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Walk Summary:  Easy 5.0 mile circular walk around Golgar.
Start: Golcar Lily pub in Golcar
Locality: Bolster Moor
Area: West
Start OS Grid reference: SE0868415755
Start What3words: next.paper.tamed
Difficulty: Easy
Distance miles: 5.0
Ascent meters: 341
Estimated Walk Time  hours: 3.0
Pub & Locality: Golcar Lily pub at Bolster Moor
Parking: Pub carpark and street parking
Public Transport: Bus 335 to Slawit from Holmfirth Bus Station then stop at Carr Lane and change to Bus 394 to Golcar, and 20 min walk up to pub. Journey time circa 90 minutes. Check bus times. Alternative routes via Huddersfield bus station.
Walk Description: Starting from the Golcar Lily pub (1), walk down the cobbled Heath House Lane (to SE) until, after 150m there is a stile and footpath on your left. Take this path and follow down , across rough pasture and a stream, then to meet Slades Rd. At the road turn right to a junction with Pike Law Rd and turn left. After about 120m take a footpath on the right and almost immediately take a path on the right which then follows along field edges to stone steps (which may be concealed by vegetation) down to Old Lane, where turn left. A lane, after 20m on right is followed, at the end of which there is a path ahead and to the left of new building. Although easy at first, the path soon enters woodland and is heavily vegetated. Generally, the path contours across a steep slope with slippery sections which can be difficult when wet. At the end of this section the path meets with another ascending from your right and your route is to continue along an old track straight ahead, not through the stile on your left. The track leads to the buildings at Hollins Hall, with some obstructions from trees and bushes. Having passed through the buildings, follow the lane to the left and after 50m take the footpath on your right. Cross a stream and keep right on a path which leads across rough pasture, aiming to keep to the right of woodland ahead. Follow the path around the woodland to the buildings of Moles Head, beneath the steep bank of Nettleton Hill. Pass the buildings to your right and follow the path, becoming a track as it approaches a golf course, ahead and to your right. Just before the building is reached take a lane on your left, which becomes a path through Pighill Wood. This eventually joins Hall Lane, which is followed left until it joins Round Ings Rd. Turn right and follow the road down for about 200m and take a path on the left, leading steeply up, beside a wall. At the top of the slope, cross a stile and maintain the same direction across a field towards the mast ahead. Pass the mast and its associated buildings, there are Roman road excavations (2) on a lane and as this lane turns left, take a footpath ahead and down a steep field path to a road. Turn right on Rochdale Rd and follow until there is a junction with Waller Clough Rd on your left. Immediately past this junction there is a path on the left, which is followed, crossing Crimea Lane and eventually reaching Highfield Rd. Follow the road briefly right and then take a lane to your left. After only 50m take a path on your left, over a stile and continue across a field path towards the property of Mount Pleasant. Take a ladder stile to your left at Mount Pleasant, briefly up through rough woodland to reach the drive of the property. The onward path, now part of the Colne Valley Circular is signed and passes behind the building and onto a field path alongside a wood. Continue on the path, past the rear of Heath Farm. At the next property, pass it to your left and take a footpath ahead, not the drive which heads back up to Highfield Rd. The path leads down to a substantial property and through its garden. A tarmacked drive is reached and followed down to a sharp right hand bend, where a footpath to the left is followed to a stile beyond which is a steep bank down to a brook. This is crossed on a footbridge and the path climbs steeply to reach Crimble Clough Rd. Turn right and after 50m take a footpath on the left. This leads to a lane and an old track up to the left, then turning left and up Westwood Edge. On reaching the top, head straight across onto Drummers Lane, which is followed across Bolstermoor Rd and to the Golcar Lily pub. 
Other comments and points of interest:  (1) The name Lily in this usage is thought to reference its being a symbol of the French Hugenots. These were members of the Reformed Protestant church who fled from violent persecution, mainly from southern and western Europe, predominantly in the 16th century. They settled mainly in London and the southeast but some, thought to be Walloons, were expert weavers and they found the textile industry of the Colne Valley suited their skills, so settled here. A similar group settled over the Pennines in Delph and Dobcross, Saddleworth.  Another possible route of immigration was by long established trading links between Yorkshire and the Low Countries. This attracted European workers to the east coast but pressure from the Guilds led to these workers moving further west in Yorkshire. There seems to be no evidence that this involved Golcar however.
(2) Recent excavations have revealed the course of what is considered to be a Roman road at this location. It has long been assumed that there must have been a road between the fortlet at Castleshaw in Saddleworth and the similar site at Slack, Outlane. Various routes for this road, which would have been connecting Chester and York, have been proposed and the long straight A640, Rochdale Rd is marked on the OS map as such. More recent work has discounted this theory and it is now considered that the route probably passed through present day Marsden and along the northern slopes of the Colne Valley. The excavations passed on this walk have provided evidence for this theory although the exact location and direction of travel leave uncertainty. It will be noticed that crossing the field approaching the mast you are following a distinct depression which may well be associated with the road.

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