Walking along Bridge Gate from the A646 we crossed the river on the road bridge and turned R along Valley Road and Victoria Road, R along Windsor Road, L along Spring Grove and across the footbridge over Hebden Water, then R along the riverside path (see GoogleMaps for this first section). Keeping on the L side the path climbs the slope and ascends steps to a track which we followed R and down to Midgehole. We took the track W through Hebden Dale, an area of superb woodland, where the 2002 sculpture trail was on show. At Gibson Mill we took a detour across the bridge and back along the river to see the rest of the sculptures.

Having viewed all the exhibits we returned to continue on the track past Hardcastle Crags and out of the dale to Walshaw. Curving NE around Shackleton Knoll a track climbs to Top of Stairs with good views over Haworth. This is the Haworth to Hebden Bridge Walk (HHW) marked on the map, which descends to Leeshaw reservoir and climbs to Penistone Hill (the public toilets marked on the map looked like they had been closed for ages). Descending NW we followed footpaths and lanes to Lumb Foot, White Lane and the start of Broad Head Lane 016399. Heading SW the lane becomes a track that ascends to Roms Greave Hill and bends NW to Keighley Moor Reservoir. A good grassy track, not shown on the map, leads SW from the dam to meet the Pennine Way (PW). The trickle in the the dikes flowing into the reservoir is stained dark brown but fortunately we had enough water already.

From the PW we took a faint path NW to the trig point on Wolf Stones. Descending back SE down the PW, we then took the footpath W along the cross wall to Bullions, a wet reedy area and turned L down to the ladder stile onto the road. Turning R along the road to Watersheddles reservoir dam, the Bronte Way lies just over the wall and there is no stile, but it is an easy climb over. Turning L on the Bronte Way, a good path leads down the attractive valley of the River Worth.

Crossing the river the path climbs the other side and descends to cross Whitestone Clough. Here we turned R on the footpath to Ponden Slack, where we saw a new bulldozed track ascending W towards the old quarry. As the conditions were so clear, we changed our route and took the track with the objective of crossing Boulsworth Hill. The track peters out at the quarry but a line of widely spaced posts indicate the direction to Crow Hill. The posts do not appear to signify anything and the ground between them is totally trackless heather, but it was as good a line as any and they gave us something to aim for. The terrain was not bad and we made steady progress to meet the path coming up from the N, which led easily to the trig point on Lad Law with its fine views.

Descending SW we joined the shooters track leading to the minor road, where we turned L onto the Burnley Way. This leads into another attractive valley and climbs to the R of Widdop reservoir to Gorple Gate, where we turned L to the dam and followed the minor road SE to meet the PW again. Where the PW descends to a footbridge, we continued on the high level path above Graining Water which meets the minor road again at a Z-bend. Gaining the L side of Hebden Water, a good riverside path leads all the way back to Hebden Bridge. This path is much more attractive than the typical manicured tracks and gives a more intimate feel of the river, often involving clambering over rocks, roots and side streams.