cathedral and follow quiet side streets to the A650, which has a convenient pelican crossing. The path through the trees is a little neglected, with some fallen trees. We cross two more pelican crossings then descend steeply down Bolton Road, then follow the roughly surfaced Hollin Close Lane, from where a very narrow alleyway takes us up to Brow Wood (still plenty of evidence of fly tipping here).

We follow an obvious fenced path through the new housing estate then right along Poplars Park Road, then take the signposted path left, which appears at first glance to be blocked by a locked gate, but there is a gap for pedestrians on its right hand side. The signposting of the path left is confusing - the first sign indicates staying above the fence and the second descending to the left when it is easier to stay higher. Once in the trees, do not be tempted by the apparently well trodden path down to the left - if you stay higher you should find the right line onto the steep scrubland. Here I will admit to another slight deviation from the route, as the well trodden path down to Fletcher Lane is much less steep than the path to Primrose Lane.

Another steep descent takes is past a couple of shops down and past parkland to the wide surfaced cycle track right, which we follow north above Bradford Beck, then cross the beck to Valley Road (an alternative route which may be easier might be to stay on the cycle track most of the way to Leeds Road). The path between the railway and the beck is a little rough and there are a lot of stray bramble shoots. In the large field, the main path takes a wider line right, and the shortcut paths here may be more trouble than they are worth. Eventually we cross under the railway bridge to Leeds Road.

If there had been a train due, I might have been tempted to skip the meeting point and go up the steps directly to platform 1, but visiting the station building gives a much better idea of the layout of the station, which has platforms on three sides of a triangular junction, so rather than including my usual meeting point photo the last one is taken from the footbridge above platform 1 (that's enough railway geekery - Ed).

I was the divisor of the Shibra 1 route in 2021. Routes for the whole country were done by a group of volunteers, during a 3 or 4 week period , during COVID times, working from OS maps and Google Earth. For me I was able to use a bit of local knowledge on this route, but today was the first time I had walked it all.
I am grateful that Irene and Mary have pioneered the route and made some amendments, I was aware that the new houses must have been an issue, and that some of the paths were untested.
I walked in the Shipley to Bradford direction on a mostly cloudy June morning.
The path started off between a railway line to the west and Bradford Beck to the east. Here it crossed a field which was quite a diverse and colourful wildflower meadow(photo). The path was consequently a little overgrown, The vegetation may be shorter at other times of year.
However, 5 minutes later, I was onto the well maintained tarred track which is also part of the Shipley to Bradford Sustrans cycle route Route 66. It was clearly popular with locals and cyclists.
After about 10 minutes a left turn took me onto the only major up slope of the route, perhaps 15 minutes. At first this was on a pavement next to roads, but then, at the end of Primrose Lane, I had to pass between a narrow gap in the railings and then up a very steep little path for about 10 minutes. However, the views were great, and there were many wildflowers, (see photos).
There are several footpaths, either side of a sandstone quarry, and the recently restored Bolton Woods. Views are great looking towards west Bradford, and the prominent Listers Mill and chimney.
The designated path on the route map was fine and dropped down to the new houses in Poplar Park Road, and then onto an old snicket between the houses down to Brow Wood Crescent. At this point there is a choice. The easiest and quickest way would be to walk all the way down this residential road to the main Kings Road and turn right. The more interesting and, in parts, scenic route, is to turn right just before Brow Wood Crescent on a path through a woodland. I missed this track at first because the entrance was a little overgrown. But, in the main it was a good track, though there was a little fly tipping and some muddy and scruffy bits! To find this track coming the other way look for Hollin Close Lane street sign off Bolton Lane (photo).
After crossing main roads at traffic lights the route soon took me into the Boars Well Urban Nature Reserve, where the trees are now quite dense, but the path is good. The main road sounded close but was not visible. This came out onto the main road on a little cobbled street called Coleman Street (photo).
Here I met a well equipped hiker coming the other way. I had a chat with him to ask if he was doing the Slow-way and he said he was doing the Yorkshire Heritage Way. This, (new to me), I found out, goes from Bradford Cathedral to Ripon Cathedral, and the Bradford to Shipley section is almost identical to the Slow-way.
5 minutes later I was at the Cathedral. Here there are 2 sets of steps down to the city centre. The steps nearest the cathedral are more scenic but not open 24 hours. (see photo from the bottom).
From here another 5 minutes walk through or around city centre shops took me to the train station.
I was pleased with the route. Interesting, varied, and fairly direct, and nearly all away from roads, especially busy roads.
The route is certainly not accessible for wheelchair users, but is close to the Sustrans Cycleway Route 66. This runs, mainly, close to the Shipley Bradford Railway line and is accessible and almost flat.

I walked this route again, in the opposite direction, before I read Irene’s description, to find the correct entrances/exits from the paths, and this is what I successfully walked.
After passing near some of Bradford’s grander buildings the route goes up steps behind the cathedral and on up back streets and a buses-only road to cross the busy A650 at pedestrian lights. A short way up Bolton Road there is a cobbled turnoff which the footpath starts from. This goes through woods, and past Spink Well and under a pylon. It feels quite isolated and yet it is not far above the main road. It comes out over some gravel, onto Kings Road close to another pylon.
Soon after crossing at the busy crossroads, you arrive at Hollin Close Lane, which is a puddly dirt track. A little way along here, the route turns right just before a house, up a narrow, walled footpath, then between some metal posts and onto a grassy footpath. This appears to be a bit of a fly-tipping spot, but soon you are onto green paths and fenced walkways through a new housing estate.
At Poplars Park Road a long fence behind new housing prevents you from using the original route onto the Bolton Woods hill and you have to go up a lane, which is at least partially signposted as a public bridleway – another fly-tipping area. There is room to walk around the side of the locked green gates before turning left onto the field.
There seems to be a variety of rough paths mostly following the contours around the hill but even from the lower route I used, you get a fantastic view over Bradford. The football ground is quite prominent. You will probably pass near some tethered horses along here, and also some woods. I tried to find a route off the fields onto Chestnut Grove, but the owner of the house at the end has gone to some effort to make that difficult, and you can either go a lot higher up (as Irene described, in reverse, and as I did in Shibra 2) or you can descend a steep rough path down to the end of the cul-de-sac of new housing of Primrose Lane. It is a bit of a scramble like all the possibilities here, but at least there is no blockage.
A steep walk down the road brings you to a pleasant easy off-road cycle-track, then a footpath between river and railway, leading round to Shipley Station.

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