Penistone to Holmfirth 06/07/19

16.9 miles, via Spring Vale, Castle Green, Snowden Hill, Underbank, Smithy Moor, 
 Underbank Reservoir, Midhopestones, Upper Midhope, Langsett Reservoir, 
  Crooklands Wood, Swinden Lane, Snow Road, Stone Rucks Moss, South Nab, 
   Windleden, Winscar Reservoir, Harden, Hade Edge, Longley, and Under Bank.

They say that wisdom comes with age, but it's taken me until my eighth walking season to realise that when travelling a distance by train, especially out of West Yorkshire, that money can be saved by purchasing an open return ticket to your destination as scheduling a return trip within a month could result in your costs being almost halved, a useful bit of genuine common sense that seriously only came to me with the start of Summer, having already burned rather too much cash on my jaunts into South Yorkshire this year. It's going to be the last one of those for this year on this trip, as our area of interest needs to shift over to the western portion of Kirklees before we start to run out of sufficient days to do it justice and so we travel back to Penistone, with my return ticket pricing the trip at less than £6 rather than more than £9, aiming at an early start as there's a long trip to come, but cursing the fact that the Summer weather hasn't come with us, with grey skies and the threat of drizzle hanging in the air as we disembark the train, because it seems to be cold here more often than it's hot. Working our way around to the station exit means it's nearly 8.50am when we get going, heading down the station approach past the office of Lavender International, which apparently occupies the building that once housed the DC electric railway controls of the old Woodhead line, and drop out onto Sheffield Road by the former station hotel, turning left so that the very short blank space down to Wentworth Road might be filled in on my walking map, which achieves almost total coverage of all the potential routes out of Penistone. We head back under the viaduct end with the road into Spring Vale, noting the ambulance and fire stations by the council depot that weren't seen on the last trip by, before ploughing on though the parades of terraces that sit below skies that look as glum as they did on my previous jaunt through, before we take a left turn with Green Road to head up to the wide and expanded railway bridge that carries the railway to Barnsley and the Trans Pennine Trail to Sheffield, the Upper Don Valley section of which will be saved for a future year despite it teasing me with offers of a WW2 era tank ramp and a turntable pit to see.

Lavender Intarnational, in the Woodhead Line's DC Control Room.

Inder the Railway and the Trans Pennine Trail at Spring Vale.

We slip back into the outer reaches of Penistone at Castle Green, initially among terraces that predated the foundry that developed at this end of town, and then among council houses on the rising Bosville Street, which rises us to the rural front at Castle Lane, where we meet Sheperd's Castle farm, but no obvious presence of an actual castle, which would certainly be a surprising discovery to make among these high fields. We thus find ourselves in a position to aim ourselves across the elevated rural apron to the south of Penistone for a third time, finding that contextual views are easier to get than might be expected as the wide horizon is scanned, with the Don valley to the east and Hartcliff Hill rising in the west, and we pace on, passing the old reservoir of Castle Dam, and hitting the rise beyond, which brings the Whitley Height windfarms onto the northern horizon, rising above the southern edge of Penistone's suburban spread. The lack of sunshine does rather emphasise the relative remoteness and bleakness of these high fields, as Long Lane elevates us up to the bungalow in a wood, on the site of one of the smallest possible infectious diseases hospitals, beyond which we split onto Cross Lane, which seems even more devoid of traffic than the ones just paced, which takes us around Roughbirchworth, such as it is, and shadows the Trans-Pennine powerlines as they come up out of the Little Don valley, and once over Back Lane, we are off moving the boundary of our field of walking experience southwards once more. Slip onto Grudgby Lane as it rises up towards Snowden Hill, where six farmsteads have grouped at close quarters and form what passes for a village up here, on the edge of moorland altitude, and the ascent has full restored our elevated horizon, which the high cloud and lack of heat haze has given a much sharper contrast, which we scour with the binoculars from the bucolic idyll of Dyson Cote Lane, which picks out detail on the edge of the Wolds in the east, and the high tops of Rombald's Moor and Norwood Edge above Wharfedale to the far north. 

Bosville Street, Castle Green.

Castle Dam.

On Cross Lane with the Power Lines.

Snowden Hill.

So all the way across West Yorkshire is visible from here, with at least one Yorkshire Dales hilltop rising beyond it, which enhances the feeling on being at the edge of the conceivably local area as we come to crest the ridge and look over into the Little Don valley, which we spy from the eastern end of Salter Hill plantation, by the ornately scripted milestone at the lane corner, and our route down starts in earnest as we cross the ridge road and set off down Underbank Lane. Down this steep road descent the wits must be kept sharp, and with the traffic well avoided, with westwards views showing the Dark Peak fringe at it most intimidating shade of colour, while an eastward glance reveals the closer presence of Stocksbridge, the town that will sit just beyond the grasp of this season, and under the pylons we'll pass again before tree cover contains the road, all the way down to Underbank Hall, the loftily located smart and noble house of this quarter. Having shed 100m of altitude in under half a mile, we find ourselves passing under the bridge of the A616 Stocksbridge Bypass, which also marks the boundary of Sheffield district, to make us feel that bit further away from home, and beyond we pass over a railway bridge, under which the Sheffield Corporation's narrow gauge line to Langsett reservoir ran during the years of its construction at the turn of the 20th century, and then we tangle up with the old Manchester Road as it runs down to Stocksbridge, and we slip down to Bridge Farm, where we cross the River Little Don (or Porter) at Unsliven bridge. The massive bulk of Underbank Dam looms above, and we approach it having scratched the suburban edge of Stocksbridge at Smithy Moor, where people happily dwell suburbanly, at quite a remove from the nearest city, with the contained waters of the river and the reservoir above them, and we approach this vast cistern that fed the thirsty towns and steel industries of South Yorkshire via the circuit path that rises alongside its run-off channel, up to the information board that explains the railway construction and the contentious damming of the river valley that was completed in 1907. 

The Dark Peak fringe of the Little Don valley.

The Stocksbridge Bypass.

Unsliven Bridge and the edge of Smithy Moor (Stocksbridge).

Underbank Dam.

The path sets off along the southern bank of the reservoir, where the local exercisers are predictably making best use of it, where tree cover gives us a rather lovely walk, with nice vistas across the surface, with the sound of the road traffic drifting over the waters from the north side, and as we go we can ponder just how remote this all feels at the very edge of my stomping grounds, the sort of place where we'd only ever pass though deliberation and intent. The path drifts from the level edge of the reservoir at the Underbank activity centre, where kids can camp, canoe and climb (and alliterate, it seems) to the hearts content in a secluded idyll, while our route beyond settles into a woodland path among the conifers at a remove from the water, as we run up to the heel of the reservoir, which runs on for a lot further than I was honestly expecting, and then doesn't offer us a short cut into Midhopestones along the stub of Miller Lane. So we meet Mortimer Road and the Long Walk route a bit further north on Mortimer Road than intended, but rise to Ye Olde Mustard Pot, which is definitely in business, and turn onto Chapel Lane by the old schoolhouse to take a more elevated path along the valley side, on a footway that leads to the tiny church of St James, an early 18th century chapel of ease that has quite an extensive graveyard, where we pause to water and refresh before pressing on, above the many farms that call themselves Midhope Hall and along the road that's really too narrow for contemporary traffic to use. With the rough fields rising above the lane, the relative proximity of the Dark Peak's moorlands could easily be misjudged, as they actually sit a good distance and height above the looming ridge, which is soon revealed to contain Midhope Reservoir, which drains the streams coming off Barnside Moor and Fenny common, as we pass below its dam and cross over Hagg Bridge on the beck below, before we switch around the plantation below its house and sharply shift uphill to come level with the water's surface and then press on around and above it a remove, with the local cattle regarding me my and my photography quizzically as I pass.

Underbank reservoir.

St James' church, Midhopestones.

Midhope dam.

Midhope Reservoir.

We rise to meet the edge of Upper Midhope hamlet, but then don't enter it as Midhope Cliff Lane drops away from it sharply, which gives us a perspective downstream to Underbank Reservoir and Stocksbridge, as well as trying to identify the hillside features and woodlands on the north side of the valley which we walked along only two weeks back, before we swing around the conifer plantation that contains Langsett Reservoir, the dam of which we soon land upon. The moorland edge rises on its southern bank, with the Little Don valley flowing down below its embankment and waterworks, and we push on across, among other people enjoying the great outdoors, if not the best of this young July's weather, for this is the most notable of the Sheffield district reservoirs, and we meet the western bank by the castellated valve tower and reservoir house, and join the perimeter path as it moves on over the runoff channel and into the tree cover beyond, where a handy reminder of just how un-level a reservoir path can be is found. Once things settle down, it becomes a lovely shady walk on a recently improved path around this body of 1904, progressing along the lower edge of the bank, and teasing the idea of approaching the moors beyond as we go, as the only really viable path across the Dark Peak between Mortimer Road and the Pennine Way lies beyond its western end, the Cut Gate path, which we'll locate after a lovely half mile of silvery views through the trees, rising away from the reservoir and leading into the tangle of paths ahead of Crooklands Wood. The way through the trees is decently clear, if ever so slightly adhesive, and the changing light quality suggests that the day's gloom is starting to break up, and we emerge into a clearing where a stone barn is sole surviving building of Swinden farm, formerly tending the most marginal of fields below the moorland edge, and its rough driveway, Swinden Lane, leads us beyond the plantations, with the flank of Langsett Moor and the headwaters of the Little Don ahead to the south west, and the completely altered profile of Hartcliff Hill and its associated upland rising above the woodlands behind us.

Upper Midhope.

The valve tower and reservoir house, Langsett Dam.

Langsett Reservoir.

Swinden Barn, Crooklands Wood.

The increasingly grassy bridleway leads up past Swinden Lodge, looking as much like a shooting house as a farm, nestled in the upper reaches of the river among the moorland plots, and once we reach the cultivation limit, the path makes a direct turn to meet the A628 as it forces its way up towards the Woodhead Pass, landing on it by Bordhill and Milton Lodges, right up around 330m and the habitation limit, and being back in Barnsley district we find more evidence of new footway laying as we push up to the last inn on the lane, The Dog and Partridge. We'll not have to follow the overly busy turnpike to hit the top of the rise, instead switching onto the rough track of Snow Road, which was built to transport salt over the Pennines before being surpassed in the late 18th century, which sits on the more northerly and exposed side of this moorland that I'll call Stone Rucks Moss, as its writ in the largest letters on the old OS map, and we get expansive views as we gradually ascend over the periphery of the Thirlstone moorlands, looking back into the valleys of the Upper don that have served us so well over the last month. It looks like a good track to cycle to, as bold off-roaders pelt the track downhill, as we head over 400m and onwards, getting hints and then reveals forward to the ridges between the Don and Holme Valleys, as well as getting Holme Moss on the radar, eventually elevating up to among the snow fences, to keep the drifting snow off the roads in the inclement seasons, and coming up to the Woodhead Pass summit, around 450m up, which isn't at the hill top or the Don - Etherow watershed, but brings us right up close to the modern road as the salt road degenerates horribly. We split off the bridleway as the road crests, and starts its long descent away towards Longdendale and Greater Manchester, scooting up through the long grass to meet the trig pillar at South Nab, 461m up and with a grand panoramic view for the High Season, with the Dark Peak forming the new southern boundary to the field of experience, and the north-western terrain offering itself for the rest of year , and we'll pause here for a later than planned lunch, absorbing the view to the east for the last time before we strike northwards again.

Swinden Lodge.

Milton Lodge.

The upper Don valley, from Snow Road.

The Snow Fences, Stone Rucks Moss.

The South Nab trig pillar.

We've got the Windleden Reservoirs below us in their clough, with the way beyond obvious, though the immediate way don isn't clear as we follow the vaguest of trods downhill as we seek the bridleway again as it drifts into Woodland clough, which isn't tree lined and keeps us in the upper headwaters of the Don, as we lose a bunch of height and then find that there are a number of rises and falls to make around Upper Windleden reservoir. So it's over and steeply down into the grassy Broad Clough, where the Canada Geese and their goslings all make themselves scarce as we pass, despite being well concealed by the reeds, and then rise and fall again, to enter Carr Bottom Dike, right above the reservoir, where another flock of geese have taken up residence, and they do their best to scamper away, following the rising path that we are trying to take, going on for quite a distance before they realise they can run sideways, and we can continue up through the damp turf to meet Windle Edge road, where we seal the southern boundary to the walking field on the Trans Pennine Trail path last seen five years back. We drop down with the road, away from the wild side of the Pennines, past the plots on Windleden farm before we set off on a new border by taking the NCN 68 route that lead into the grounds of Winscar Reservoir, the major body on the upper Don, which we meet beyond its surrounding planatation and car park, with the path route taking us over the dam, which offrds us an evolving view over the water to the cloughs at the top of the Don catchment, the Peninne Sailing club and its many boaters, and to the sole shooting lodge loitering among the rising mass of Snailsden Moss. A peer downstream, from this popular path, reveals Dunford Bridge below us, where the old railway, the powerlines, the Trans Pennine Trail and the Don all tangle themselves up in a corner that's way more remote than it feels when among it, and you could convince yourself that the settlement as it is only exists to service the needs of the water and electricity supply businesses, a thought we'll ponder as we come around to the northern side, where Yorkshire Water have surely missed a trick by not developing, or properly maintaining, a café and visitors facility.

Woodland Clough.

Upper Windleden Reservoir.

Windle Edge.

Winscar Reservoir.

Dunford Bridge.

We'll break on a convenient bench to finish lunch as the locale takes on a cloudier look, as high cloud sets in to cover the Dark Peak side of the sky, whilst West Yorkshire looks like it's still gonna be cooking under direct sunlight, and then it's on, past the other car park and up the side of the Harden Clough branch of the reservoir, where the ducks and geese have to be carefully shooed out of the way of the passing traffic before we rise up to Dunford Road and set ourselves on toward the finish line. Naturally it's a climb to the Don - Holme watershed, putting us in the vicinity of the alleged hamlet of Harden, which is really a scattering of cottages above the older and well concealed Harden reservoir at the higher reaches of it clough, and the view back is a good one, where we bid a farewell to the Don Valley, having seen it's most dynamic section for too brief a time this year before we'll need to come calling again, soon behind us as the road crests at almost 400m altitude by the old Junction inn crossroads, 2.5 miles or an hour out from the day's end. Re-entering West Yorkshire, it's a bit of a snaking walk to come downhill, with the woodlands obscuring much of the upper Holme valley's edge to the west, while the eastern view doesn't reveal itself with any real familiarity, and thus we look forward to the side of the valley that does look familiar and add Stoodley Pike and Black Dike Mill at Queensbury to the list of things that appear on the high horizon as we wend our way down, with the Snittlegate farms to the east of us and the Boshaw Whams reservoir giving something to identify in the high apron of fields below. Regain a footway at about 350m up, as the road runs us down into Hade Edge, which is rough association of cottages and barely a hamlet on the maps a century old, but has more recently grown into quite a suburb at altitude, doing its best to not look out of place in its styling, but at a high and distant remove from conventional dwelling, with only three buses a day and a certain necessity for individually independent means, and an outlook that must feel challenging for almost half the year, where at the village crossroads we enter the Kirklees Way loop and seal a new western border on the experience field.

Birdlife at Winscar reservoir.

Harden Reservoir.

Dunford Road enters the Holme Valley at altitude.

Hade Edge, for suburban living, at altitude.

At the north end of the village, the surrounding valley sides start to show a more familiar shape, and the milepost here is painted in black and silver as opposed to the regular white and black, leaving the settlement to take our last look to the boating on the nearby reservoir and joining the B6106 by the former, or redeveloping, Bay Horse inn, where we start the final descent proper, heading steeply down past the Longley farms dairy(?) and the stray rural terraces that sit below Longley Edge, the high perimeter of Scholes Moor to the east. We sit above e deep valley, which isn't immediately acknowledged as not being the Holme, which becomes more apparent beyond Hubberton farm and the Cross farm corner, where the surrounding fields steepen and the wooded clough of the Holme valley variant of the River Ribble is revealed, where Washpit Mill is getting an extensive redevelopment judging by the many signs indicating steep roads unsuitable for HGVs, and beyond this view we meet the outer edge of Holmfirth, where suburban living has grown on the steep valley side around Under Bank Mill. There are many names on the map to indicate the outer parts of this time, but Under Bank will do for all that we see on the lowest available road, heading down among the weavers cottages of a distant age, and the suburbs of a much more recent one, all looking desirable in the bright afternoon sunshine, which every bit of tree cover will give us pleasing respite from, as we come down to the bottom of Dunford Road, where industry still perches in the factories on the narrow riverbank to our west. We are in the picturesque centre of Holmfirth with almost indecent haste, among the hostelries, eateries and tourist throng, and today it's really too hot to investigate further, so we'll have a quick scoot around which takes us over the Holme at the bottom of Victoria Street, the smartest parade in town, past the Picturedrome and the Old Bridge inn, and then over the footbridge back to the bus stand, concluding that sunny weather really brings out the best look of this town, and wrap the day at 4.40pm, puzzled that a seven hour schedule somehow took eight hours to complete.

Longley fam dairy and the final descent of the day.

The Ribble valley, in the Holme Valley.

The Old Chapel, Under Bank.

Victoria Street, Holmfirth.

5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 3984.8 miles
2019 Total: 334.4 miles
Up Country Total: 3567.8 miles
Solo Total: 3694.3 miles
Miles in My 40s: 2578.6 miles

Next Up: Aiming ourselves at Holme Moss, and Longdendale!