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Page 1: Being a circular walk there are several places from where …mediafiles.thedms.co.uk/.../cms/pdf/railwaychildrenwalk.pdfBeing a circular walk there are several places from where the

Being a circular walk there areseveral places from where thewalk can start and finish.However, for the purpose of thisleaflet the walk information startsat Haworth Railway Station. Forthe benefit of those who feelunable to walk the full six miles,a shorter walk option of 21/2 miles(4km) down to Oakworth Stationalso starts at Haworth Station.

The route has been devised toenable the walker to visit the variouslocations used in the 1970's filmThe Railway Children. Many ofthese locations are on private land,please help to respect this privacy

From Haworth Station forecourt, walk up the ramp atthe side of the railway station buildings and over thefootbridge.

Immediately over the bridge turn right and walk to thetop of the narrow road, bearing left at the top in frontof the cottages, then immediately right down the sideof the same cottages to a gateway. From here followthe same walk instructions as the full walk from(point 7) marked on both the map and instructions.Your walk will finish back at Haworth Station.

by keeping to the public rights of wayfrom where points of interest can beseen and photographed.

Be Prepared for the WeatherStrong shoes or boots arerecommended at all times. Wind andwaterproof clothing may be requiredand are best carried along with alight snack and drink in a backpackin preference to a hand held bag.Due to the very nature of thecountryside this walk is not suitablefor the less mobile, wheelchairs andchildren in pushchairs.

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Keighley & Worth Valley Railway

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S T A T I O NR O AD

O L D O X E N H O P E LA N E

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2 Nearing Oxenhope Station, at the end of a narrow walled path, the footpathdivides, to the left, over the narrow metal footbridge, the path will take you toOxenhope Station. Our route is to the right over the stile in the stone wall andacross the railway line, bearing left uphill to a second stile in the stone wall.Once over, a steep climb to the top of the field takes you to Bents House, betterknown as the Three Chimneys, the Yorkshire home of the railway children, whichcan be seen behind the trees and stone wall on your left. To continue follow thewall round the side of the Three Chimneys through the stile at the side of agate to the rear of the building where the stone gap stile which "Perks" haddifficulty negotiating whilst delivering to the Three Chimneys can be found.

3 Do not go through the stile but turnright up the track at the rear of BentsHouse onto a tarmac road, Marsh Lane,here turn left, cross over the road andturn right up Old Oxenhope Lane untilyou reach Old Oxenhope Farm on yourright. At the rear of the farmhouseturn right into the farmyard thenimmediately left by the water troughand over the stile into the field.Continue uphill keeping the stone wallon the left. The footpath goes straightahead through and over several stilesheading for the hamlet of Hole.

4 On reaching the hamlet of Hole bearleft up the slight incline walking betweenthe hedge and the drystone wall,passing the houses of the hamlet downbelow to your right. Where the pathpath meets a surfaced access road,cross over diagonally to the right togo through the stile next to the streetlight in the wall on your left. Continueby walking straight ahead towards thelarge detached house which can be seenacross the fields. On reaching thegarden wall of the house turn rightdownhill through the stile walkingbetween a doubled wall path, follow thispath, (grass at first then stoneflagged) passing a car park on the rightand through a metal kissing gate intoHaworth churchyard. Here take a leftturn up three steps, in front of you cannow be seen Brontë Parsonage Museum,the Doctor's house in the film.

5 Turn right at the top of the steps to walk along the cobbled path throughthe churchyard to a second metal gate out onto Church Street. Turn rightdown the stone cobbled street where in front of you, the building at the topof the stone steps was the Post Office and General Store where the threechildren were given a pram amongst other gifts for "Mr Perks" birthday.

Continue down Church Street bearing left passed the Kings Arms PublicHouse to emerge at the top of Haworth Main Street. Turn right to walkdown Main Street looking at the many shops seen in the film when thechildren were collecting birthday gifts for Mr Perks. In particular, the TouristInformation Centre was transformed into the Butchers Shop and lower downMain Street on the right hand side can be found Lodge Street. The cornerhouse, No.2, was the ironmongers/cobblers shop where the children weregiven a small hand shovel for "Mr Perks".

7 Go through the gateway and followthe surfaced footpath diagonallyacross the field to the right. At theend of the path go through the stileand turn left along the short unmaderoad onto Mytholmes Lane. Turn right,downhill for approximately 1/4 of a mile(0.4km) following the main road towhere it levels out in the valley bottomand becomes Providence Lane. Continueon for a further 183 metres (200yards), passing a row of cottages onyour left and a garage on the right.Opposite the end of these cottagesthe route rejoins the footpath byturning right and ascending severalstone steps. Walk along for a shortdistance before stopping near theelectricity pylon to look to your rightto see the mouth of Mytholmes Railwaytunnel where "Jim" the schoolboy injuredhis leg whilst running in a paper chase.The embankment on the left hand sideof the tunnel mouth is where thelandslide was filmed. Below on therailway line in front, the children wavedtheir red flannel petticoats to warn thedriver of the 11.29 train of the danger.

Note: It is over thirty years since thefilm was made and the trees havematured so the best views from here arein winter when the trees have lost theirfoliage.

Continue along the footpath as it bearsleft uphill to a metal kissing gate; gothrough and across the field to asecond kissing gate out onto StationRoad. Turn right downhill for a shortdistance to Oakworth Station, theRailway Children Station.

8 Continue the walk by crossing overthe level crossing, the first house onthe left, Station Cottage, was Mr Perks'home. The stone built house next dooris of recent origin and did not appearin the film. Follow the road bearingright before passing under the millbuilding, bearing left and taking careat the blind corner, continue along theroad a further 136 metres (150 yards)before turning right off the surfacedroad onto the unmade road in front ofthe Vale Fold cottages which were seenin the film during the paper chase.Just past these cottages look out fora stile on your left. Climb over the stileand following the path over a secondstile walking next to Bridgehouse Beck,and parallel to the railway line. Continuealong the path to look to the rightafter crossing the small footbridge tosee the opposite end of MytholmesTunnel.

Nearing the end of the path look overthe stone wall on the right. The bridgein front of you is a recent replacementof the metal bridge seen at the end ofthe film under which, on the railway lineand embankment, the cast were wavingand Roberta writes "The End" on herchalk board.

9 At the end of the footpath gothrough the gap out onto the minorroad (Ebor Lane), turn left to followthe road crossing the Ebor Mill Dambefore bearing right uphill to join themain Haworth Road. Here turn rightand walk down past the shops toHaworth Station from where youstarted your walk.

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6 Continue down Main Street to the last shop on the left, hereopposite The Fleece Public House turn left off Main Street down thelane, signposted to the Railway Station, and cross over the busy mainroad via the zebra crossing to walk down the cobbled lane (Butt Lane)between Haworth Central Park on the right, and the site of the formerrecently converted Haworth Infant and Junior Schools on the left . Afterapproximately 183 metres (200 yards) down Butt Lane turn left alongthe unmade road opposite the side gate into Haworth Park, turningright where the unmade road overlooks the playing fields before bearingleft down to a gateway.

Here is where Walk 2 joins the full walk to Oakworth Station.

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1 From Haworth Station forecourtcross the main road via the crossingpoint and turn right to walk alongStation Road, passing the engine sheds,fire station and war memorial on theright before turning left up Brow Road.After a short distance look out for thefootpath sign on the right. Follow thiswell trodden footpath across the fields,through farmyards and passingOxenhope water treatment works,following the Bridgehouse Beck andWorth Valley Railway almost to OxenhopeStation.

Page 2: Being a circular walk there are several places from where …mediafiles.thedms.co.uk/.../cms/pdf/railwaychildrenwalk.pdfBeing a circular walk there are several places from where the

Tourist Information CentreSituated at the top of Main Street,Haworth the centre was used inthe film as the butchers shop.

Shops and Houses on HaworthMain Street, Church Street andLodge StreetSeen when the children werecollecting birthday gifts for Perks.

Mytholmes Tunnel andEmbankmentSeen in the film during the paperchase and is where 'Jim' falls andinjures his leg. The embankment

The Level CrossingSeen throughout the film and inparticular when Mr Perks opens thegate for The Scotts Flyer. For filming,the gates were changed from thenormal single gate to double gates.

Railway Cottage (Mr Perks Home)Located across the level crossingfrom Oakworth station. The firsthouse on the left named ‘RailwayCottage’ was the home of Mr Perk's.The house next door is a recentaddition and is built on land wherethe wooden outside privy (lavatory)was situated.

Vale Fold CottagesRow of cottages seen during thepaper chase.The mill dam seen infront of these cottages has beendrained and planted with trees.

Old Gentlemans Coach (below)Often used for special occasionsand filming on the Worth ValleyLine.

Green Dragon (below)Built in 1887 this L&YR Class 25,0.6.0 was seen in the film as theGreen Dragon, the engine whichcaused the landslide. Still in useon the Worth Valley Line but nowpainted black, its original colour.

to the left of the tunnel mouth iswhere the landslide was filmed.Nearby on the railway line therailway children used their redflannel petticoats as flags to warnthe driver of the 11.29 train of thedanger.

The Fleece Public HouseUsed by the film productioncompany as their base and offices.Photographs of the filming can beseen in the pubs dining room.

Oakworth Station (below)Seen throughout the film for avariety of events. Work place of'Perks' the station porter, Peter'scoal mine, the presentationceremony, the 'shabby Russian'and the homecoming of the railwaychildren's father.

Bents House (The ThreeChimneys)The Yorkshire home of the RailwayChildren. Much of the field in frontof the house seen in the filmcovered in buttercups has beenreplaced by a much more formalgarden. To the rear of the housecan be seen the stone stile whichPerk's has difficulty negotiatingwhilst delivering a large basket tothe Three Chimneys.

Haworth ChurchyardSeen when Peter runs to fetchDoctor Forrest because his motheris unwell and also when Robertafetches Dr. Forrest to attend to the'shabby Russian'.

Brontë Parsonage Museum(The Doctors house)Already well known throughout theliterary world being the home ofthe Brontë family. In the film, thishouse became the home of DoctorForrest.

Mytholmes Tunnel (the oppositeend)Being only 82 metres (89 yards)long, the film makers had to builda scaffold over this end of the tunneland cover it with a tarpaulin to makethe tunnel appear longer and muchdarker.

Railway Children Engine (below)Pannier Tank Engine, former 0.6.0Great Western, painted in theficticious livery and logo of the GreatNorthern & Southern Railway,specially created for the film. Theengine is still in use on the Keighleyand Worth Valley Railway.


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