Rumination: Lockdown 2.0

Pandemic Thoughts - November 2020

The Following is for Reference Only, the 2020 Summary will follow in a Month from Now.

On December 2nd, the second National Lockdown to attempt to arrest the resurgent spread of Covid infections came to an end, and even after four weeks of renewed restrictions and attempts at containment, I'm still not entirely sure what to make of it, with most of my most substantial thoughts having been shared at its outset, as it hasn't seen me get out of work, predictably enough, and aside from having no opportunity to travel away to visit Mum, it had no other impact on my plans which mostly involved hibernating my weekends away at the onset of the Dark Season. I'm sure all those involved with the hospitality, leisure and non-essential retail sectors will have really felt the sting of it, especially after so many weeks of mixed messaging from those who would govern us ahead of the inevitable, but being in the business I'm in, and having so little social interaction beyond my familiar circle, I really can't make any more useful observations beyond the facts of trains into Leeds being noticeably quieter in the mornings, but inexplicably busier in the evenings. It's not been an experience anything like the first national lockdown though, where most businesses shut down and so many people were effectively confined to their homes for two months, as this time around schools have stayed open, and suffered all the fluctuations in attendance and operations that might have been expected when operating through a pandemic, while there have been a lot more retailers opened up and offices not doing nearly as much working from home as before. I'm sorry that I can't report anything personally in more detail, but my attitude towards self-protection during this crisis means that I've been witness to so very little, and can only really reflect on what I've learned through the usual methods of reportage, such as noting that the Covid infection rate dropped by 30% during the past month, which is a substantial drop and not a stat to be taken too lightly, but it feels less like a good reason to return to normality than a reason to get everything back to normal, than a cue to keep things shut down for another month to arrest the spread further. It's certainly discouraging to see the increasing infection rate in school age kids, and the dangers that it presents to families nationally, and for the first time in months we've started to look seriously at the death rate again, which HM Government had massaged down to 41,000 at the start of July, but has since risen to 60,000, presenting the horrifying reality of this second wave, with the ONS suggesting that the rate should be revised significantly upwards again to reflect all the indirectly caused deaths that have occurred due to medical access restrictions during the months of pandemic conditions.

The 'Back in Lockdown' Finale Circuit 11/11/20

10.7 miles, from Morley Hole, via Dean Wood, Gelderd Road, Gildersome Street, Birstall Retail 

 Park, Upper Birstall, Oakwell Park, Gomersal (station), Birstall (Kirkgate), Popeley Gate, 

  White Lee, Carlinghow, Upper Batley, Scotchman Lane, Elvaston estate, and Scatcherd Park. 

The disappointment that we feel right now is the fact that I am unable to travel away to spend my birthday weekend with My Mum down in Leicester due to the re-imposition of national lockdown restrictions, and so we are effectively back into isolation in Morley for another month while we hope that the Covid infection rate starts to go back down, but extra time on my hands gives me an opportunity to walk some more, after the date that had been the scheduled conclusion for the year, and why not, when there's an opportunity to push my mileage total just that bit further along? So, ahead of turning 46, we'll snag ourselves another local Lockdown circuit, for old times sake, and to snare a few more nearby lanes that wouldn't offer up an otherwise obvious passage, heading out to Morley Hole under the least inspiring sort of late season gloom, for a 9.05am start, and immediately seeking the local roads that haven't already seen all the footfalls back in the Spring - Summer section of the year, which means we head off up Asquith Avenue, heading northwest along a pavement untraced in six seasons, beyond Morley Victoria school and the terraces adjacent to it. Then on, between the Dean Hall and Ingles estates, up to the still extant Deanfield Mills and its terrace block before heading out of town over the M621, and down with the road as it dives through Dean Wood, the enduring bastion of greenery above Dean Beck and Gildersome tunnel, ahead of the rise up alongside the 62 Leeds industrial estate, which has claimed all the open fields between the woodland and the A62, which we meet at the Gildersome Arms corner and join instead of continuing on into the village. We'll keep on Gildersome's periphery as we trace the side of Gelderd Road southwesterly, on the trunk route to Huddersfield (a passage from Leeds that I'm still to do in its entirety, incidentally), landing in a landscape that is almost entirely one of industrial estates facing the suburban fringe of the village, with only a few outliers giving it any appeal at all, like the Belle Vue terrace and Parkfield house, ahead of the rise between the Finnings Caterpillar dealership and the Overland Park industrial estate, by the playing fields and the passage of the Leeds Country Way. Rising up towards the top of Street Lane, gives a clear indication that the A62 - A650 junction at Gildersome Street sits squarely on the Aire - Calder watershed, and why the old Ardsley - Laisterdyke railway line needed a tunnel to pass below it back in the day, and once we've traced our byzantine passage across the traffic island, we start our descent down the other side, below the Junction 27 flyovers of the combining M621 and M62, seen up close on multiple occasions, and still showing up just how overly massive and unnatural motorways appear in the landscape when regarded on foot. 

Brighouse to Morley 07/11/20

10.6 miles, via Brighouse Bridge, Clifton, Hartshead Moortop, Hartshead Moorside, Hightown, 

 Knowler Hill, Liversedge, Littletown, Westfield, White Lee, Smithies, Birstall, Copley Hill, 

  Howden Clough, Bruntcliffe, and Leeds 27 Ind Est.

So, as of November 5th were into our second National Covid Lockdown, but it already looks like it's going to be a different beast from the first, as much greater flexibility and mobility is permitted, and indeed expected, this time around, and despite inessential travel being discouraged, I'm figuring that a single half-hour trip out of the region at the end of my walking season to complete the second leg of my homeward bound trip is going to be way down the risk list as we speak, and that the British Transport Police are going to have better things to do that track down solo-walking miscreants like myself. Thus my revived season concludes by heading out from Brighouse, just like it started back in July, alighting my train at 8.50am having travelled out through fog and mist that looks like it's going to linger over the whole day, and again starting out by not taking the most obvious route forwards, by heading west from the station via Railway Street to Gooder Lane, so we might pass the church of St John the Divine, which claims to be in Raistrick, to further confuse the geography of the area, ahead of pacing John Street to meet the long flight of steps that drops us down to Bridge End by the Star inn. Joining up with the A643m, it takes us under Brighouse viaduct and over the Calder at Brighouse bridge, before snaking around to meet Briggate once again, passing over the Canal and completing one of my most fatuous detours designed to keep my paths fresh, only getting properly on track as we join Bethel Street as the local shops are opening up, and barely showing the indications of the lockdown situation that exists at present, while getting the feeling that we've really done a number on this town centre during my many passages across it this year. Lawson Road leads us to the tangling of the local bypass roads, where we cross over to get on track with the A643 Clifton Road again, passing though the industrial band that sits around the lower reach of Clifton Beck, which is crossed over ahead of passing over the Calderdale Way route and meeting the remains of the railway embankments of the L&YR's Pickle Bridge line, with the station remnants of Clifton Road station being seen to the south of the main road. The climb of Clifton Common beyond is one we've paced before, and continues our theme of serious rises and falls on the year's paths, rising past the strings of terraces that rise up the hillside from the hillside up to the suburban infill, before we reach the open fields ahead of Clifton village, where we'd expect our views back into the valley, but there's just fog blanketing the scene instead, meaning all our attention will settle onto our pace in the absence of views as we run past the Armytage Arms and rise to Highmoor Lane beyond.

Mytholmroyd to Brighouse 31/10/20

10.7 miles, via Ewood Hall, Midgley, Lane Ends, Luddenden, Hollins Wood, Newlands Gate, 

 Norton Tower, Highroad Well, Thrum Hall,  Halifax (The Gibbet, Cross Fields, North Bridge 

  and Charlestown), Southowram Bank, Bank Top, Withen Field, Southowram, 

   St Anne in the Grove, and Brookfoot.

I'd really have liked to have gotten out to Mytholmroyd during half term, but with My Good Friends having both returned to full time teaching since the summer, and the worsening Covid rates doing their best to amplify the risk factors, it just didn't seem wise to try to re-establish my Support Bubble at this stage, and thus it is rather reluctantly collapsed until the Festive Season at the earliest, but as it has been my home-from-home over this past season, it still seems sensible to use the town as my start line for my homeward bound finale, back to Morley by the shortest route possible(?). Unfortunately, the weather projection isn't looking too clever, but a Sunday option isn't there thanks to engineering works screwing everything up, ans so we alight 9.10am, feeling certainty that there will be rainfall during the trip, following the pattern of the week if we can judge by the flows of Cragg Brook, as seen from New Road, and the Calder as observed at Mytholmroyd bridge, looking far fuller than they did on any of my visits in the Spring and Summer, though still way below dangerous flood levels, obviously. In keeping with this year's theme of tracing many ups and downs, that's what we'll keep to as the last legs home are forged, starting by rising from the A646 Burnley Road and setting off up Midgley Road, past the Russell Dean store and over the Rochdale Canal via White Lee bridge, past the enduring Clog Mill, and through the band of vintage houses before we reach the elevated reach of suburbia beyond, with the sizable Calder Learning Trust in its midst as it stretches uphill, with the descending channel of Foster Clough running through it, before entering its culvert. Further up the valley side than you'd expect, we finally break into the countryside, angling ourselves to the east, looking up to the woods of Han Royd Bank, and rising carefully up to the hamlet of Ewood Hall, which seems to have retained all of the farmsteads, barns and auxiliary cottages of its estate, while managing to lose its main house, though Ewood Court appears to be for sale if you've got a lot of cash to drop, to gain a residence with views to Cragg Vale, Scout Wood and Crow Hill. That's the landscape we'll take in as we power uphill along the well-contained lane to meet Height Road and Midgley village again, which doesn't have quite the appeal seen previously on a glum day like this one, with it all feeling a bit more removed from the world, strung out at the end of a very remote bus route and feeling like a bit of harsh weather could isolate it horribly, revealing just how much the weather can affect my regard for a location, not that the residents seem to mind as they come and go along Town Gate and we press through to the Lydgate junction once again.

Hebden Bridge to Halifax 25/10/20

11.5 miles, via Machpelah, Birchcliffe, Wadsworth Lanes, Height Road, Foster Clough, 

 Han Royd Bank, Midgley, Thorny Lane, Dry Carr, Luddenden Dean, Low Bridge,  

  Throstle Bower, Saltonstall, Caty Well Bridge, Crossroads Inn, Mount Tabor, Dodgson Wood, 

   Pellon, Mount Pleasant, Cross Fields, and the Piece Hall.

It's probably been observed here before, but when the clocks change, it's possible to trick yourself into an early start on Sunday morning as your body is yet to re-tune itself to the hour gained with the resumption of GMT, and this is particularly useful when your Saturday washes out and a much, much brighter day is projected to follow it, so getting ahead of the limited services to Calderdale means that you can be alighting the 9.20am train at Hebden Bridge without having broken you weekend sleep patterns, and all sorts of prepared for a turn along the north side of the Calder valley for a change. What you aren't ready for is the hiss of rain that passes over as you start out, weather that ought to be expected at this time of year, in this location but still catches you out as you pick an alternate route out to the A646 Burnley Road, via Mayroyd Lane and Crow Nest bridge over the Calder and up through the yard of reclaimed stone to still pass over the Rochdale Canal on the Station Road bridge, ahead of rising past the smart terraces and villas at the Machpelah corner and elevating with the A6033 Commercial Road. We've a lot of climbing to do to get onto our high downstream route, and thus we join Birchcliffe Road as it presses forcefully uphill, through an accumulation of proud terraces that still have me wondering just how this town grew around the merging rivers and up the steep valley sides in the 19th century, as we head up past the Stubbings school and up to the apex corner, then passing the hostel and school in th old Baptist chapel and rising sharply on as the weather blows itself out and sunshine pours in over the lower wooded reaches of Hebden Water, with St Thomas the Apostle's tower in Heptonstall rising above it. We rise with Wadsworth Lane to what feels like the top of the town, only to find a block of council houses on the high apron of fields above it, as if there wasn't anywhere else to place them, which we rise on past, with the valley view expanding behind us in the sunshine, revealing the path to the south that we took down into the town a few weeks back, as we also cross our last previous path in the vicinity, blazed in 2013 and revealing that the north side of Calderdale is still wanting for attention, even now. Shift away from having the sunshine directly in our eyes and roll uphill among the farmsteads that occupy the lane below the high road and the moorland apron, a cluster that seems to be growing into another suburban sort of hamlet, which I'm calling Wadsworth Lanes, high over the valley, from where we can look up the valley of Hebden Water to the north to spy the Old Town Mill on its high perch, while also rising high enough to spy all the wooded branches of the Calder splitting off the valley below and to look across to Stoodley Pike rising above the moorland brow to the south, revealing why people might want to reside up here, despite the practical inconveniences.

The Halifax Circular 17/10/20

14.5 miles, from Sowerby Bridge, via Warley Town, Newlands Gate, Warley Common, 

 Mount Tabor, Moor End, Mixenden, The Bank, Illingworth, Holdsworth, Holmfield, 

  Slack End, Swales Moor, Pule Hill, Pepper Hill, Claremount, Beacon Hill, Bank Top, 

   Whitegate, Siddal, Salterhebble, Skircoat Green, Long Wood, Scar Bottom, and Pye Nest. 

Just like last year, it's taken a bit of a while to get to my late season Urban Circular plan, as all those schemes between the Colne and Calder just kept on coming, leaving us with only a small sliver of the year left for us to tilt at the last long trail of the year, returning to Saturday walking at the conditions don't look favourable for either day of the weekend, and aiming for an early start as the changeable conditions on the Pennine fringe could easily take a turn at any point after we've laid down our start line at just after 9.00am at Sowerby Bridge station. Thus we depart from the north entrance, onto Holmes Road and immediately head for the Calder crossing between the mill sites at the valley floor, and head up the ginnel that drops us out onto the A58 Wharf Street, which is crossed by the pub on the corner, across from Christ Church as we join Tuel Lane, the short A6139 as it presses its way uphill out of the valley, over the deep lock 3/4 on the Rochdale canal and on past the Lidl store and the tower blocks that loom over the townlet. It's a stiff climb, as is well known in the valley, and there's going to be about 200m of it to do as we aim ourselves to the west of Halifax, on among the terraces and the old school which sit above the blocks of flats as we press on upward, meeting more than one false summit on the lane with frankly inadequate pavements as we rise up, past the Waiters Arms inn to meet the A646 Burnley Road, which has been the northern boundary to our field for the year so far, beyond which a suburban ribbon strings itself along the rising Blackwall Lane. We land in countryside proper as we meet Water Hill Lane, which continues the climb, giving us looks up and down the Calder valley as well as a look back up the Ryburn to the south, as gloom and the hiss of low cloud starts to blanket the scenery, while we still have an upward trajectory to trace as we head up, around the cricket field and  towards Warley Town, a still rural village beyond the reach of the town to the east, which has cottages with fine views on its lower half, ahead of the shaded passage around past Cliff Hill house and the Grange, with the main street, as such beyond. Here we find the Maypole inn, the chapel, and the drinking fountain in the middle of a small picturesque idyll that is really on for the scrapbook, with Warley Town Lane offering us our way onward, past the well concealed suburban accumulation to the village's north, and into the fields by the remote club grounds of Halifax Vandals RUFC, below the westernmost extremity of Halifax, the Norton Tower estate, perched above the tree and moorland clad edge of Camp End.

Halifax to Slaithwaite 11/10/20

15.3 miles, via Clover Hill Walk / Cat Steps, Savile Park, Birdcage Hill, Copley Valley, 

 Spark House, Harper Royd, Norland Moor Bottom, Butterworth End, Barkisland (Cross), 

  Ripponden Bank, Cob Clough, Cliff Lane, Heys Lane, Hall Green, Moselden Pasture, 

   Scammonden Bridge. Deanhead, Scammonden Reservoir, Scammonden Dam, Wood Edge, 

    O'Cot, Worts Hill, Ainley Place, Clough House, and Hill Top Reservoir. 

Sunday walking comes around again, due to Saturday inclemency and the promise of a much brighter day subsequent to it, and as we can still do inessential travel, despite the worsening Covid infection rates, busing and training it the log way around can get us to Halifax for a 9.55am jump off, alighting for a later start than usual under the brightest of late season blue skies, which illuminates the area around the Square Chapel and the Piece hall as we rise away up Horton Street, feeling like we've arrived in town ahead of all the regular local shoppers. Of course there are other reasons for the quiet, but that means I'm not going to look like so much of a stranger as we make our way up to the Royal Oak corner and angle ourselves away up St John's Avenue on the day's southwesterly trajectory, rubbing us right up against the town's old urban terraces that butt right up next to the Lloyds Bank offices, beyond Commercial Street, which gives us a nice contrast of Victorian and Modernist before we delve off into the suburbia which lies beyond Savile Road, where older villas and their estates got consumed in waves over the last century. So it's on among the semis on Well Head Lane, and thence into the more contemporary Lego houses on Central Park, seeking the Clover Hill Walk path as it traces its old course through the slight depression in the landscape, before we meet the steep rise of the cobbled Cat Steps path that leads us up into the terraced district to the east of Savile Park, which we approach via Clover Hill Road and Free School Lane, ahead of arriving by St Jude's church. We'll make our way down its eastern perimeter, along Queen's Gate, in front of the villas that have the prime location overlooking the expanse of grasslands and the avenues of trees, ahead of Wainhouse Tower and the Crossley Heath school, and in the current climate, it's good to see how many people have still come out to make use of it on a sunny morning, be it to jog, meet up with their dog-walking group or do a spot of circuit training in the fields beyond the lodge and chip shop, which we pass on our way to crossing the A646 Skircoat Moor Lane at its southern end. We are then drawn on, into the landscape of walled estates that have mostly had their gardens claimed by upscale suburbia, passing the Southwood Club and the Gleddings Prep School on Birdcage Lane, which provides our route off the town's plateau and into the wooded north bank of the Calder Valley, as we meet the path of Birdcage Hill dropping sharply downhill between the ancient woodlands of Long Wood and Scar Wood, before giving us some setts to carefully trace our way down on Woodhouse Lane.

Marsden to Halifax 04/10/20

13.5 miles, via Dirker, Sparth Reservoir, Slaithwaite Hall, Booth Hey Top, Cop Hill, Cop Rough, 

 Bradshaw, Pole Moor, Wilson Hill, Broom Hill, Moor Hey, Sowood Green, Holywell Brook, 

  Dean, Jagger Green, Broad Carr, Bradley Mills, Greetland, North Dean Wood, Copley, 

   Skircoat Green, Manor Heath Park, and Shaw Hill. 

Autumn, and the Late Season, is now upon us, which is frustrating as my walking brain is ready for the Summer, while my body is prepped for the season to be over ASAP, leaving me in an odd place as local lockdowns haven't pushed inessential travel off the permissible activities list yet, though Saturday falls from the schedule thanks to an all-day downpour, meaning that we are having to test out the weird public transport vicissitudes that come with needing to get out to the Colne Valley on a Sunday morning, travelling via busing it to Leeds so we aren't starting out with most of the morning hours already lost. So ride the express to alight at a whisker after 9.35am at Marsden station, where a familiar pall of low cloud hangs above the hills to the south and west of the town, which we won't be venturing into as our path aims us out of the north side of the Colne valley, starting out by joining Dirker Drive as it runs above the railway, among the council estate and on to the Plains terraces, which give us a look at the residential aspect of Marsden which has eluded us on many prior visits, ahaed of dropping over the metals via Planes Lane bridge and joining Marsden Lane as it runs east, along the suburban ribbon that spreads down the valley. The countryside soon take over though, beyond White Syke farm and the stream aqueduct over the railway line, placing just above the Narrow canal as we head downstream, ahead of passing around the north side of Sparth reservoir, one of the feeders for the navigation channel, which is as close as we'll be getting to any reservoir walking today after last weekend's excess of it, passing below the canopy of twisted trees as we rise up to meet the passage under the rails to meet the wooded lower reaches of Drop Clough, the deep groove in the valley side that prevents a straight forwards ascent to the northeast. Pass over the noisily running stream before we meet the ancient packhorse track which pushes up out of it eastern side, a pleasing runs of setts in a deep groove that wends its way up through the tree cover, an old lane that the modern world has mostly forgotten about, rising to a reveal over the Colne Valley, across from the sadly demolished Cellars Clough mills, and running us up to Marsden Lane, again, as it rises steeply up the side of Booth Gate Clough. It's steep pull to finally get us going in the direction that we wish to travel, revealing the sharp moorland nab of Booth Hey to the east of us, and passing the farm hamlet of Slaithwaite Hall to the west, feeling happy that there's no traffic trying to use this narrow track as we press on uphill, meeting the other walkers out in the morning gloom, as we rise to meet the high apron of fields above the valley, 100m up from its floor, as we pick a deliberately wandering route ahead, eschewing the option of available shortcuts.

Smithy Bridge to Marsden 26/09/20

12.4 miles, via Hollingworth Lake, Rakewood, Booth Hollings Mill, Longden End Brook, 

 Thorney Bank, Rag Hole, Piethorne Reservoir, Hanging Lees Reservoir, Cold Greave Clough, 

  Rapes Highway, Readycon Dean Reservoir, Broad Greave Hill, Haighs Gutter, Little Moss, 

   Castleshaw Moor, Millstone Edge, Brun Moor, Cabe Whams, Warcock Hill, Carr Clough, 

    and Netherley. 

Since we were last out, a whole lot of new lockdown restrictions have been put in place, both locally and nationally, but as there aren't any being placed on non-essential travel, and as I still trust my socially distanced judgment, we're going to continue as planned as increasing Covid infections aren't going to get in the way of me finishing my Spring slate of walks, at the very end of Summer, as the sun threatens to shine down on us, but the turning of the Autumn season means the need for early starts are not necessary now, despite the distance to travel. So me land for our last trip in Greater Manchester for this year at 9.35am at Smithy Bridge station, still a considerable step away from Rochdale in the wrong direction from our route as we set course for our fourth and final trans-Pennine route, heading back up the lane to Hollingworth Lake as the morning sunshine bathes the village in a weird sepulchral tone thanks to the sun being blocked by a single dense cloud in the otherwise blue skies as the uphill path sets the tone for the day. Arriving on the Lake Bank shore of the lane has me surprised how busy it feels for so early in the morning, until you realise that it's nearly 10am and a perfect time for a brew to be taken by the other visitors in the cafes that face the The Beach and the boating club, and we'll pace our way on to continue the circuit that we started last week, by crossing the car park to meet the perimeter path, starting out from the slipway that has been taken over by the local geese and ducks, before pacing east alongside the gardens on the north side, observing that there still seems to be rowing activity going on, despite the lake being officially closed to leisure boating. We are led on below the northern dam, the Lake Bank itself, containing the water from escaping down to the canal and river Roch below to the north, passing the main valve tower as we come around to the Wine Press once again, this time clear of many drinkers as we retrace our path on the eastern bank, over the Hollingworth Bank Dam and on southwards, taking care not to be tempted onto the northern reach of the Pennine Bridleway as it splits off and we carry on down to the edge of the nature reserve, and the beginnings of our route into the western face of the Pennine ridge. Rakewood Road leads us alongside Longden End beck as it flows down from the hills, between the field where the local geese reside in vast quantity and the reservoir's feature campsite, nestled among the low foothills that surround the outlying farmstead and cottages, as we move away from the local tourist traffic, on a route that will have the low sun in our face for a while, towards Rakewood hamlet, the last significant settlement that we'll be seeing in a while as we set course up onto the Greater Manchester face of the moorlands.

Mytholmroyd to Smithy Bridge 19/09/20

12.2 miles, via Hoo Hole, Dauber bridge, Cragg Vale, Cragg Bottom, Cragg village, 

 Bank Top wood, Sykes, Wicken Hill, Saw Gill, Turvin Road, Blackstone Edge reservoir, 

  Cowberry Hill, Lydgate, Whittaker golf course, Ealees Wood, Ealees, Littleborough, 

  Hollingsworth Lake & Nature Reserve.

My (very) late Summer Nine day Weekend lands, and I'm not feeling the huge need to use it all up putting down as many miles as possible, even with the opportunity for a holiday away being not really plausible in the circumstances, as the walking can take a bit of a back seat to more important business, though the trans-Pennine routes can continue along slightly more modest distances, especially as we have a route to approach that has been travelled many times over the years, but never on foot, and getting that off of my slate of unseen routes needs to happen before this year fades. There's absolutely no need for early starts now that we have burned off all the long routes for the year, the extra hour of rest being appreciated before we ride away for a 9.10am departure from Mytholmroyd, not under the friendliest of skies but hopeful that a nicer day will arrive as we get towards the top of the day, and thus we set off south, past the shoulder of Mutton, the village green and over Cragg Brook to get to the real start line of the day, the bottom of the B6138 Cragg Vale ascent, the longest road gradient in England, rising almost 300m over 5 miles, from the bottom of the Calder Valley to the Lancashire Border. I'm going to test this as a speed ascent, and the early stretch, taking us out of the village, beyond the old firehouse, my regular base on Cragg Road and the Royd Ices factory at Hoo Hole don't give the suggestion of a workout to come, but as we open out into the greenery of the valley, and press on up to Dauber Bridge, the shallow but unrelenting ascent starts to make itself felt, and even an early hour its obvious that I'm not going to be the only one testing the climb, as multiple soloists and groups of riders pass on their bicycles, testing themselves on a route given extra exposure by the Grand Depart of the 2014 Tour de France. Of course this is a path already paced this year, albeit downhill, so on the way up all that was seen in July is seen again today, from the caravan park, the Clough Foot farmsteads, the high banks of Hollin Hey Wood, and the deep and wooded gouge formed by Cragg Brook ahead, though the topiary hedge dragon by Moorfield house is a new one, and experiencing any route as an ascent is always good for the variety, and the route up as far as the Robin Hood inn has been traced before, on a dark evening when the Shoulder was closed because of one of its floods, and thus it's nice to trace the path again in daylight. That's us up as far as Cragg Bottom in what feel like no time at all, where route have already brought us twice this season, but there's fresh pavements to tackle once we've passed the Peter Row terrace and the way down to Castle Mills, finding that this hamlet stretches some way further up the road, with new residences with a view having spread on the declining side of the lane from the builders yard to the old Wesleyan chapel, to afford views over to the western valley side where we travelled up and down in preceding weeks on routes that I just cannot trace on this occasion.

Littleborough to Halifax 12/09/20

18 miles, via Gale, Summit, Warland Gate, Bottoms, Walsden, Gauxholme, Salford, 

 Todmorden, Millwood, Lobb Mill, Spring Side, Eastwood, Sandbed, Charlestown, Calderside, 

  Mytholm, Hebden Bridge, Hawksclough, Mythholmroyd, Brearley, Luddenden Foot, Friendly, 

   Causeway Head, Cote Hill, Granny Hill, and King Cross.

After so many weeks of complaining about this season's weather, it actually looks like Summer might have an End of note, which is nice to consider as the morning shadows lengthen and the early chills set in, indeed rising with the lark to travel start to feel a trifle unnecessary when the days are taking to some time to warm through, but when a long trip is in the offing, it seems wise to still make best use of the day, and having finally made this year's triumphant arrival in Lancashire, it's already time to get out of it, via possibly the lowest impact trans-Pennine route in this quarter, with my light boots donned for a welcome change. So it's ride the rails out to Littleborough for an 8.30am alight, setting a northbound course that immediately has little for me to do with regards navigation, giving us a raw mileage sort of day after the more complicated moorland walks prior to it, departing the station yard to Railway Street and crossing over the modest River Roch as we go, turning onto the A58 Halifax Road by the imposing Wheatsheaf inn and passing the snow and ice alert signage for the high road passages, right by Holy Trinity parish church, just ahead of the turn onto the A6033 Todmorden Road, which has us done with corners for a while. It's upstream with the Roch that we are headed, along the same passage as the canal and the railway, though the depth of the valley is hidden by the low rises of terraces and industrial units stretched along the roadside, offering us little to indicate that the South Pennines and the Rossendale Moors loom large to either side of us, though the climb does start to feel more pronounced as we head on, as we pass into the urban hamlet of Gale, with its Fair View terrace perched over the roadside and the fields starting to angle steeply beyond. Once past the Grove dyeworks redevelopment, and in the vicinity of nearby Calderbrook, whose stray terraces and village school sit by the roadside, we've risen high enough to get a dramatic sort of location around, revealing the cloud brushed hills to the east and looking across the valley to the imposing and derelict Rock Nook cotton mill, sat above the railway as it starts its gouge through the hills, with the aqueduct containing the Roch running above the cutting while doubling as a canal flood run-off. The main point of engineering interest is found beyond, across from the Sladen Wood cotton mill, namely the L&YR's 1.6 mile long Summit Tunnel of 1841, presenting quite the dramatic image with its southern portal, still in regular use despite the petrol train fire that closed it for much of 1985 (giving it a record of the World's longest when constructed, and site of possibly the largest underground transport fire too), a length which we will be tracing as we head on, through the hamlet of Summit, the last such settlement in this corner Greater Manchester, which is looking pleasing and stoney at the roadside as we pass through.

Lockwood to Littleborough 05/09/20

16.3 miles, via Yews Hill, Crosland Moor Bottom, Paddock (Foot, Brow & Clough), Royds Hall, 
 Cliff End, Longwood (& the Edge), Salendine Nook, Mount, Outlane, Gosport, Stainland Dean, 
  Firth House mills, Knowsley Hill, Ringstone Edge reservoir, Withens End, Booth Wood, 
   Pike Clough, Rishworth Moor (Pike End, Blackwood Edge, Dog Hill, Green Withens Edge, 
    Flint Hill Drain, Rishworth Drain, & Old Packhorse Road), Blackstone Edge Moor 
     (Aggin Stone, BSE Pasture & Roman Road), Lydgate, Gate House, and Durn.

September arrives with us still deep in our schedule of Spring walking plans, and with me wondering if this garbage Summer is actually going to offer us something that resembles The End of Summer as we shift over into markedly cooler days and lower angles of sunshine in the shifts of the season, not that it really matters as I have a slate of four walks to get into that had been intended as a prelude to a Summer of burning as many Trans-Pennine route as possible between West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester, a plan that we can only nibble at now before we start to run out of long enough days, a mere month in the future. So our routes Over The Top for this month start in the vicinity of greater Huddersfield, still travelling early as we alight at Lockwood at 8.15am, with the day promising to be chillier than it is bright, landing on the Holme valley side again, though just barely, as glimpsed as we pass under the railway for the downhill view before starting off northwards, up Winton Street to make our way over the top of the terrace-clad Yews Hill, along its eponymous top lane and down Moorbottom Road before splitting onto the footbridge path that leads back over the railway, revealing the north portal of the tunnel that penetrates it. We then move on into the Colne Valley through the tangle of terraces which lead us out to the bottom of Blackmoorfoot Road, a familiar corner of Crosland Moor Bottom, crossing the A62 junction by the Griffin Hotel and diving downhill via Birkhouse Road to meet the Narrow Canal, by the IronWorks flats, and the River Colne, both crossed in short order among the Paddock Foot industrial zone and under the shadow of the iron spans of Long Royd viaduct, and our long ascent away starts as we rise up Shires Hill road to meet Market Street, a major suburban lane of West Huddersfield. We seek the interesting green lanes and split levels of this town though, so we quickly slip away down Brow Road, which is Colne Valley leafiness incarnate beyond the Wren Street corner, with the few suburban arrivals getting that countryside feel in  the heart of the town, concealing that fact that it was once wholly terraced on the length of its sweep around to the rise over the railway line to Manchester in its deep cutting, with us progressing on up Clough Lane to the Paddock Clough traffic island, home to both the Angel and Royal Oak inns. Get back onto a clear trajectory as we rise onto Longwood Road taking us on through the terraces and house of the Royds Hill estate, past the old Co-op store on the Quarmby Road corner and on up through the runs of terraces that sit above the valley side, before we drop some through the corner of Cliff End, which gives us some upstream views towards Scapegoat Hill, and is in usefully close proximity to the former Longwood & Milnsbridge station before we are angled along Vicarage Road, and into the dry valley of Ballroyd Clough.

Slaithwaite to Hebden Bridge 29/08/20

17.9 miles, via Crimble, Wellhouse, Bolster Moor, Clough Head, Quebec, Croft House Moor, 
 Camp Hill, Scammonden Dam, Meg Dike, Krumlin, Slack, Ripponden, Royd Lane, 
  Cross Wells, Blackshaw Clough, Lighthazles, Cross Dikes, Flints (moor & reservoir), 
   Slate Delfs, Sykes Gate, Turvin Clough, Cove Hill, Hove Yards Wood, Turley Holes Edge, 
    Withens Clough Reservoir, Higher Moor, Sunderland Pasture, Higham, Erringden Moor, 
     Cock Hill Moor, Wood Top, and Crow Nest Wood. 

When I initially planned for a long August Bank Holiday weekend, between my usual breaks in July and September, it was in the hope that I might be able to travel away for my own solo holiday and burn a few trails that bit further from home than usual, but pandemic circumstances have transpired to render it as my first and only opportunity to get together with my family this summer, and thus the walking options have to be reduced to fit that in, as well as clearing away a lot of necessary housework that has lain fallow since my walking year resumed, on the early days. So as Mum is travelling up on the Saturday evening, it again pays to ride out early to do yet another trail from Colne to Calder, which should be the last of them, alighting in the sunshine at Slaithwaite station at 8.35am, and setting course for possibly the easiest of all the route out of the valley to the north, favouring the long and slow ascent that can be found by heading east, following Station Road as it passes below the high stone retaining walls that contain the remnants of the original station buildings and foot tunnel, heading down to pass below Crimble viaduct. This leads us to the Swan inn, and the heart of the sub-village of Crimble, where our lane ascends up the valley side on as shallow and angle as is plausible, with Radcliffe Road raising itself beyond the terraces, through the wooded bank and on upwards through the suburban outliers that have chosen their perch over the Colne valley very carefully, ahead of the hidden hamlet of hilltop and up to the emerging view downstream towards Titanic Mill at Linthwaite and back to Deer Hill and Pule Hill at the valley head. It might be the long way round, but its worth it to emphasise the scenic potential of the valley, one that's a bit too easy to disregard, and you do wonder if Westwood House and the nearby rural terraces arrived here to absorb the views deliberately, beyond which we locate the village of Wellhouse, where the village school possibly has one of the best views of any educational establishment, and the rural weavers cottages of the upper village pile up haphazardly, beyond which we start our rise out of the valley after a good mile in the 'wrong' direction by hitting Copley Bank Road. This rises us above the wooded side valley that cleaves this side of the Colne, beyond which Golcar can be seen, scattered down its own hillside, looking like a model village with its cottages and terraces best arranged to exploit the sunlight needed for domestic weaving, with our route finally tending northwest as we rise above to an expanding downstream view, while we are directed steeply uphill towards Heath House Mill and the Bank End terraces, later arrivals on the woollen industry scene in this valley.

Sowerby Bridge to Walsden 22/08/20

15.1 miles, via Scar Head, Wood Nock, Triangle, Mill Bank, Lumb, Cotton Stones, 
 Lighthazles, Blackshaw Clough, Syke Hill, Soyland Moor, Manshead End, Collin Hill, 
  Cold Laughton Drain, Byron Edge Drain, Whiteholme Reservoir, White Holme Drain, 
   Turley Holes & Higher House Moor, Withins Moor, Warland Drain, Langfield Common, 
    Gaddings Dam, Basin Stone, Rake End, Salter Rake Gate, and Birks Clough. 

Our morning ride out for today's excursion, breaking the theme of the revive season by staying wholly in the Calder catchment, show us the we can have no clear expectations of what the weather is going to bring, as we board our early train from Morley in bright late Summer sunshine, which gets replaced by a fierce rainstorm as we pass through Brighouse, which has passed as we land in Sowerby Bridge, under skies so dark and overcast that all the street lights have come on, making 8.05am feel a lot earlier than it is in reality, and gets you wondering what the day might bring before any footfalls are made. We have the 69th and final unseen railway station in West Yorkshire as our destination, with a lot of Calderdale to cross to get there, so haste needs to be made, away from this one and it curious mix of vintages, hitting the rise of Norland Road as swiftly as possible and getting the pulse going as we head up the double-arrowed lane, before rising with the footpath alternative to Boggart Lane as it heads up to Sowerby Croft Lane, immediately regretting the choice as the steep setts and steps are as slick as after the recently passed downpour, but at least the views reward as we ascend to the high east side of the Ryburn valley. We'll hang on this edge as we go on for the initail stages, passing through the elevated hamlet of Scar Head before joining the high track of Long Lane, a road that really looks like it ought to go somewhere but is only used for remote farm access as it settles in among the angled fields, not too far away from the Rishworth branch line, which hides under the tree cover below as we pass the path tops that we had intended to use to access it, coming around to the high reveal of the valley ahead, looking up to the field we walked above a few weekends back, and down to Bank House farm, somehow crammed into the angled fields below. Rise as the lane chooses to crest high, before our gradual descent starts, beginning as we drop down to the junction at Lane Bottom, where all of the ongoing routes are not recommended to motorists, take the lower road, which takes us past the pair of Wood Nock farmsteads, again clinging to the valley side, looking like desirable country retreats these days, with the road ceasing to be driveable beyond, and pretty much unwalkable too as the steep run of uphill cobbles looks unappealing and slick, but an alternative is presented that features no ascent at all. So footpath it instead, guided through to the top edge of Dodge Royd wood, through which the railway cutting gouges, following the contour around as it passes through the open fields and meets the descending track from Oaken Royd farm, a wise corner to cut off as we are quickly led to the bridge over the throat of Triangle station, and a route is retraced as Stansfield Mill Lane drops us down past the cricket club and over the Ryburn, past the eponymous mill and up to meet the A58.

Mytholmroyd Bubble Walks 4 & 5 15/08/20 & 16/08/20

1.2 miles, from Cragg Road, via St Michael's, Mytholmroyd Bridge and Caldene Bridge, 

 & 1.8 miles, from Cragg Road, via Hawksclough Bridge, the Rochdale Canal, 

  Mytholmroyd bridge and Cragg Brook.

It hadn't been my intention to drop out from my walking schedule this weekend, but when a call came inviting me out for another return to my Support Bubble in Calderdale, taking the opportunity seemed too good to miss, as the local lockdown restrictions don't apply to our particular type of socialising, and Barbecue is offered as a clincher by My Good Friends, and that seems like a most appealing prospect when the weather projection isn't great, far cooler and greyer than last weekend turned out, demonstrating further that this Summer has no idea at all what it's trying to do. Sadly, opportunities for major exercise aren't really forthcoming as my invitation only gets a late response due to me not seeing it until Friday evening, curtailing the chance of a two night stay, and also precluding an early start on Saturday as supplies need to be gotten in ahead of my visit, as they haven't been obtained preemptively, and so we don't land at Chez IH&AK until after Saturday lunchtime, meaning there isn't enough afternoon to head out for an uphill blast after brews and a conflab, meaning that none of us will have the chance to hit the 383m summit of Crow Hill for the first time. So we only stroll in the village instead, and I really mean stroll, as the walks we do would barely feel worthy of recording at all if it wasn't for all the potential miles lost during 2020, heading out from base on Cragg Road at 2.35pm, walking into the village , beyond the station and viaduct to see how more of the flood defence works have progressed, noting that while so much has been built anew along the sides of Cragg Brook over the last couple of years, some of the older walls retaining the gardens of Streamside Fold have started to suffer from cracking. A detour off New Road takes us through the churchyard of St Michael's, which gives us a dramatic foreground for the fine view up to the woodlands and rocks of Scout Scar above the valley, a grand backdrop to take in as we visit the public gardens around the bowling green, recently replanted after the civil engineering depot that had spent many months on the tennis courts site finally moved out, having completed most of the work deepening and widening the channel of the Calder, downstream from Mytholmroyd Bridge. The major local interest point remains the relocation of Caldene Bridge upstream, with the original span now completely removed as a pool is created upstream from the Calder-Cragg confluence, hopefully to allow water to back up safely in times of spate, and the increased width of the river is obvious as the south bank is completely rebuilt, with the piles now driven in and the construction of new retaining walls having started, allowing my friends to feel like this project is coming to a conclusion after nearly 4 years of work, as the village centre seeks its own new normal again.

Berry Brow to Sowerby Bridge 08/08/20

15.5 miles, via Armitage Bridge, Armitage Fold, Big Valley, Nether Moor, Crosland Moor Stone
 Circle, Crosland Hill, Milnsbridge, Scarbottom, Golcar, Scapegoat Hill, Longwood Common, 
  Round Ings, Slack, Outlane, Sowood, Sowood Green, Stainland, Dog Lane Mills, Bottomley, 
   Barkisland, Greetland Wall Nook, Norland, Norland Town, Spark House and Scar Head.

We've had a few days of high temperatures since my walking year formally revived this Summer, but this turns out to be the first to land on a Saturday, which allows us to head out with the anticipated worriies of how to keep cool and watered, rather than dry and warm as it has mostly turned out so far, and thus the sunshine blazes down as we take an early morning rid on three trains to get to our start line in the Holme valley, a bit remote from the usual lines of Colne and Calder, but making a whole lot more sense when it is recalled that this year was intended to have trails blazed westwards towards the Tame valley before the pandemic came a-calling. So to Berry Brow we head, where 2019's season ended, another world ago, alighting just ahead of 8.20 and rising to the suburban front of the district on the high east side of the valley, pacing along Birch Road before we set our course away down Station Lane, past the old station site and The Railway inn before descending down to the A616 Woodhead Road, which we join and then cross to head down among the tree cover around Carriage Drive to soon meet the valley bottom, crossing the River Holme via Armitage Bridge. The local landscape of Armitage Bridge house's parkland, the mass of Brooke's Mills office park and the parish church of St Peter's have all been noted on our last August passage down here, but the terraced blocks of Armitage Fold were not, built to serve the mill complex and located a ways down Armitage Road at the valley floor, now forming a pleasing little suburban enclave below the woods that crowd the west side of the Holme valley, through which we ascend again on the way up to meet Meltham Road, to enhance the feelings of 2019's travel experience. Progress with the shade coating the B6108 for a stretch, because I still haven't been able to suss if the route from Butternab Road to Delves farm is publicly accessible or not, and erring on the side of caution has us getting a s close to Nether ton as we can before returning down Nether Moor Road to make our passage across the Big Valley, through the tree cover of Dean Clough and under the former Meltham branch line before rising up towards the farmsteads, where the lane is gated off and the view to their personal overbridge is best viewed, ahead of the next climb. The steep cobbled lane leads us uphill, alongside the edge of Dean Clough woods and away from the farmsteads that have clustered here, giving us a really good turn of early exercising, barely half an hour into the trip, as we come up to the open fields of Nether Moor, which we eventually strike across with the lane, just downwind of the Crosland Moor airfield, with enough altitude having been gained to have us higher than our start point and rewarded with a view across the Holme Valley to Castle Hill and far beyond.

Huddersfield to Todmorden 01/08/20

19.8 miles, via Fartown, Norman Park, Cowcliffe Side, Reap Hirst, Burn, Stone, Ainley Top,   Blackley, Hullen Edge, West Vale, Greetland, Greetland Moor, Norland, Longley, Triangle, 
  Field House, Hubberton Green, Long Edge Moor, Cragg Bottom, Lumb Stone, Knowl Hill, 
   Blaith Royd, Sunderland Pasture, Stoodley Pike, Harvelin Park, Mankinholes, Lumbutts, 
    Causeway Wood, Oldroyd, Kilnhurst, and Stansfield Bridge.

The end of July may have seen Kirklees and Calderdale districts put back into a local lockdown after spikes in Covid infections, but the restrictions seem to apply to private gatherings only, still allowing for free movement and travel, which means I won't be deterred from heading out onto a frankly bonkers distance to be attempting, and the fact that my headline says what it does immediately tells you that walking fortitude came my way despite the distance and the terrain, so let's get right into it here, as this is gonna be a long one. So to Huddersfield in the sunshine we ride, as early as is possible to depart the station at a whisker ahead of 8.10am, aiming ourselves onto the trajectory that opened this 2020 walking season as we head from the square past the George hotel, onto John William Street and past the old Empire cinema before passing under the end of the railway viaduct and on to meet the crossing of the inner ring road, picking the Unna Way side and finding that I've chosen the spot that doesn't have a crossing. Around the commercial estate on the old Newtown goods site we pass, to tangle up with the A641 again, because Bradford Road offers us the way through to the bottom of Halifax Old Road, which splits off to the northwest by the Slubbers Arms, a pub name that I'd hope was unique, as it then leads us on among the residences and terraces of Fartown, taking us over the old MR lines and greenway, and on past the Grimescar club and the mosque in an old chapel before we are soon upon Birkby Hall Road, the route of urban circular route from last year. The housing quality to the east of the lane improves as we rise on, above the edge of Norman Park, which is quiet at this hour and has a war memorial separate from the main one in the town, beyond which we start to find ourselves among the elevating wrinkles that rise over suburban Huddersfield, with the terraces of Cowcliffe side piling up above the road, with the cleft of the Grimescar beck valley cleaving its way through the spread below us, where suburban arrivals cling to the steep side of the lane to ensure feature views from their rears. The single depth of terraces fills the roadside right up to the woods above the town, and the suspicion that the old road has been much more under-used than usual with surpassed route is revealed as we come upon the bottom of Grimescar woods, with the road closed off for ongoing and extensive repairs beyond, and while my instinct says to carry on, the sound of tree surgery uphill suggest that such a move wouldn't be wise and our route will need a revision, heading down the drop of Slant Gate to reacquaint ourselves with the Kirklees Way.

Deighton to Mytholmroyd 25/07/20

15.7 miles, via Bradley Gate, Lower Fell Greave, Sheperd's Thorn, Booth Wood, Toothill, 
 Rastrick (Carr Green), Elland Lower Edge, Old Earth, Elland, Hullenedge Rec, Broad Carr, 
  Holywell Green, Stainland, Scar Hill, Bankhouse Mill, Barkisland Mill, Barkisland, 
   Bank Top, Ripponden, Soyland Town, Mill Bank, Field House, Sowerby, Dob, Higham, 
    Steep Lane, Long Causeway, Stake Lane, and Hall Bank.

I need a decent Summer to get my walking plans completed, and now I'm certain that the season is trolling me after giving us a warm spike on Friday which it promises won't persist into the weekend, and thus we set out on our early ride expecting the worst for yet another outdoor day, only to land ourselves in the Colne valley with the day bringing on sunshine that hadn't been projected at any point, with me dressed in waterproofs and having not applied sunblock despite us being at the start of the heights of Summer. So we alight at Deighton, on the eastern side of suburban Huddersfield, at 8.20am, ahead of most of the locals being roused for their weekend, and after the briefest of showers as we meet Whitacre Street and it's ascent over the current and former railways in the area, up to the Deighton Road corner where we meet the WMC and War Memorial, it's rapidly getting bright and too warm for extra layers and waterproofs need to be shed before we ascend the lane onwards, up past the Deighton Centre, the local multi-use sports arena. Our early route over the Colne-Calder watershed takes us onto a path that leads around the grounds of the Christ Church CofE academy, which feels like it hasn't seen much recent traffic as it skirts the car parks and boundary fence to lead into the woodlands that separates it from the suburban close beyond at the bottom end of Wiggan Lane, which will carry us north as it drops in quality, leading as a farm track up to the old Bradley Gate farm before becoming a rough path as to shadows the eastern edge of Lower Fell Greave wood. The covering of Beech trees snags us onto the route of the Kirklees Way as it leads uphill on Old Lane, passing a gatepost with a benchmark on it before landing among the expanding Bradley Business Park, which mostly hides from view behind foliage, but does reveal that it might have a traveler problem before we are propelled out onto the A6107 Bradley Road, which we cross to join Shepherd's Thorn Lane as it shadows the edge of Bradley Park golf course, and while the sunshine still holds sway here, we get rainclouds over Calderdale ahead. This does give us a rainbow hanging to our west as we progress beyond the fields at the hill crest and away from the Kirklees Way route, declining with a rougher track to meet the footbridge over the M62 on its long straight run down from Ainley Top, and join the improved track beyond as we enjoy our last footfalls in the district, passing the Booth Wood Scouts encampment and what looks like a roadside ice house that might double as portal to an alternate dimension for local teens to explore, in a Spielberg-esque fashion.

Slaithwaite to Sowerby Bridge 18/07/20

15.6 miles, via Hill Top, Wilberlee, Pole Moor, Scammonden Dam, Withens End, 
 Rishworth Mills, Godley, Rishworth, Dyson Lane, Farrar Height, Manshead Moor, 
  Baitings Reservoir, Ryburn Reservoir, Stones Mills, Rishworth, Ripponden, 
   Hanging Stones, Triangle (station), and Watson Mill. 

I'm now pretty certain that the Summer of 2020 is openly mocking me, not just by preventing a first family get-together of the year to celebrate Dad's birthday by locking down My Mum in Leicester for another few weeks, but also by seeming to know that I want to get my walking impetus on again, and thus dropping deeply unseasonable weather onto the days that I have selected to walk, whilst giving us three days of the conditions that you'd like to out in when I'm busy doing something else entirely with my time NIW, making the Summer feel far too much like the relentlessly damp one of 2007. So we travel out early on Saturday morning, with a plotted route in mind, but not certain if it will achievable due to the fact that we are projected to have rain in the air until 1pm and no significant improvement dus after that, riding out to alight in the Colne Valley at Slaithwaite station for the first time at 8.40am, with waterproofs already donned and a climb coming right after we've headed out from the platform by the old goods yard, not opposite the other, down to Crimble Bank and then uphill under the railway and hair-pinning left to join Hill Top Road and Royd Street through the terraced district that clings to this high side of the valley. I'd have hoped to get a view of Slaithwaite reservoir in its side valley cleft as we carry on up Longlands Road, but only its dam and heel are faintly visible beyond the run of suburban houses that run up the hillside, petering out as we rise higher, into open fields on the steeply rising road, with Merry Dale Clough opening out to the west of us as we see the first of many drizzles coming on as the road shifts us uphill to the hamlet of Wilberlee, where the Colne Valley Circular brought us last year, reeling rather remote for a suburb, despite being barely a hard mile out from the start line, and only part way up the climb out of the valley. Tiding Field Lane leads us on uphill sharply, before we reach a welcome level section below Moorside Edge and among the high farmsteads on the edge of moorland altitude, which we crash as we head above the gash of Barrett Clough, taking us over Crimea Lane and the route of the Kirklees Way, onto the high plateau and among the high points of the Colne Valley's north side, with Worts Hill to the west of us and the bulk of Wholestone Moor further off to the east, having gained over 200m of altitude as we pass behind the microwave masts on Pole Moor, the slender sentinels that can be seen from far and wide, which scrape the low clouds as they pass overhead.

Brighouse to Marsden 15/07/20

14.9 miles, via Rastrick, Badger Hill, Elland Upper Edge, Elland, Nab End, West Vale, 
 Greetland (Sunnybank), Barkisland, Slack, Ringstone Edge Reservoir, Scammonden Dam,  
  Bilberry Hill, The Mosses, Doe Holes, Deanhead Moss, Buckstones, March Haigh Reservoir, 
   The Dean, Hey Green and Tunnel End Reservoir. 

It's been a long time coming, and it might not be the wisest decision that I've ever made, but we are not living in age of wise cultural decisions at present, and thus after 4 months of lockdown and restricted walking, I'm ready to get back into my routine of proper walking for 2020 while I'm NIW, donning heavy boots again, and accepting the risks of travelling far from home, picking up the slate of walks that I'd hopefully scheduled for the Spring and hoping that Summer will last long enough to get them down, though if it continues in the vein of mixed up weather that it has so far, conditions other than a global pandemic might yet shut me down. So off on the train we ride, under grey skies that fail to scream 'July' at us, alighting at Brighouse at a measure ahead of 8.55am, with another trip from Calder to Colne on the schedule, shadowing my last excursion out back in March, and starting out from the A641 Huddersfield Road (which we visited at this year's opening), but not heading directly uphill as the roads down't align, instead slipping down to meet Cliffe Road, which shadows the river Calder between the two main road bridges, giving us sight of the climbing wall in the flower silo before we come upon Bridge End, where the railway line up the valley passes overhead on a five-arched viaduct that you's fail to acknowledge under any other circumstances. The A643, my hometown trunk road, will lead us on from here, with Bramston Street forming the initial stretch, up through the stone terraces of Brighouse's spread on the southern side of the river, leaving the growing apartment block on the corner in our wake as we press away, past the imposing chapel, the recreation ground and the suburban development in the roadside depression that was once filled by a dye works, getting a feel for just how sharp the landscape edge of this side of the valley are as Thornhill Road transitions us into Rastrick. This village is indelibly linked to its downhill neighbour, thanks to its infamous brass band heritage, and the centre of it lies ahead, with a short shopping parade sitting between the village school and St Matthew's church on a distinct kink in the road, and the pitch of the climb continues, as we transition among stone cottages and suburban semis on Crowtrees Lane, where the former mill sites have redeveloped and the outlying districts above the valley are passed though before the name of New Hey Road gives us something to grasp hold of, ahead of landing by the Sun Inn at Badger Hill, on the crossroads that we touched on our last solo trip far from home.

Mytholmroyd Bubble Walk #3 11/07/20

4.3 miles, from Cragg Road, via Hoo Hole, Dauber Bridge, Parrock Clough, Spring Wood, 
 Broadhead Clough, Erringden Moor, Bell House Moor, Lumb Stone, Cragg Bottom, 
  and Cragg Vale.  

Having exhausted my supply of local and socially responsible walking circuits, and now finding myself at another ten day stretch of being NIW, I naturally feel like it's time to venture out to my Calderdale Support Bubble for some sociable R'n'R before we start to think about formally reviving the 2020 walking season that has been on hiatus for the better part of four months now, and thus we ride the rails out to Mytholmroyd on Friday evening straight from work, to get our weekend off with IH & AK to a quick start, catching up on the concession of Chicago deep dish pizza that I missed out on last time, before settling into the wine again as we chatter our way through the last few weeks of happenings. Boozing like that ensures that an early start won't be easy to come by, and factor in a Test Match on the TV, and the scope for a lot of walking drops away, so we don't head out until after our lunch break that has coincided with that of the cricket, departing our base on Cragg Road at 1.20pm, and setting off out of town to the south, to find that Mytholmroyd isn't really much more than half a mile deep in this direction, passing out of town by the Royds Ices factory and the Hoo Hole mill into the low fields, scattered suburban houses and high wooded banks that form Cragg Vale, the most significant branch of the Calder in this quarter. Our plan is too follow the Cragg Vale Coiners Walk, a path created to take us past the historical sites of the infamous counterfeiters of the 18th century, and those of their fictional counterparts as featured in the novel 'The Gallows Pole' by local author Benjamin Myers, following a map plotted and illustrated by Christopher Goddard, our admirable local variant of Alfred Wainwright, which is almost too nice to use as a route guide, which we follow as it leads us out of town up to Dauber Bridge to split from the main road and onto the rise away from Cragg Brook, along a steepening track that does lead to farmsteads at its high and distant ends, which are not to be seen on our ascent. The route is soon sending us up one of the main branches of Cragg Vale, elevating us above the stream in the cleft of Parrock Clough as we twist around below the cover of trees gaining altitude all the way before we enter open fields which give us some scope of the environs and the amount of ascent still to come, before we meet a herd of young Highland cattle who won't be stirred from the track they are blocking, forcing me to take a dynamic lead in clearing a way past them as these are the sort of cows that are placid enough to not inspire fear in me as we head on with the rise to meet Spring Wood.

Morley Far North Circuit 04/07/20

12.1 miles, from Morley Hole, via Bruntcliffe, Gildersome Spur Ind Est, Gildersome, 

 Moor Head, Cockersdale, Nan Whins Wood, Roker Lane Bottom, Troydale, Green Lane, 

  Farnley Hall Park, Farnley, New Blackpool, Far Royds, Cottingley Hall, Millshaw, 

   White Rose centre, Valley Mills, 'City', Scatcherd Park, and New Brighton. 

It's the top of the year already, and while National Lockdown effectively ends today with the revival of the hospitality industry, freedom to travel by public transport still seems to be formally discouraged, and thus we are still keeping the wandering local, but not for much longer as I'm starting to run out of local circuits to do around Morley, this will be my eighth and I can't envisage any more routes that have a substantial element of fresh paths to pace, so we'll be looking further afield after this weekend, pandemic crisis or not. So we launch ourselves out, as June's queer weather behaviours continue into July, with slatey skies abounding as we start out again from Morley Hole at 9.10am, aiming to the north of town by setting off to the southwest with Bruntcliffe Lane, rising with the course of the A643 past the Fielding and Highcliffe Mill site, and barely getting past Morley cemetery before we tick over the 4,000 miles in the North marker, a mere calculation error away from dropping last weekend, and passed in the least auspicious of surroundings, as we carry on past Bruntcliffe Academy to the Toby carvery and Travelodge at the A650 crossroads. Turn onto the Wakefield Road as it leads out over the M621, following a route that always falls as this way out of town, and a route we are only pacing today so that an unseen path might be paced beyond, taking us up Stone Pits Lane as it traverses the Gildersome Spur business park, and wandering through an industrial estate for fun is what we really should be doing to expand the horizons, meeting the grassy path that tracks north between the yard and depot of Downton distribution before we pass over the embankment of the lost GNR line through Morley, still forming a tree-lined perimeter at its top edge. Beyond, we meet the fields that have been levelled with great purpose for a redevelopment that has stalled, leaving a barren landscape to the west, which has also seen the improvement of the public paths in the area and some major work done at the head of Dean Beck too, though the passage out of Dean Wood must be tenuous now, as we join that route paced in 2016 as we rise up the gravelly track up the A62 Gelderd Road, and on into Gildersome via College Road and its mix of suburbia, where its most interesting feature, Turton Hall, is mostly concealed by trees, new build houses and an ancient brick wall.

Morley South-West Circuit 27/06/20

12.3 miles, from Morley Hole, via New Brighton, Dartmouth Park, Howley Park, Howley Hall, 
 Lamplands, Upper Batley, Brown Hill, Birstall, Field Head, Moorside, Adwalton, Gildersome, 
  Hart Hill, St Bernard's mill, Rooms, Daffil Woods, Churwell (Lane Side), Daisy Hill, 
   Chapel Hill and Banks Hill.

In our final episode of 'June doesn't know what the hell it's doing' we get it dropping three midweek days of unbroken sunshine and high temperatures which are concluded by one of the most epic cloudbursts that I have ever experienced (and I should know because I was right out in it when it happened), and as the weekend lands it decides that it's going to shift our climate back into that of early Spring rather than Summer, presenting weather of teeming rain than might inspire me to stay at home in normal circumstances, but as we know, we are in a world that's far from normal, and I need my routine of stretching to keep my head in good order. So to Morley Hole we head, waterproofs donned against the persistent drizzle, for a 9.10am start, aiming to get this tour done at the hurry-up to stay ahead of the threat of storms in the afternoon, starting out up the causey into New Brighton, because original routes are proving hard to come by now, risking early injury on the slippery setts before we head south via the way to Corporation Street, which we cross and find a couple of un-walked roads through the estate beyond, Highcliffe Road and Gerard Avenue, which pass St Francis' RC school along the way to Scatcherd Lane. Steps are retraced again past the cricket and rugby clubs and on into the upscale Victorian suburbia that surrounds Dartmouth Park, before we actually do locate the route along New Park Street, which leads us among its terraces towards Fountain Street before not actually joining it, instead slipping down the back lane of Oak Road, which gives access to a whole block of suburbia that would otherwise go unnoticed as it leads us to a ginnel behind the old chapels on the corner of Bruntcliffe Road, on which we land by the Halfway House inn at the top of Scotchman Lane. Over the A650 and again onto familiar pavements, down among the suburban ribbon out of town and over the M62 before we split onto the route of last year's Long Walk, angling down the farm track and across the fields on the site of the original Howley Park quarries, getting none of the views down to Batley and across Kirklees that we enjoyed in 2019 as we pass above Morley tunnel and between its vents, meeting a crowd of grazing horses and foals at the bottom corner of the field where we join the path that skirts the perimeter of Howley Hall golf course, where the well-grown vegetation shows up a greater risk of giving you a soaking than the rainfall does.

Morley South-East Circuit 20/06/20

10.9 miles, from Morley Hole, via Troy Hill, Town End, Birks, Tingley (Upper Green & 
 Baghill), West Ardsley (Beggarington Hill & Common Side), Woodhouse lane, East Ardsley, 
  The Fall, Thorpe on the Hill, Ardsley Junction, Sissons Wood, West Wood, Owlers, Gillroyd, 
   Low Town End, and Corporation Street. 

My calendar tells me that this Saturday is the first day of Summer, though I'm sure that it isn't due until the following day, meaning that the seasons might have shifted around without having informed me, not that anyone seems to have informed June of what season it is meant to be either, as we experience three days of chilliness that might have you thinking about putting the heating back on before promising an increase in warmth and brightness for the weekend that never quite arrives, and thus I'll look again to local paths as I'm still feeling wary about striking further afield despite the relaxation of lockdown. There's another three loops to do around Morley for now, and we'll start out at 9.05am at Morley Hole and pace that usual route out to the bottom of Queen street, where we split off between Body & Sole and Tasty Balti to ascent the flight of steps up to Troy Hill, a right of passage for many local school kids back in the day, which elevates us onto the seventh and last of the local hills, where we pace around the tree shroud that conceals the still derelict shell of St Mary in the Wood, before heading onto Commercial Street, the town's back lane of interest which hides away such features as the Congregational school, the public library, and at least three other chapels in this famously non-conformist town. Beyond Peel Street it takes on the industrial landscape of mills and factories, while also concealing an animal hospital and a Thai restaurant on the way down to the Commercial inn, where we slip over Fountain Street and head up High Street, to pass the former Sycamore Hotel, as my interests turn to locating Morley's lost pubs, leading us up to the top of Magpie Lane and the island at the bottom of Chartists Way, where so many of this last month's paths have piled up, hitting the rise onto Bridge Street by the site where the Albion inn used to reside. This route out of town seems all a bit familiar, as is the way with doing a lot of local walking, but we sneak our views off towards Leeds to the north as we hit the top of the Aire-Calder ridge, as well as noting the VW Beetle dressed as Herbie in one back yard, tallying off another former chapel opposite the Mormon Temple and emerging by the now completely refitted Tingley Mills, where we cross the tangle of the A650 junction at Tingley Bar, or Birks, before we join the A6029 Rein Road, that suburban lane that sets off from town with great purpose but then never really goes anywhere.

Mytholmroyd Bubble Walks 1 & 2 13/06/20 & 14/06/20

3.2 miles, from Cragg Road, via Mytholmroyd Bridge, the Rochdale canal, Brearley, 
 Scout Scar, Hall Bank and Hoo Hole. 
& 1.9 miles, from Cragg Road, via Scar Bottom, Caldene Bridge, the Rochdale canal, 
 Hawksclough Bridge, Caldene Bridge (again), and Mytholmroyd bridge.

Wednesday evening brings a surprise, a pleasant one for a change, as an announcement from HM Government is made, which from the following Saturday allows single adult households to form a 'support bubble' with another household without any social distancing rules applying, and within half an hour of this being made public, I get an e-mail invite from my good friends in Calderdale, suggesting that I might travel out to stay with them in Mytholmroyd for the benefit of renewed sociability and the mental health of those that enforced isolation has taken a toll on. I seize this opportunity with joy, and would probably have been ready to jump on a train on Friday evening after another frustrating working week, but we'll stay within the official rules for now, and claim my travel as essential, by heading over on Saturday morning, to land with IH & AK in time for a brew for elevenses and for a lunch of locally sourced bacon and egg rolls, and just being able to chew the fat in a domestic setting, and to sit down with friends for a meal feels like the most enormous of releases, having not done either since February. We need to exercise ourselves too, of course, as Calderdale offers many paths, and it's unpredictable weathers ensure that when we head out from our base on Cragg Road at 12.45pm, we've all donned light waterproofs in anticipation of coming rain, while the clouds hang hazily above the sides of the valley as we amble down into the village, along the downstream flow of Cragg Brook, past the Shoulder of Mutton and under the railway viaduct to note which stores on New Road have endured or suffered before we meet Mytholmroyd bridge, over the Calder and just upstream from St Michael's church. Here we pause to examine the building work that is still ongoing after the boxing day floods of 2015, having widened and heightened the river channel to create a pool below the Cragg Brook confluence, a plan which didn't pan out with the heavy rains of earlier this year as it had failed to consider the potential amount of water ingress on the dry side of the wall, and thus remedial work is ongoing, to be examined as we progress on along the A646 Burnley Road, past the Russell Dean furniture store, the business that completely rebuilt its premises after the flooding in order to stay local, in the direction of the other Mytholmroyd bridge, by which the Red Lion inn still stands disused and sadly derelict.

Morley West Circuit 06/06/20

9 miles, from Morley Hole, via Chapel Hill, Rooms, Farnley Wood, Upper Moor Side, 
 Barker Hill, Gildersome Moor Head, Cockersdale, Nethertown, Lumb Bottom, Adwalton, 
  Birstall Retail Park, Howden Clough, Birkby Brow wood, Scott wood, Dartmouth Park, 
   and New Brighton.

After our warm spikes and bright days at the end of May, it's entirely predictable that June responds by becoming its usual unpredictable self as rains washes over with the increased cloud cover, and the temperature start to drop, maintaining its reputation as the 'Flaming' month in the pejorative sense, with the first weekend offering a choice of days that are either changeable and windy, or calmer but overcast, which a colleague of mine suggests we might be looking forwards to a Summer like we had in 2007, when it rained consistently from mid June to the following Spring. 2020 can do without a seasonal turn like that, and I'll seize the changeable turns of Saturday morning for my fifth and final trip around the immediate environs of Morley borough, looking to the western side as we head out to Morley Hole for a start at 9.05am, getting going with our familiar passage past Morley Manor, Victoria Mills and the Cheapside parade on our initial trajectory, while noting the oft-overlooked presence of the former Brunswick Arms this time, before we strike a path up Chapel Hill, ascending a sixth of the town's seven, while also noting the ghost signs on the end wall of the Conservative club, easily the best in the area. We'll not be doing much that's too original in today's early going, rising past the old Co-op and Herbert Asquith's house on the way past the old chapel and the run of terraces on the way to the Nelson Arms corner on Victoria Road where we cross the A643 by St Peter's church and join Rooms Lane, as it describes the suburban growth of the town as we press north, up to Springfield Mill park and the tip of Clark Springs wood and on to meet the long stone wall that used to surround a couple of old houses, now lost, which seem to have had nothing to do with either of the mill sites out here. So we progress out of town, on Morley's definitive road to nowhere, over the M621 bridge with its view to the city, and on past the end of the metaled surface, diving into the rural landscape past Lister Cottages and between both the farms that call themselves Rooms, before we come down over the Leeds New Lines, where railway walking won't be a feature of this circuit, noting that the site of Gildersome station has been scoured level, like someone has a brownfield development in mind for it, despite it having been fallow for 55 years now, and then we press on to the A62, among the greenery that conceals the fact there was once a colliery on this corner.

Morley East Circuit 30/05/20

7.1 miles, from Morley Hole, via Dawson Hill, Scatcherd Hill, Town End, Topcliffe Mill, 
 Capitol Park, Tingley Common, Tingley Viaduct, Sissons wood, West wood, Stank Hall, 
  Millshaw, Churwell and Lane Side.

After so many weekends out of the routine, it feels good to have been granted the space to get my walking career back on track, though we shall probably be keeping it local until July at the earliest due to public transport issues, but that's no matter as there's still plenty to mick out around Morley, especially when we are greeted by a bright and sunny morning that gets me feeling all sorts of enthusiastic, ready to push out to the east of town with another three hour course prepared in my mind. Thus it's down to Morley Hole once more, to get going at 9.05am, striking my way for the opening stretch to the south by departing Brunswick Street to rise up and over the shady passage of Dawson Hill, which as we rise over above Morley Bottoms has me wondering just how many of Morley's seven hills we have visited over the course of our recent touring and as Banks, Chapel and Daisy have all featured thus far, we check off this one as number four, and soon strike on to number five as we drop out onto the rising stretch of Queen Street and on up Scatcherd Hill. The town centre beyond has been completely unseen during the weeks of Lockdown, and the main drag of Queen Street past the Town Hall still looks light for general business, though not feeling like a ghost town as well-drilled queues organise themselves outside the green grocers and butchers to keep these local business going, which is an encouraging bit of social solidarity to see as we press on to the south end of town, down to the Fountain inn and the New Pavilion theatre, where the rise of South Queen Street grazes the edge of Hunger Hill, hill #6. So past St Paul's church and the mill conversion before we land on the Bridge Street - High Street roundabout, where we follow the footpath onto Magpie Lane which leads us into the Glen Road estate, shadowing the route of the GNR line to the east of Morley Top station, bounding the development to its south side, while we pass The Carriers Arms, another of the town's hidden pubs, and then follow the pavements and footways as they lead us among the residences of Glen Mount and Beacon Grove, noting that this estate was also built with a lot of green space around its closes, as we trace the embankment onwards along the edge of resumed edge of Glen Road before we land on Topcliffe Lane. Oaks and Topcliffe mills stand proud here, illuminated in the Spring sunshine, and our railway walk proper starts here, joining the Ardsley - Laisterdyke line as it presses east, joining the cycleway into Capitol Park as it follows the embankment between the yards full of cars and beer barrels, leading into the site of the triangular Tingley Junction, where the business park's growth looks like it arrested some years ago, to never be resumed, and the pair of cycling Community Support Police take an interest in my exploits as they pass.

Lockdown: Day 63 - 25/05/20

When Spring Bank Holiday Monday comes around, I've no desire to head out for another 3 hour trip in the locality as the day looks like it's going to be a proper hot one, and every one of this last week's excursions have left me feeling completely zonked, as if I've gotten out of practice with the walking routine after two months off it during some of the best weeks of the season, so perhaps it's just as well that I've no plans to bust the season open any time soon, as I've got a good few weeks of local trails to pace as lockdown eases. Thus, I'll take the relaxed option that won't leave me feeling gassed once the time to return to work comes around, picking out the Trainspotting variant of the Social Distancing Circuit, and timing so that I might be in a good location to capture all four of the Nova services as they pass on the Trans-Pennine route, now that we've had a timetable change and it looks like full services have been restored between Leeds and Manchester, and that provides an amiable stretch for 75 minutes, pacing among the greenery and blossom that has come, and gone, over the preceding nine weeks. I hope that will be my last time out on the local SDC, as the optimistic half of my brain hopes that and easing of lockdown might allow for some longer local trips and a bit of weekend public transport usage as we slip towards summer, though the pessimistic other half of me worries that this is where July and August could easily end up again if a second spike in Corona Virus infection occurs, as it well might. Anyway, a week off has been a grand time to focus on getting my numbers back in order, having worked through the paper record of my walking which I started in the 2017 off-season, and have abandoned and re-started twice over since then, re-doing all the calculations to ensure that the stats that I present are correct, and after much hard work, the revision session is complete, and the numbers presented here from now on will be as correct as they'll ever be. My Up Country total proved to have the fewest issues, having been short by 4 miles since its initial calculation in 2014, while my Overall total turned out to have been short by 4 miles since 2013 (meaning that my 1,000 mile gain points and the sum of 1402.2 miles for my first three years were both wrong), before somehow losing another 15.1 miles in 2018, while my Solo total became my cursed number, having no fewer than six addition errors along its course, ending up at 19.5 miles ahead of reality.

Morley South Circuit 23/05/20

7.6 miles, from Morley Hole, via Bruntcliffe, Howden Clough, Birkby Brow Wood, Cliff Wood, 
 Howley Park, Howley Hall, Soothill Tunnel, Woodkirk, Tingley Common, Capitol Park, 
  Topcliffe, Gillroyd, and Brunswick.

After the hot spike that landed on us from Tuesday through to Friday, conditions have taken something of a turn for the chilly as we look to make the most of the three day weekend at the far end of our 10 day stretch of being NIW, and the promise of early morning sunshine has mostly dissipated even before we've gotten to the day's starting line, and it looks like a stiff breeze is going to keep the day changeable as we look to our third tour around the town, looking to the south to retrace a number of routes from early season career that I haven't seen in a while. So to Morley Hole we head, for a 9.20am start, with the cloud cover already starting to accumulate as we set the day's trajectory southwesterly along the side of the A643 Bruntcliffe Lane, rising past Hillycroft fisheries and on uphill, along a familiar pavement, though the stretch between Corporation Street and the Wynyard Drive estate end, opposite the Highcliffe industrial estate seems to have avoided an officially measured visit until now. Rise up, past the cemetery, Bruntcliffe Academy and the Junction 27 industrial estate to land at the A650 crossroads, by the Travelodge and Toby Carvery, noting that the Morley in Bloom garden has been adorned with decorative archways featuring an aphorism by Dr Seuss, which bears recounting as it well suits my contemporary walking mood;

'You're off to Great Places, Today is Your Day, Your Mountain is Waiting, So Get on Your Way'

and thus we do, over the Bradford road and past the WMC and the Shoulder of Mutton inn, and over the crest of the road at Bruntcliffe, heading downhill along the pavement, over the M62 and snaring the views across to the high and distant southern boundary of Kirklees district before we slip past the last terrace in town. We head on into the greenery and leafiness that surrounds the descent into Howden Clough, where the signage indicates your departure from Morley, and Leeds District, long before the bottom of the valley where greater Batley and Kirklees start, and getting a grand look towards Howden Clough mills, which still remains in industrial employ despite is obvious value as an out-of-town and upscale residential development opportunity, before we take a turn to track southeasterly, entering the forestry of Birkby Brow woods, via the roadside entrance that wasn't used by the Leeds Country Way or the Kirklees Way on either of my prior traversals.

Morley Central Circuit 21/05/20

7.6 miles, from Morley Hole, via Daisy Hill, Broad Oaks, White Rose, Low Moor farm, 

 Bantam Grove, Burn Knolls, Morley Top, Dartmouth Park, Bruntcliffe, Gildersome Spur, 

  Dean Wood, Gildersome Tunnel, and the Ingles estate.

Wednesday brings the temperature spike that the week was due, but the heat doesn't attract me out, as housework and a general burst of aeration is necessary around my flat, and we wait until things have cooled a little before we strike out again on Thursday, not as early as I'd hoped to be out thanks to under-sleeping through the night and then oversleeping in the morning, which means that I depart feeling ever so slightly addled on my way to the start line at Morley Hole, getting on track at 9.45am and feeling hopeful that my paths won't be crowded as this weather improvement is sure to attract the populace to more engaging climes than this one. So east we strike again, on the literal middle one of the three loops that I've plotted arpund Morley, heading down Brunswick Street in the shadow of the Victoria Mills complex before we join Bank Street to rise up its other half, below the high walls above which Bank House, surely the oldest house in the town, stands, and above the back of the Cheapside parade at Morley Bottoms, pressing on as the road diminishes to a path by the low-rise flat blocks before it ejects us out onto Chapel Hill. Cross the lane to join New Bank Street by the off-license that has never been open in all my years here, heading on among the elevated terraces above the valley cleft through the heart of the town, passing the still vacant Baptist chapel site and declining with the lane to meet my Lockdown Circuit route and the empire of suburbia that has grown to the east of the town, before rising to the Daisy Hill prominence, where the old mill houses still stand along with its gateposts, from which a view back to town can be noted before we strike into the grassy cleft that lies beyond. It's still May Blossom season out here, giving us some floweriness among the foliage as we drop out into the fields once more, and rise up towards the track to Broad Oaks farm once again, as if every local trail feels the need to come this way, it's really to ensure that we get a decent photographic second look at the Social Distancing Circuit route while the greenery of Spring covers it, having been still a mess of bare earth when the lockdown walking session started, and despite the warmth of the day, the view from here to the city is clear and not burdened by haze, giving another good reason to come up here before we strike for the railway bridge.

Morley North Circuit 19/05/20

5.2 miles, from Morley Hole via Valley Mills, Broad Oaks, Millshaw, Churwell New Village, 

 Rooms, Churwell Urban Woods, and the Ingles estate. 

At last we land on my next week off, and it's been a proper long haul to get here, and quite the roller-coaster of emotions to due to the health crisis and the national lockdown which we have been compelled to traverse, landing on 10 days of being NIW with so much relief, as a regular seven week spell of work can be hard to get through, a stretch like this has proved to be interminable, with time ceasing to have much meaning despite my working weeks having about as much shape as normal, and now I can look to a stretch of getting my head turned back towards normal after experiencing all the stresses that came my way over the preceding days. Interestingly, speaking to one of the departmental supervisors last week, she told me that she was cancelling all here leave for a long as the lockdown lasted as she couldn't face being stuck at home and completely out of circulation during her time off, and that's completely the opposite for me, glad to get away from it and have time completely to myself before having to face what comes with an eased lockdown and the working throngs starting to return to the city. As exercise rules have now been relaxed, going out for more than an hour at a time is now possible, and I could travel further afield if I had an independent transport option, but I don't and public transport use is still discouraged, not that I'd be taking just yet anyway as I'm convinced this lockdown easing has come at least a month too early, and thus I'll be looking towards some circular routes about my resident town, as Morley's lanes and fields haven't seen too much action over the last few years. So the plotting head goes on to find routes that offer a bit more than the sub-3 mile circuits that have been my route for most of the last couple of months and might keep me occupied locally until I feel emboldened, or am permitted, to ride away further from home and back towards where I wanted to be in my 2020 season and I've gotten a good local selection to keep me going, even if few of the passages will prove to be particularly novel. But before we get going with that, I'd just like to share a little more of the new lockdown hobby that I've fired over the last couple of weeks, namely going for a train-spot or three thanks to discovering the live train tracker at rail-record.co.uk, which has informed me of the movement of TPE Class 68s across the Pennines to the Siemens depot at York, which I can thus catch as they run light through Morley, taking their pictures and sharing them here as I have no shame at all about resuming a passion that I had as a child, an action that I'm sure would have delighted My Dad, no end.

Lockdown: Day 55 - 17/05/20

Well, this has been a strange week, through which we've pressed hard to get to the 10 (TEN) days of annual leave at the other end of, the week where Britain supposedly gets back to work, while lockdown because of the Corona Virus still continues, and for this week at least, there's little indication of there being any difference on the railways, as there's just as few people on the Morley - Leeds trains as there ever were, and no obvious differences on the Leeds - Cross Gates services either. Which is just as well because this is the week that I chose to start shooting video from the windows of my morning and evening commuter rides, as that's certainly something that you can't do on the trains under normal circumstance, unless you are a travel blogger with a semi-professional YouTube channel (and that's not a future I envisage for myself after discovering the brutal upload times which that site has) and it's amazing that you can find along the way of two line, once you factored in the orientation of the train and the direction of travel to give you as many a 16 variations. I can honestly say that I'm not looking forward to public transport getting busy again, as I can't envisage how you're supposed to effectively socially distance on a train when it's at more than 25% capacity, and thus it's relief to see no change through this week, as I doubt many businesses even had a plan to get people back on site in the city when the announcement was dropped last weekend, and the only indication that I can take of there being any real change in circumstances is the locally observed lower number of cars in the yard of my flat block, and the increase in apparent activity at the industrial units and workshops at the lower end of Station Road in Morley. My Friday evening swing around the town, to grab the weekly essential goods shopping at Bond Street Tesco, will thus be my probable last to see the deserted streets in the city centre before the retail sector starts to revive, and the only crowd to add to the regular few people traversing the street is the bunch who empty out of the Albion Street branch of Barclays Bank, ahead of my working week coming to end. The long weeks of being NIW to come should prove a good time to decompress after ploughing a relentless path of work through seven weeks of national lockdown, and the frustrations of the moment are combined by the thought that I ought to be on holiday to walk the Rossendale Way, and the fact that while restrictions of time allowed for exercise have been relaxed, the use of non-essential public transport use is still discouraged, which renders me relatively stranded in Morley for the time being, only fancying a regular short circuit out on Sunday morning, ahead of potentially putting down quite a few more local miles during my week off.