Silsden South Explorer (SSE), a series of 11 caches over a 4.5 km (3 mile) circular walk along part of the Leeds Liverpool canal, and back along the lanes to Silsden. This part of the canal, Bingley to Skipton, was opened in 1773. This was the first section of the Canal to open.
You will pass Holden Bridge (farm access only and part of Millennium Way) Leave towpath over stile onto footpath. On the other side of Holden Beck you will see the remains of an old lime kiln. On the 1852 OS map, on some of the surrounding fields, were areas described as limestone boulder pits. There is limestone rubble within the glacial deposits smeared across the Silsden district, and this was dug out and burnt in local field kilns. The resulting lime was used to sweeten the land. There was a limited source of limestone before the arrival of the canal, which allowed quarried limestone from near Skipton to be transported easily and cheaply by water to be unloaded and burnt in new kilns built all along the canal. The lime kiln is now used by sheep and cows as a convenient shelter.
Return to the towpath to continue on to SSE 4, or if you want a shorter circuit, continue along this footpath, and you will exit on the lane at SSE 8.