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.

Cragg Vale opening out above Mytholmroyd.

Parrock Clough.

Young Cattle on the path to Spring wood.

We slip from the track to follow a rougher path that will lead us up through the woodlands to the very top of Broadhead Clough, and it feel like it ought to be a very minor path as it has no obvious route goal, but we find ourselves on a proper Calderdale causey for part of the ascent below the trees as we are lead up to the pools between the cascades on the beck that would be recognised by the readers of the aforementioned book, before we are forced onto a stepped section that the route guide warns of in terms of steepness, as the high edge of the valley teases us beyond the fringe of the canopy of trees, through which we continue to rise. Not the easiest of going, so breaks are taken for watering and mints before we hit the gate at the top of the local nature reserve and lead ourselves onto the switchback path that rises us, even more steeply, up to the edge of Erringden Moor, where we get our elevated reveal over Cragg Vale to the east, while looking north across the Calder to the edge of Midgley Moor, with the barren and rising moor abouts Stoodley Pike to the west, with our route sending us south around the fringe top of Broadhead Clough on a moorland path that's frequently damp and often ill-defined. Still is give us our first 300+m elevation in months, and the sort of views that our walking year has been missing as we come around above Bell House farm, the base for the coin-shaving exploits of David Hartley and his gang 250+ years ago, in splendid isolation on the edge of Bell House Moor above the valley, with our route passing by on a track that isn't the metalled track, which we only get on as it leads us out of the side valley on the way to Keelham farm, where we'll need to hit the vague moorland tracks once more to take off a corner on the rise to the east, back towards the main alignment of Cragg Vale. This route summits the day at about 315m up as we come over to the meadow plot above High Green farm, which the route guide asks us not to cross, instead sending us around its western edge to come around to the Lumb Stone, a rare, and rather modest, outcrop of wind-carved Gritstone in these parts, which needs to be surmounted to give us more views above the valley, which now forms a deep cleft ahead of us, where the three of us can talk up the value of such a landscape on your doorstep in times like these, and my geographer's eye can look to the south-east and watch how the cultivation and enclosure of Calderdale abruptly ends ahead of the higher moorlands that surround the bulk of Great Manshead Hill.

Hidden Pools in Spring wood.

The Rising Path in Broadhead Clough.

Broadhead Clough and Cragg Vale from Erringden Moor.

Bell House and the moor in Splendid Isolation.

The Lumb Stone.

At this trip's high apex, we've got a descent to do next, as Calderdale's most obvious problem and challenge reveals itself, forcing us to route manage rather thoroughly as we seek what the maps suggest ought to be the clearest route back into Cragg Vale, which turns out to be a steep, walled track that has lost a lot of definition over the years, which gets so choked with reeds and more grazing livestock that will not be shifted from their business, impelling us to field walk for a stretch downhill, where we get the reveal down to Cragg village and St John's church, more than 150m below, which look like models from up here. Regain the path on Upper Lumb Lane as it gains a clearer, but still steep and over-grown, route down to the farmstead which shares its name, gaining much better going as we set off down its concreted driveway that angles sharply downhill, which gives me some disquiet about some of the route decisions that I will have to make when my proper walking year resumes, as this was a route I had thought about ascending, but we aren't on it for long before we head of it by the Lower Lumb farms, where we angle ourselves onto a downstream trajectory past a chalet that has arrived on the hillside, directly on the path route. Diverging routes give us a moment to pause and select the one down to Cragg Bottom, the route to which transpires to be directly downhill, rapidly shedding all that altitude that we worked for at the start of the trip, down another narrow walled track that must have been a more viable track in agrarian times, which soon shifts us down into the woodlands around Cragg Brook, which thunders away below the tree cover and bottoms us out by the old mill house, and we can find the remains of Cragg Mill's power plant still in place, the overshot waterwheel still in situ in its cavernous chamber below. We need to ascend up to the road from down here, and the route up isn't the one you'd expect as it sneaks up a narrow path below a house getting the modern makeover treatment that belies the fact that it looks like little more than a shed from the roadside, which we meet after passing the houses of the upstream Castle Mill, and we'll settle onto the downhill route with Cragg Road among these terraces, as the day's 5km of useful exercise for my companions has been achieved and they're feeling no desire to ascend to the east side of the valley to meet the remaining path of the Coiners Walk above Hollins Hey wood.

Cragg Vale upstream to Cragg and Great Manshead, from Upper Lumb.

Cragg Vale downstream to Hollin Hey Wood, from Lower Lumb.

Descending to Cragg Bottom.

The Cragg Mill waterwheel.

Cragg Bottom.

So downhill for the last mile or so, taking us through Cragg Bottom and past the Robin Hood inn, where normal circumstance might call for a visit for a sneaky pint, but as it's wanting for space that doesn't seem too wise right now, and the way beyond retraces the only notable stretch of the Longest Continuous Ascent in Britain that has been previously walked up, when the Shoulder of Mutton had suffered one of its floodings, and its surprising just how many rural terraces there are up here, each block carrying its own identity, and clinging to the valley sides are various houses getting the Grand designs treatment, showing up well the fact of where most of Mytholmroyd's money resides. Pass among woodland cover and open fields with young Highland cows in them as we head back to the village, enjoying the natural arena that Cragg Vale forms, with Hebden Bridge's local-ish caravan and motorhome park having filled up on one of the few large and level fields in the vicinity, and finding that an outbreak of rogue wild camping has broken out in the woodlands above Dauber Bridge, where we seal the loop on today, ahead of the run back into the village past the Hoo Hole mill and ice-cream factory, returning to base for a 3.50pm landing, in time for fortification with tea and cake.
~~~ We've also managed to only miss one session of the first test against the West Indies during out escapade, and the remaining session will demand our attention before we settle into the evening, which means settling in with that 1500 piece jigsaw puzzle of 'Old Montreal' again, after it drove my hosts to distraction with its slow progress over the last month, ahead of cocktails and tea time, where Steak, Fries and Slaw is on the menu, as it Apple Pie, before we settle in with the wine again and noting that ITV has settled into the Summer routine of cycling through the Bond movies again, in lieu of having anything new to broadcast. After the boozing, and sleep that follows, there proves to be little impetus to get out and get busy with another bubble walk come Sunday morning, as puzzling and cricket will keep us entertained up to lunchtime, for which we go full hipster with our meal of homemade tomato soup and cheese toasties, ahead of me heading off again, having given IH & AK all my gratitude for their hospitality in forming my support bubble, more than my bottle of wine offered in repayment is worth honestly, and I don't know if this concept will endure as they embark on their official Summer Holidays, in a post-lockdown situation, but I will be trying to make some space for social interaction for the rest of the year, as its real value has been well-illustrated.

Twist Clough Terrace.

Cragg Vale does scenic retreats very well.

Dauber Bridge and the closed loop.

 ~~~

I also travel to do hardcore puzzling!

5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 4478.9 miles
2020 Total: 212.4 miles
Up Country Total: 4015.9 miles
Solo Total: 4155.3 miles
5,000 in my 40s Total: 3072.7 miles

Next Up: Finally getting 2020's walking season back on track, after four months away.

~~~

Pandemic Thoughts: Week 18

In other news, we still find ourselves wondering what the post-lockdown world might start to look like, as business starts to resume 'as normal' in so many sectors, and my shallow perspective has seen little to illustrate much change as yet, aside from TPE anticipating more people to start travelling on their trains as the local service between Huddersfield and Leeds is now being run with a pair of three carriage units, which doubles the seating capacity that seems to be massively excessive for the number of people travelling on this line, at least, and no rapid swelling of commuter numbers on either of my rides is still good for my piece of mind as the routine of work continues. News from Mum suggests that all is still well with her, and her broad circle, despite Leicester still being in local lockdown, with a Covid infection rate that's four times worse than any other council district in the country, and the fact that it's looking like it's going to last more than another week at the very least, ultimately puts the kibosh on the plan for us to try to get together during my week off work, which always felt like a bit of a pipedream, but now exposes the frustrations of the situation as our meet-up will probably not happen until my long August bank holiday weekend, another six weeks down the line. Elsewhere, as reported via my carefully curated social filter, we already get hints of what I suspected might start happening, as the blame game starts to be played, admittedly earlier than expected, as the Covid death rate in care homes has been casually blamed on the staff failing to work within government safety guidelines, rather than the issue being a lack of preparedness in terms of equipment provision and training for a non-medical staff in a pandemic situation, and just hearing that depresses me massively, as responsibility is deferred away from those who are ultimately responsible, as if the whole of 2020 just seems to be unfolding in a way to leave me culturally disappointed. There was also an emergency budget statement, and the response that I absorbed, that it was utterly failing to respond to the iniquities exposed by the pandemic crisis and to take steps to restructure and reprioritise the economy accordingly, got little more than a 'What Did You Expect?' from me, as I would except little more than randomly applied sticking plasters from those who would govern us, as a general desire to get things 'back to normal, as quickly as possible' appears to be their sole motivating factor, and to expect any different from them would be hopelessly naive.

Still, we stand now on the edge of the Summer Holiday season, and the motivation to get that business going again seems bizarre to me, especially as reopening so many route to foreign destinations looks like a very odd choice when many of these locations have suffered horrible rates of Covid infections, and keeping people from potentially spreading disease across borders in both directions feels like something we should be actively avoiding, especially when I still feel uneasy about the idea of travelling beyond my borough for irregular visits, as two West Yorkshire disrticts have suffered infection spikes recently. I get the need to get away from it though, as I speak from the perspective of someone whose had a weird but virtually normal routine ongoing for the last four months, and if you have been cooped up at home for the stretch, with frustratingly little to actively do, as my good friends in Calderdale have, I understand the need to be somewhere different for a short while, as they aim for a week away in northern France, now that self-isolation restrictions have been lifted for travelers, and the fact that heading to Florida and other parts of the US as they would normally do looks completely out of the question for the time being. They'll be travelling by car and ferry, which seems wise, as the idea of getting on an aeroplane for a multi-hour trip, in a confined and non-socially distanced space, with dozens of other people breathing quantities of recirculated air just seems an utterly horrifying idea to have, but if the regular folk can do that, and be allowed back into their pubs and food joints, then I'm going to stop feeling bad at the idea of travelling by public transport to resume my 2020 walking season properly, as I'm getting sick of the on-going suggestion that my use of trains is somehow not necessary and is socially irresponsible, even as I travel to work, at the Hospital. So after two months of doing only an hour of mandated exercise and another two months of keeping close to home on my walking days, I'm not going to feel bad about breaking my walking career open again, picking it up where I abandoned it back in March, as I've got a slate of routes that I'd plotted for the Spring all ready to go, which I'm hopeful that I can get through before we burrow too deep into the changeable days of Autumn, and I'll still ponder the wisdom of doing this with every trip I make, but if the rest of the country is going to be officially allowed to resume their lifestyles in the 'new normal', then I am going to as well, as I need some normal back in my life right now.