Ravensthorpe Trail

Ravensthorpe is a suburb of Dewsbury, formerly heavily industrialised and once boasting several textile mills. It is not an ancient settlement, having sprung up during the nineteenth century when houses were constructed alongside the mills. Originally called Newtown, it was named Ravensthorpe by a local clergyman who wanted it to have a name inspired by neighbouring Norse-named settlements. Arriving at the station on a windy day, the traveller can be expect to be met by clouds of a dust from a nearby concrete works, but once away from that, this is a pleasant walk that includes both riverside and a country park.

Ravensthorpe Trail Google Map

Ravensthorpe Railway Station opened in 1890 on the London and North Western Railway, and was originally called Ravensthorpe and Thornhill. The original buildings were demolished after being damaged by fire, and the current station is a simple two-platform affair with shelters. The station is due to close at the end of 2025 as part of the TransPennine Route Upgrade, during which it will be re-sited further west, on the other side of Calder Road bridge. For now however, the walk directions are based on the location of the current station, which we leave the station and turn right along Calder Road. Just before it crosses a bridge over the River Calder, turn right and follow a cobbled stone path down to the riverside.

Turn left under the bridge and follow the path along the riverside, looking out for Greenwood Lock No. 19 on the opposite bank, through which the Greenwood Cut returns the Calder and Hebble Navigation to the river after bypassing a weir. Continue along the path, which eventually leaves the riverbank and ends at Steanard Lane, where the former Ship Inn can be seen on the left. Turn right and follow the lane over Shepley Bridge, then when the lane ends at Huddersfield Road, turn right. Turn right through a gap in the wall to gain the riverside path and follow this to Greenwood Flood Gate, which marks the start of the Greenwood Cut. Here, leave the path through another gap in the wall, and turn right along Low Mill Lane.

Greenwood flood gate.

Stay on Low Mill Lane as it curves right before looping left through an industrial estate, eventually becoming Havelock Street and ending back at Huddersfield Road. Turn right and walk through Ravensthorpe’s modest centre, passing another former pub – the Royal – on the left, shortly followed by the Church of St. Saviour on the right. This large Gothic revival church dates from 1901 and is Grade II-listed. Just after passing the church, turn left along North Road, looking out for a former Methodist Church (now a mosque) on the left. Continue along the road, until it splits at a fork, where the former Station public house, also now a mosque, can be seen on the right.

Bear left at the fork and at the end of the road continue straight ahead along a path to Spring Gardens. Cross straight over and proceed along Shillbank Lane until it bends left, where the Plough Inn can be seen on the corner of Northorpe Lane. Bear right along Northorpe Lane, and after a short distance look out for Northorpe Hall on the left. This Grade II-listed former house was built in the seventeenth century, with alterations and restorations during the nineteenth. It is now owned by Northorpe Hall Child and Family Trust, which hires out the barn (also Grade II-listed) as a wedding venue. Continue past the hall, and then turn along a signed public footpath at the end of the houses on the right-hand side of the lane.

Follow the footpath down across a field, straight ahead through a belt of trees, and then along the left-hand edge of another field. At the end of the field, follow the path under a bridge into Dewsbury Country Park. Turn left and follow a path along the edge of the country park until it ends at a wide, surface path, then turn right. Proceed along the path, following the River Spen (a small tributary of the Calder), which is to the left of the path. On reaching a bridge over the river, cross this and then turn right, following a path on the opposite side of the river to another bridge. Cross back, then turn left and follow a path through trees to playing fields. Follow the edge of the playing fields, then turn right through a gap in the wall to reach Park Road. Turn left and follow this until it ends at Huddersfield Road.

Turn left and follow the road, passing the buildings of Wharf Mills and Raven Ings Woollen Mills on the right, which date from 1876 and are a reminder of Ravensthorpe’s industrial past.

Wharf Mills and Raven Ings Woollen Mills.

Follow the road under Scout Hill Bridge, which is part of a disused railway viaduct that crosses the River Calder and was replaced in 2009 to allow the viaduct to become part of National Cycle Network Roue 66. Immediately after passing under the bridge, turn left and then left again to follow the Spen Valley Greenway – which follows the track bed of the disused Spen Valley Line – across the viaduct. At the end of the viaduct, the path continues straight ahead under a railway bridge before eventually joining the towpath of the Long Cut of the Calder and Hebble Navigation*.

Turn sharp right and follow the towpath, which shortly passes under a Grade II-listed railway bridge carrying the railway line between Dewsbury and Ravensthorpe. The bridge was built in 1847. Continue along the towpath, passing under a pipe bridge, to reach Thornhill Flood Lock, which marks the start of the Long Cut. Cross the bridge over the lock and follow the riverside path back to Calder Road Bridge, then climb back up to the road and turn left to return to the railway station.

From Ravensthorpe, the next stop is but a couple of minutes further along the line, at the town of Dewsbury.

*At the time of writing (August 2025), the path is closed at the railway bridge at the far south end of the viaduct over the Calder. An alternative route is to scramble down to the riverside path at the end of the viaduct, turn left under the bridge, and follow the path to Thornhill Flood Lock. Note that the climb down from the viaduct, whilst clearly well-used, is steep and is not a public footpath.