Austonley

Blackmoorfoot Reservoir

Blackmoorfoot · 1.2 miles

Located on the moorland four miles (6.4 km) south-west of Huddersfield, Blackmoorfoot Reservoir supplies drinking water to the surrounding district. The water body sits at 253 metres above sea level, covers roughly 38 hectares and holds just under three million cubic metres. Catchwaters cut into the neighbouring moor feed the reservoir, which was authorised by the Huddersfield Water Act 1869 and constructed during the 1870s. Ownership and management now rest with Yorkshire Water. The scheme involved two earth embankments – a longer north dam measuring about 780 metres and a shorter south dam of 460 metres – both built around a puddle-clay core sourced from the nearby ground. Initial flooding began in November 1874 and the reservoir first overflowed on 20 December 1876. A water-treatment plant was added in 1989 and the site is designated a drinking-water protected area. Ornithologists have recorded more than 200 bird species since 1956, including occasional visitors such as a pomarine skua and a terek sandpiper. Continuous rainfall monitoring has been in place since 1873, providing the longest record for the Ouse catchment. Yorkshire Water promotes a public footpath that follows the eastern shoreline, giving walkers direct access to the reservoir’s perimeter. No admission fee is mentioned, and the path is the principal facility for visitors.

Butterley Reservoir

Netherley · 3.1 miles

Butterley Reservoir is a reservoir located near Marsden, West Yorkshire, near the Peak District National Park boundary. It was completed in 1906. The reservoir is known for its long stepped spillway, which is grade II listed.

Greenhead Park

Gledholt · 3.7 miles

Located about half a mile west of Huddersfield’s town centre, Greenhead Park sits close to the village of Gledholt in West Yorkshire. The urban green space is recognised as an English Heritage grade II listed property and lies within a designated Conservation Area, underscoring its historic and architectural significance. The park’s origins trace back to 1870 when Alderman Thomas Denham secured a private lease on fifteen acres for public enjoyment. In 1881 the Huddersfield Corporation purchased an additional thirty acres from the Ramsden Estate, and the park officially opened on 27 September 1884. A major restoration funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund began in 2009; over two years the work restored existing buildings, reinstated one of the original lakes, replaced boundary railings and gates, and added a new play area, completing in autumn 2012. Today visitors can use tennis courts, a skate park, a play area, the last remaining paddling pool in Kirklees, and the facilities of the Huddersfield Pétanque Club. Regular activities include a Caribbean Carnival each summer, a weekly parkrun at 09:00 on Saturdays, Nordic-walking sessions on Fridays, and a wildlife club. The park remains open to the public and is accessed via the surrounding streets of Huddersfield, with its proximity to the town centre making it readily reachable on foot or by local transport.

Ryburn Reservoir

Rishworth · 5 miles

Ryburn Reservoir is a supply reservoir operated by Yorkshire Water close to Ripponden in the Yorkshire Pennines, England. It lies in the valley of the River Ryburn and is the lower of two reservoirs built in the valley to supply Wakefield with water and was completed in 1933. The upper reservoir is Baitings Reservoir.

Tolson Museum

Moldgreen · 5 miles

Set within Ravensknowle Park on Wakefield Road, the former Victorian mansion known as Ravensknowle Hall now houses the Tolson Museum. The building, erected in the late 1850s for textile magnate John Beaumont and designed by London architect Richard Tress, stands in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, close to the settlement of Moldgreen. The museum is operated by Kirklees Council, offers free entry and provides limited wheelchair access; opening hours are listed on the museum’s public timetable. The hall was bequeathed to Huddersfield Corporation in 1919 by Legh Tolson as a memorial to his two nephews who fell in the First World War. Formal inauguration took place on 27 May 1922, initially presenting a natural-history collection of rocks, fossils and stuffed birds. A 1980s refurbishment redirected the focus toward the region’s industrial heritage, adding displays of local archaeology, weaving machinery and textiles. Visitors can explore a reconstructed Victorian schoolroom and a transport exhibition occupying a rear extension, which includes road-building techniques and examples of horsedrawn and motor vehicles. Among the cars on view are the three-wheeled LSD, once produced locally between 1919 and 1924, and a Valveless model recovered from South Africa. The museum also incorporates the Grade II-listed remnants of a hypocaust from Slack Roman Fort, reassembled within the park grounds.

Baitings Reservoir

Rishworth · 5.6 miles

Baitings Reservoir is a large water supply reservoir operated by Yorkshire Water close to Ripponden in the West Yorkshire Pennines, England. It lies in the valley of the River Ryburn, is the higher of two reservoirs built to supply Wakefield with water and was completed in 1956. The lower reservoir is Ryburn Reservoir.