Scouting between Dewsbury and Shepley Marina

In July 2020 the towpath from Shepley Marina (Shepley Lock Br 16) to Dewsbury (to the Spen Valley Greenway, Long Cut End Br 19) was impassable.

Specifically from Greenwood Lock Fb 18 to Ravensthorpe Br 27, was so crammed with Hymalayan Balsam that progress was very slow and involved the firemans "smoky room" sideways walk to crush the foliage blocking the path with each step. 

It was very difficult to know where the towpath was, and on one place it had a hole which I nearly fell down.

The hole I nearly fell down when the path was overgrown by Himalayan balsam.

In summer 2021 when travelling the other direction towards Shepley Marina we met a Duke of Edinburgh expedition group coming the other way and learned that they did not take the footpath from the marina. but came via the main Huddersfield road (A644), which confirmed our previous conclusion that the towpath was impassable.

Today (Jan 2022) the path was very clear, with only a little hymalyan balsam stalks visible at all, so it hasn't very recently been cleared.

We verified that there is a route following the north side from Shepley Lock Br 16, crossing to the south side at Ravensthorpe Br 27, back to the north side at Long Cut End Br 19 and continuing along the Spend Valley Greenway.

Although the Canal and River Trust map doesn't show a footpath on the south side of the river between 19 Greenwood (by The Ship Inn) and Sheply Br 27, google satellite maps have evidence of one, as does gmaps pedometer, so this could be an alternate route.

We did not verify that route today, except the start at Ravensthorpe Br 27. The view from across the river indicated that it was more shaded and likely to be clearer.

It was getting too dark to verify the western end of the south side of the river, so we leave that to another day.