Short Tour 15

In the time of the Romans, the road across the Pennines crossed the Aire at Utley and went up the hillside to Braithwaite and Laycock and onwards.

In the days of foot and horse travel, the shortest route from Keighley across the Pennines to Lancashire was via Oakworth and Hare Hill to Wycoller. We should remember that early tracks were often high on the hills to avoid the poorly drained, boggy and overgrown valleys (unlike today). The alternative route North West along the Aire Valley and then South West to Cowling and over ‘The Moss’ was at least some 4 miles (approx. 40%) longer over difficult terrain.

Heading West, by skirting along the Southern edge of Oakworth Moor, the track crossed the Pennines through a depression (locally known as the Herders) where the heads of the valleys on either side of the Pennines are seperated by only a little over a mile. The track reaches a maximum height of 349m. On the Wycoller side, the old road descended from Combe Hill into the valley and along the valley to Wycoller village.

The packhorse bridge in Wycoller is probably pre 1550 as from that date coaches began to travel across the Pennines and the bridge is too narrow to take a wheeled vehicle. The adjacent slab bridge in the village predates this bridge.