Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Colliers Arms is handily close to the navigation while a sign for the Rawson Arms
points vaguely in the direction of a wooded bank.
Beyond Cromwell Bottom, the navigation passes between lakes that look man-made and
the waterski jump on one is an indication that they are well used. The Casa del Lago stands
facing the navigation across one of the lakes in a pleasantly rural setting. This disappears at
the next corner, just as the navigation crosses Red Beck at surface level. It passes between
Brighouse and Rastrick, names evocative of coal mining and brass bands. The flowerbeds of
the Black Swan, the Atlas Mill brewery tap, come down to the waterside, a foretaste of the
landscaping that has gone into the canal basin at Brighouse. An astonishing double roving
bridge at the start of the basin seems to offer towing horse lines excessive options, especially
as the towpath does not continue beyond the basin. Indeed, the towpath is present only on the
sections of cut but not alongside the natural river. Signposting for walkers is poor.
A viaduct carries the railway over for the first time at Copley
.
Just before the M62, the canal cuts right, avoiding two weirs. The country opens out again
and the 330m Grade II concrete television mast on Emley Moor is seen for the first time, the
UK's tallest freestanding structure. This is a replacement for one that collapsed in 1969 when
ice brought down the guy cables.
After rejoining the river, the supposed burial place of Robin Hood is passed at the top of
the wooded hill on the left. Although it might not be a particularly handy spot for Sherwood
Forest, this is not as unlikely as it might at first seem as the grounds are those of the 16th/
17th century Kirklees Hall, formerly those of the Cistercian Kirklees Priory, of which Robin
Hood's cousin was prioress.
