Rails, Trails & Tracks of the Mid Pennines

ITINERARY

Day 1 – Welcome to Brontë Country

Assemble at Keighley mid-afternoon for an introduction to the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (KWVR) and journey by steam train to Oxenhope. At Oxenhope, we join a vintage bus for a guided trip to Haworth over the Brontë Moors. An early evening stroll around Haworth will familiarise us with our home for the next 5 nights.

Day 2 – Worth, Sladen & Bridgehouse Beck

A tour by vintage bus of the Worth, Sladen and Bridgehouse Beck valleys, which together make up Brontë Country. See how the area relied on packhorses, how the turnpikes transformed transport and how the railway made them both redundant. View the 1860s waterworks with their canals, tunnels and huge reservoirs built by Bradford Corporation, and those built by Keighley in retaliation!

Day 3 – Hebden Bridge & Bingley Locks

Enjoy a vintage bus trip to Hebden Bridge for a half day guided tour including the Rochdale Canal, Packhorse trails and stunning scenery. Later on, continue to Bingley for the 3 & 5 Rise Locks of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.

Day 4 – Behind the Scenes

A whole day on the KWVR, with a little walking and some vintage bus travel. Visit all the 'nooks and crannies', workshops, stations and museums of the railway which half a century ago, was the location for the film The Railway Children. Lunch will be included today.

Day 5 – Settle & Carlisle Railway

Travel on the world famous Leeds-Settle-Carlisle Railway today, over the Ribblehead Viaduct. There is time for lunch in Carlisle before we make our way back to Keighley and then Haworth.

Day 6 – Farewell

After breakfast, travel home at your leisure – if the KWVR isn't operating, there is the regular Brontë bus service to Keighley.

Your tour leader will be a long established local KWVR member who was an extra in the 1970 film The Railway Children and is an acknowledged expert and author on the topics covered during the tour. Accommodation is provided in a small but delightful historic local inn. Haworth has a number of places to eat to suit all tastes – a list will be provided to guide you as to their location and fayre.