Slamel one

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This is a decent route, with some nice 4 star stretches, but there is too much on the road for me to give it more then 3 stars overall.

We went wrong in one spot where the footpath wasn't clear - the helpful farmer put us right.
This was coming out of Slaithwaite. After climbing up roads, you take the footpath at the end of Tudor Road and go straight up the hill on a track, through a yard and over a stile into a field. Go straight across this field uphill. Crossing into the next field, keep to the RIGHT of the stone wall and follow it up the hill to the stile at the top. We were distracted by the footpath sign into the garden of the house on the left, which is the wrong way.

Everything else is straightforward, mostly on roads. The unpaved section has good views and no traffic. Blackmoorfoot Road is fairly bisy and has no pavement, but there is space to step off into the grassy verge. The road down into Meltham has a pavement.

I enjoyed this one. Not a big walk, with a good variety of up and down and different scenery. I took the 335 Stotts service bus from Holmfirth to Slaithwaite, which only took half an hour. From Meltham I joined it with Melhol one, to get me home.
I knew most of the route as had walked it before, but never from Slaithwaite centre, so it was nice to see some different parts of Slaithwaite and Linthwaite I'd not come across before.
Starting from at the bus stop on New street, the route quickly leaves the main street and follows the canal path for a little while, which I enjoyed, before crossing the second foot bridge, which takes you uphill, along a leafy footpath, eventually coming out onto the Manchester road. This is not a good road to cross, and there were parked cars obscuring my view of the oncoming traffic. So care is needed to preserve life and limb! The route then follows Linfit Lane, up to Linthwaite Hall, which I didn't even know was there! So that was a nice surprise! A little while after that it turns right up Tudor Rd and through a housing estate, before turning left at the end of the street up a footpath which leads to some cottages, where it continues uphill and over a few fields, which may or may not have cattle in them. On this occasion, I only passed a couple of large brown moos, relaxing on the floor, but I have been that way when there have been cows, calves and a bull, and on another occasion, a herd of young bullocks in the field the footpath crosses. So for that reason, I would not recommend going this way with a dog. After that its very straight forward, crossing a couple of roads and eventually opening onto a long straight track leading to the Wills O Nats pub, which is a nice place to stop for a refreshing pint. Turning right here, along Blackmoorfoot Rd, the route follows this to Slaithwaite Rd where it turns left , and follows the road down into Meltham. This is the most boring part in my opinion, but at least its down hill. Meltham has a Morrisons, which is handy, and that's where I grabbed some lunch before heading up the hill into Meltham centre, where there is a Coop, a fish & chip shop, a couple of pubs and a few cafes. I could have got the bus home form here, but carried on over to Holmfirth.
I would walk this route again, and I would recommend it to others. It is reasonably safe, as long as you take care crossing roads, fields full of cattle, and along the Blackmoorefoot stretch where there are no pavements. It is pretty accurate and very easy to navigate. No access issues. I have given it 4 stars, purely because of the long stretches of road towards the end.

This route starts in the centre of Slaithwaite, easily accessible from Leeds and Manchester by train. The route links in nicely with the the Melhol route, so you can start in Slaithwaite and finish in Holmfirth, where there are some fantastic pubs and restaurants. https://beta.slowways.org/Route/Melhol/4211

This route become quite inaccessible fairly early on with as there are a number of steps leading up from the footbridge at Spa Park in Slaithwaite (known as Linfit Steps) which join the A62, before you cross to walk up Linfit Lane. Once on Linfit, it is a fairly steep road, with limited pavements. Once you've turned on to Tudor Street, there is a fairly long and steep incline through fields, which leads you up to Jerusalem Road. A few rest breaks might be needed for getting up here, but this part of the route is the steepest before it begins to level off, as you head down the bridal path towards Wills O'Nat pub (Blackmoorfoot Road).

The Wills has a large outdoor beer garden, and is definitely a good place to stop off at on the route for a rest and refreshment!

After that, it is pretty much all downhill, via Slaithwaite Road in to the centre of Meltham - once in the centre of Meltham, there are a couple of nice cafes for a bite to eat. This is the end of this route, review will continue on the Melhol1 route. I would recommend this route for walkers, would not be a particularly good route for bikers.

Going from Slawit (Slaithwaite, accesible by bus and train), the route starts at Slawit Spa park just along the canal from the village centre going east, then crossing the bridge over the River Colne and over the very busy A62 at the top of the steps on to Linfit Fold directly opposite
Take care on Linfit fold/ lane - it is a local rat-run for all variety of vehicles all the way up
As you get up the hill on Linfit lane, make sure you turn right on to Tudor Road don’t go up the hill, but if you do make that error, turn right on Jerusalem lane to get back on track
The route is steep uphill and not wheel chair friendly nor are many of the paths
Take care crossing Holt Head Road it is straight and fast!
The marked footpath/bridleway across the road is very wide and gives great views across the moor top to Blackmoorfoot Reservoir and to Castle hill and, in the distance, Emley Moor. This path ends at 'Wil's o Nats pub' which has good food and beer, but again watch the road. There is a weak mobile signal in this area.
The road to Meltham is very busy and no or narrow paths. It is very steep down hill into village, but here there are plenty of facilities including a Morrisons supermarket.

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