Our final stop on the Airedale Line in the City of Bradford is at Steeton & Silsden, which serves both those places but is closer to the former. Steeton is a village mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and is part of the civil parish of Silsden, located just over a mile away on the other side of the River Aire. Silsden is also mentioned in the Domesday Book, and like many towns in the West Riding expanded during the Industrial Revolution, with the coming of both the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and several mills, some of which survive in other use today. The area has been inhabited since at least Roman times, with a hoard of gold coins discovered in the town that date back to the first century AD. The walk also includes the small but pretty village of Kildwick.
Steeton & Silsden Railway Station originally opened on the Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway (now the Airedale Line) in 1847, was re-sited in 1892, and closed in 1965. It reopened in 1990 as a staggered platform station on the site of a former level crossing. The original station building survives as a private residence. From the station, we head south along Station Road, shortly passing Steeton Hall Hotel on the right. The Grade II-listed hall dates from the mid-nineteenth century and is also known as the Low Hall; the High Hall (also Grade II-listed) is located behind the Church of St. Stephen in the centre of the village, but is not accessible from the walk. Continue along Station Road until it ends at a crossroads, and turn right along Keighley Road, passing the Goats Head public house on the opposite corner. Turn right along a path leading to Steeton War Memorial. Turn left in front of the memorial and follow a path across a bridge over Steeton Beck to reach St Stephen’s Road. Here, turn right to visit the Church of St. Stephen, another Grade II-listed building dating from c.1881.
Church of St. Stephen
After visiting the church, follow St Stephen’s Road back to Keighley Road and turn right, shortly passing Steeton Methodist Church on the left. Take the second right-hand turn after this along Thornhill Road, and follow this as it bends left. Just before it bends right, bear left along a public bridleway (Lyon Road) and follow this between houses on the left and fields on the right. Eventually, the bridleway becomes a metalled road; continue to follow this until it ends at Skipton Road, then turn right. Follow Skipton Road, eventually crossing a level crossing, where the site of Kildwick and Crosshill Railway Station can be seen immediately to the left of the road. This opened on the Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway in 1847 as Kildwick, and was later renamed Kildwick and Cross Hills; it was relocated in 1889 and closed in 1965. Proceed along the road, continuing straight ahead at a mini roundabout, and just before reaching the next – much larger – roundabout, cross the road and bear left at the roundabout along Staton Road. Immediately cross this and bear right along a path that curves round and under Skipton Road and ends at Main Road. Turn left and follow this, immediately crossing Kildwick Bridge over the River Aire. Kildwick Bridge was built in 1305-1313 for the monks of Bolton Abbey and is both a Grade I-listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Proceed straight ahead into the small village of Kildwick, passing first the New Church and then the White Lion public house, both on the right. When the road bends left adjacent to the pub, continue straight ahead, passing Kildwick War Memorial to enter the grounds of the Church of St. Andrew. This Grade I-listed church dates from the fourteenth century, was extended during the sixteenth and seventeenth century, and repaired and restored in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Walk to the church entrance, then turn left and follow a path to Main Street. Bear right and almost immediately right again along a stepped footpath, just before the street passes under Farnhill Aqueduct, which carries the Leeds and Liverpool canal over the street. The short stepped path ends at the canal towpath, which we now join for the final time in our tour of the City of Bradford Metropolitan Borough; turn right and follow this for two miles, passing turn Parson’s Bridge No. 186, Warehouse Swing Bridge No. 187, Grange Swing Bridge No. 188 (just before which a small aqueduct carries the canal over Grange Beck), Lanehouse Swing Bridge No. 189, Woodside Swing Bridge No. 190, Cowling Swing Bridge No. 191, and finally reaching Silsden Bridge No. 191A, just before which a pair of Grade II-listed canal warehouses can be seen flanking the canal. Pass under Silsden Bridge, then immediately turn right and right again to climb steps to Keighley Road. Turn right and follow this over the canal, after which the road becomes Kirkgate and runs gently uphill through the centre of Silsden, an attractive town and one perhaps less well known and visited than nearby Keighley.
Proceed along Kirkgate, passing the Robin Hood public house and the Red Lion Hotel, both on the left, and looking out for a steep weir across the beck on the right opposite the latter. Continue along the road, next passing Silsden Town Hall and Library, followed by the Church of St. James the Great, also both on the left. The Town Hall was originally built as a Mechanics Institute in 1884, whilst the Grade II-listed church was built c.1816, with a tower added in 1896. Turn right into the memorial gardens to visit the Band Stand and Silsden Cenotaph, then leave back on Kirkgate and turn left and then right into Bell Square to visit the Punch Bowl public house. Walk to the right of this, then turn right and left along Bolton Road, shortly turning right to enter Silsden Park. Walk across the park, passing to the left of the bowling green, and turn right past this to exit the park by crossing a footbridge over the Beck to reach Wesley Place. Take a detour straight ahead and right to visit the Catholic Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Another Grade II-listed church, this was originally built as a Wesleyan Methodist Church c.1870. Otherwise, turn left and follow Wesley Place alongside the Beck, then turn left to cross another footbridge over this to reach St John’s Street. Turn right and then left along Mitchell Lane and follow this as it becomes a path. Turn right at a junction and walk to Craven Drive, then turn right and follow this until it ends at Howden Road.
Turn right, passing Waterloo Mills on the left, a huge Grade II*-listed building originally built as a worsted mill between 1867 and 1884.
Waterloo Mills
After Howden Road bends left and becomes St John’s Street, bear left and follow a path under an aqueduct carrying the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, and proceed straight ahead along Hainsworth Road. When this bends left, turn right along Belton Road and follow this until it ends at Keighley Road. Turn left and follow this, eventually crossing Silsden Bridge (a Grade II-listed bridge dating from the late eighteenth century) over the River Aire. Continue to a roundabout, then turn right along the A629. Cross this, turn left, and then turn right along Station Road. Immediately cross this and then bear right along a path leading off the road to return to the railway station.
From Steeton & Silsden, the Airedale line continues into the historical West Riding as it enters modern day North Yorkshire. But that is a journey for another time: for now, we shall complete our tour of the City of Bradford by heading back to Bradford city centre and then out along the Wharfedale line…
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