Trails

Huncoat

Learn about Huncoat’s infamous trails and walks.

The Original Huncoat Trail

The Huncoat Trail is a 9 mile circular walk

Starting Point and First Half:

Begin at the village stocks on Highergate Road. Avoid parking on the nearby double bend.
Check out the historic stocks from 1722 near the center of the village at Towngate.
Cross the road at Huncoat Bank, turn right around Bank Terrace, then left at the iron railings up to the War Memorial for views of the surrounding landmarks.

Second Half:

Descend from the Memorial towards Burnley Lane, cross it, and visit the Peace Garden on Lowergate corner. Return to the stocks via Hill House.
Pass the village stocks, take the gravel drive by Pipers Row, walk past Higher Hill House Farm, and continue straight. Enjoy the view over Spout House Woodland.

Continuing the Trail:

Ignore the first stile and continue to the next. Follow the hedgerow, avoid the non-public path, and proceed through Spout House Fields. Use the footbridge if the path is boggy.
Enter Bluebell Way Housing Estate, walk through, and exit onto the Greenway cycle route.
Cross the railway at Clough Brook, enter the old pit top nature reserve, and descend into the wooded clough.
Cross the motorway footbridge near Holker House, then follow the path along the Leeds Liverpool Canal. Enjoy the views across Calder Valley.

Wrapping Up:

Depart the canal at Higher Shuttleworth bridge, follow the lane past Shuttleworth House, and continue along the old railway path.
Navigate through Castle Clough Wood, keeping to the main trail.
Conclude at Mill Hill, then cross into Hameldon Woods and follow the tracks.
Continue over the stiles through Herst and Hameldon Scouts until reaching Windy Harbour.
Finish the trail by returning to the stocks via the Kings Highway and Slate Pits Farm, passing the Coppice for a final panoramic view.

Note: This guide simplifies the route and breaks it into manageable sections while maintaining essential landmarks and directions.

Walking into History

An easy 7 mile circular trail to Hameldon

Start at Griffin’s Head on Burnley Road. Head along Highergate Road past Sunnyside House. At the iron railings, take a right up a steep slope to the War Memorial.
Continue over the hill towards Burnley Lane. Turn left to reach the Peace Garden at the corner with Lowergate Road.
Cross Lowergate Road, keep left past Hill House and Pipers Row to the village stocks. Take the gravel lane right at the end of Pipers Row, then left down Cleggs Lane behind a housing estate.
Follow Cleggs Lane to Spout House Farm, and look for the Baptist Union foundation stones on the left. Turn right through a small gate into Spout House woodland.
Walk down the woodland path, turning left over a footbridge and exiting left into the meadow.
Cross the top of playing fields to reach St. Augustine’s church on Bolton Avenue. Continue straight with Ambleside Close on your left, then take a left through a narrow passage to the cemetery.
Head diagonally across the cemetery, exit onto Burnley Road at the Whitakers Arms.
Go up the track right of the Whitakers, right along a passage between garages and allotments, then left before the bowling green. Start climbing the main track through the trees, and take a steep uphill minor track to reach the Coppice’s trig pillar.
Visit the Peel Monument, then follow the surfaced path down, turning left at a junction, then right into thick woodland.
Cross over a main track to reach Plantation Reservoirs, either by stepping stones or along the dam.
Continue along Plantation Road, then left up a green track to Brocklehurst and over a stile to the woodland. Cross fields with New High Riley on your left.
Enter Sandy Lane past High Riley Cottages, then right and left through an underpass, continuing up Sandy Lane past Blueslate cottage into fields.
At the T junction with Kings Highway, turn right, then left over a stile up beside the drained Hameldon reservoir. Pass Gambler’s Caves and reach Mary’s Holy Well.
Follow the cairned path to Great Hameldon’s summit for panoramic views, including Blackpool Tower.
Descend the steep front of the hill, navigate boggy ground to Hameldon Hall ruins, then find a green track leading right.
At the next wall, take the left stile down to Kings Highway, turn right, and branch left across Moleside Moor.
Follow a clear path, descend to a stone wall with two stiles, take the right one down to a farm lane.
Follow the lane through the underpass, turn sharp right, and continue over the hill beside the dual carriageway until a left turn brings you back to Griffin’s Head.

Hidden Huncoat

A 3 mile gentle walk around the centre of Huncoat

Start at St. Augustine’s Church on Burnley Road, where there’s space for parking. Admire this site, founded in 1886 and consecrated in 1909, built over an undisturbed coal pillar to prevent subsidence.
Cross the road and walk along the green, down Bolton Avenue, formerly Brownbirks Lane, and note the railway bridge designed for double-decker bus clearance.
Turn left at Within Grove to see the Easiform council houses built in 1956. Then head up the ginnel by number 1 to enter the cemetery, which dates back to 1864, and stroll through to Whitewell Road.
Exit the cemetery onto Whitewell Road, follow it right, then stay on a footpath when the road bends left, leading you to a railway bridge. Cross over and follow the track behind the cricket ground, noting the former mineral railway network.
Continue along the railway line, sticking to the left and lower track to join a soon-to-be cycle track. This path leads you to a T junction where you turn left into Newhouse Road, entering Huncoat Industrial Estate.
Walk along Newhouse Road, turn right and then left down Bolton Avenue to reach Whinney Hill Road. Continue right, passing Oakbank Terrace and the RSPCA Animal Sanctuary.
Turn left into a Nature Reserve at Enfield Road between carved posts. Wander through the reserve, keeping to the right to exit near the railway level crossing.
Cross the railway using the footbridge if necessary. Turn right along Highbrake, passing the site of Perseverance Mill, then through Bluebell Way Housing Estate, built on the old Redac Brickworks site.
Continue along the Greenway cycle path, branching left after an overgrown pond into Lower Spout House Woods. Follow the surfaced path, ignore field stiles, and climb the wide grassy track to Hill House Lane.
Walk along Hill House Lane, behind bungalows and across old strip fields. Turn right onto Lynwood Road towards the Black Bull Inn on Lowergate Road, a historic beer house from the 17th century.
Turn right up Lowergate Road to Towngate, the historic center of Huncoat. Observe Hill House and the Peace Garden across the street, housing a significant datestone from 1768.
From the Peace Garden, walk along Burnley Lane to the War Memorial on the recreation ground, noting the historical significance of the site and the unveiling ceremony in 1922.
Follow the treeline down to Highergate Road, passing where Huncoat Old Hall once stood, and cross over to the Stocks, an ancient form of public punishment.
Head down Cleggs Lane, observing old stone walls that hint at its past as a main highway, leading you back to Spout House Farm. The lane was named after the Clegg family who lived here for over a century.
Navigate the path around the farmyard into Spout House Lane, find the Baptist Union foundation stones in the garden wall, then enter Higher Spout House Woods. Wander through the woods and across a footbridge into a wildflower meadow.
Finish the walk by crossing the playing fields back to St. Augustine’s Church, observing the route of the former aerial ropeway and the nearby Haweswater Aqueduct infrastructure.