Rumination: Summer Jollies (with Trains, Birds & the Night Skies)

Featuring: Ruswarp to Whitby - 1.5 miles, via the Rail & Riverside Path. 07/09/23

Esk View cottage might be the
 best letting we've scored so far!

Back in May, I pontificated some on the real value of a holiday break away from home, having let the disappointing opening of the year pass away and getting the spirits lifted with a warm week away on the Yorkshire Coast to get my walking year going properly, and three months on from the revivifying benefits of my Spring Jollies, I can tell you that exactly the same benefit can be felt at the End Of Summer, having endured two of the most frustrating months of poor weather, low energy and lacking motivation, heading away from the persistent gloom and changeability that has blighted July and August to be rewarded with the bright and warm week and the universe knew I spiritually needed. It’s another Friday-Friday let that we’re taking, going back to the coastal edge of the North York Moors after Mum expressed an interest in staying in the vicinity of Whitby, and I pulled up a very plausible pair of walks on the moors that got plotted when I was first seeking out rail trails at the start of my walking escapades in 2012, having managed to find a cottage at a significant reduction in price for the week after the end of the schools Summer break, just outside the town in the village of Ruswarp (which is pronounced Ruh-sup, if you were wondering), in a peaceful little idyll of its own, away from the tight streets and general throng of visitors that comes with this most beloved of coastal settlements. Even arriving having passed over moors under the heaviest of damp palls hanging in the air via the A169 does not do anything to temper our enthusiasm that we feel for Esk View cottage, and even on arrival we know that we’ve scored ourselves a gem that will be absolutely ideal for our rest and relaxation needs, amply sized and quietly out of the way at the end of its close, right on the north bank of the river Esk, with its own terrace and directly across from the railway bridge, which means that there will be entertainment to be had, even when settled in at our holiday base, be it on the rails above the water’s surface, or on the banks and their surroundings. 

Rosedale Railways #2: Rosedale Circular 06/09/23

11.4 miles, from Blakey Junction, via Glead Holes. Slead Shoe Bents, Low Blakey Moor,

 Sherriff's Pit, Thorgill Head, Thorgill Bank, Hobb Crag, Bank Top, Chimney Bank,

  Rosedale Abbey, Abbey heads, Bell End, Plane Trees, School Row, Hill Cottages,

   Low Baring, Stone Kilns, Iron Kilns, Black Houses, Dale Head, Nab Scar, Reeking Gill,

    Seven Head, Cross Gill, and Blakey Swang.

Two warm and pleasant days off from the trail are spent, filled with activity before we get back to the business of the walking plan for this round of Summer Jollies, and we did not expect moorland mist to be on our menu in the midst of our warm spell, as it hangs in the air for the full duration of our 23+ mile ride out onto the moorland top, during which Mum demonstrates an amount of fearlessness in her motoring that belies her years as we tool our way up to the crest of Blakey Ridge again, to resume our exploration of the railway and ironworking that took place in the moorland edges of Rosedale, which falls away to the west and south of the road we ride the high road. We alight at 9.45am at Blakey Junction, with a 5 hour trip in our sights as we descend beside the infilled cutting that passed under the ridge road, down to the site of the Little Blakey hamlet that stood by the division of the railway lines around both sides of Rosedale, of which nought but feint foundation remnants remain in the landscape, and we'll head south from here, down the western branch, for reasons that will become apparent as we start our circular tour, with the mist already burning off as we pass through the gate by the end of the long switchback siding, with mist still obscuring views to the east, and the kiln complexes at the end of the eastern branch, which will get much of the day's attention. It's a steady contour-hugging walk to enjoy as we progress south, at about 360m with only the slightest of declines as we trot away on a decent cinder track surface, with sleeper markings still present underfoot as we look over the valley of Rosedale, trying to get some context of the landscape below as move on among the banks of purple heather that illuminate in the sunshine behind us, settling into the shallow cuttings that run atop the edge of the Glead Holes edge, and looking down across the long rib of Middle Ridge, where it looks like a huge piece of the valley side sloughed its way downhill in antiquity, leaving a scarred and wild landscape in its wake, one not caused by human mining or quarrying activity, with our surroundings becoming more steadily apparent as we track south. 

Rosedale Railways #1: Battersby to Blakey Junction 03/09/23

10.4 miles, via Bank Foot, Park Plantation, Ingleby Incline, Greenhow Moor,

 Bloworth Crossing, Farndale Moor, Wares Gill, Middle Head, Dale Head, Gill Beck,

  Esklet, Oak Beck Head, High Blakey Moor, Blakey Gill, and Blakey Ridge. 

Late Summer Jollies arrive, not a moment too soon, and we're off to stay in Ruswarp, a stone's throw up the Esk Valley from Whitby to operate as our base as Mum and I get in a week of relaxation and I can target some walking on the North York Moors, having trailed the coastal railway path and dropped feet on my OL27 plate for the first time in the Spring, it's time to get onto the OL26 map for the first time as the 20 miles of the Rosedale Railways on the remote High Moors, demand my attention as a complete change of scenery from all my day tripping from home, and not least because I've had them on my walking target list for longer than I can immediately recall. They're not especially local to where we're staying of course, and instead of using the Parental Taxi privileges to get to the start line, we'll catch a train up the Esk Valley line instead, starting out relatively late due to the scheduling of the Sunday services, and already in the grip of warm Summer conditions that we haven't seen the like of in two months, having snared a cheap ride for only £3 and travelling along a line I've seen in part before, having ridden the NYMR section to Grosmont in 2016, and as far as Danby back in 1985 in order to visit the National Park centre (Oh Hi, School Trip Memories!) and thence it's a dawdle into the unknown, beyond the head of the valley and into the catchment of the Tees where we can alight at Battersby, that odd junction station where all services have to reverse, in the apparent middle of nowhere. We'll depart here at 11.25am, away from the station complex and the long terraces of railway cottages shadowing the start of the branch line as it split off towards the moors, looming large on the southern horizon, a wholly industrial line constructed by the NER in 1858 to service the distant ironstone mines in Rosedale, creating a significant freight interchange in this landscape where the only immediate remnant to see is the crossing house on Stone Stoup Hill, from whence we have to follow the turns of the local lanes with the trackbed inaccessible through the fields, allowing attention to wander to scoping our surroundings, placing the Captain Cook monument on Easby Moor, and the anvil peak of Roseberry Topping behind us to the north, while a trio of prominent moorland tops rise like knuckles on the edge of the Cleveland Hills to the southwest of us.

The Cinder Track #2 - Ravenscar to Whitby 24/05/23

11.9 miles, via Ravenscar Brickworks, Peak Alum Quarry, Brow Alum Quarry, Stoupe Brow,

 Howdale Wood, Allison Head Wood, Fyling Old Hall, Ramsdale Beck, Fyling Thorpe,

  Robin Hood's Bay, Bay Ness, Rain Dale, Hawsker Bottoms, Hawsker, Stainsacre,

 Cock Mill Wood, Larpool Wood, Larpool Viaduct, and Prospect Hill. 

NB: Historical Reminiscences are in Italics.

Long Distance Trail
Means Selfies!
#2 at Ravenscar

Two rest days are spent, to useful creative extent, and for getting ourselves out of our holiday let for a while to see the sights of Scarborough, so that when we land on Wednesday Morning we are feeling ready to go once more, not having to head out to early as the Parental Taxi takes me up the bouncy coast road to the top of the Ravenscar headland once again so that we might start the notionally downhill back half of this rail trail, and after getting dropped off at 10am, My Mum can head off to reconnoitre the finish Line and I can prepare myself to immediately head into a landscape where I walked purposefully, on a school trip. for possibly the first time in my life. The trail for today starts on the pavements, as the railway vanishes underground and inaccessible, so we are compelled to trace Station Road around the site of the resort that wasn't, with only the Raven Hall at the corner enduring, which marks the apex of a walk that my 10 year old self did with a school party whilst on a residential week at the Boggle Hole Youth Hostel back in 1985, which might have been my first experience of sustained uphill walking, which my little legs and under-developed brain were completely unprepared for, making what was intended as a bonding opportunity for many kids, gathered from about the city and county of Leicester, in a new school turn into something of a nightmare for me as I was dropped off the walking party and had to toil along the last long uphill stretch all by myself. Nearly 38 years on, I'm much better prepared, not least as we're headed downhill from here, tracing the Cleveland Way route down from the village to the amazing view over Robin Hood's Bay to the north, before we join the trackbed and double back through the over growth to spy the northern portal of Ravenscar Tunnel (notoriously hated by railwaymen for its tight curvature and foul atmosphere), which appears intact and dry, making it a sad omission from the Cinder Track, which starts its long decline away from the line's 200m summit as we resume our north-westerly push into a sea of gorse that clings above the long fall down to the sea, into a landscape that appears wild but is actually one where industry has scarred the cliffs, found as we approach the complex at the Peak Alum Quarry and Ravenscar Brickworks.

The Cinder Track #1 - Scarborough to Ravenscar 21/05/23

10.7 miles, via Falgrave, Woodlands, Gallows Field, Newby, Scalby, Burniston, Cloughton,

 Newlands Dale, Hayburn Wyke,  Staintondale, and Bent Rigg.

Long Distance Trail
means Selfies!
#1 at Scarborough

May time brings us Spring Jollies, and for the first time since 2019, we make tracks for somewhere further abroad than the Pennine Moors, as I'm feeling the need for a break away from home in every way, to clear my head and to continue getting my post-Covid self back into some sort of order, and a trip to the North Yorkshire coast seems to be the best way to go about that, especially as My Mum is still willing to taxi me around and drive into the relative unknown, while also enjoying her own period of time away, and basing ourselves in Scarborough allows me to approach the coastal trail that I've had in mind for a while, namely The Cinder Track on the old Scarborough & Whitby railway line. It's notably too long a haul at 21+ miles to attempt in a single shot, but very manageable when divided into two pieces, established as a multi use track following the line's closure in 1965, a relatively minor line with the NER's catalogue, opened in 1885 and operating as only a single line along the stretch of the coast on the fringes of the North Yorkshire Moors, not really serving any major centres of population and never being particularly profitable, while also featuring awkward switchback junctions at both ends of its length, some long and steep gradients and major feats of engineering along its permanent way. It feel like the sort of excursion that I need as my body still works out its post-Covid issues, requiring no navigation and just enough of a workout to ensure that I don't shamble my way through it, and after so many weeks of changeable weather, which have felt like Winter has endured for a month longer than normal, pushing April Showers deep into May, it looks like we are going to be blessed with a whole week of sunshine while we here as clear skies are forecast for the entire break, allowing us to bask as we go, despite the low air temperatures and the probability of persistent on-shore sea breezes, which will provide the healthy sea air that we need.

Huddersfield to Honley via Deer Hill & West Nab 21/09/19

15.2 miles, via Longroyd, Crosland Moor, Crosland Hill, Crosland Heath, Blackmoorfoot, 

 Laund, Deer Hill Reservoir, Holme Moor, West End, Deer Hill Moss, Horseley Head Moss, 

  Raven Stones, West Nab, Meltham Moor, Meltham, Meltham Mills, Knowl Top, 

   Honley village,  and Newtown.

As Summer officially ends, we get the first day of Autumn promising us a day of unbroken sunshine and temperatures over 20C, which is a fine direction to send us out in search of an open moor walk and a hidden summit before we run out of viable days for doing such a thing, and so it's a bit of a surprise to set out on the train and find that beyond the Batley end of Morley tunnel, the Calder and Colne valleys are shrouded in cloud as an inversion has settled in before the warmth of the day has had a chance to dissipate it. Thankfully, it looks like the fog is already breaking up as we roll into Huddersfield at 8.50am, getting an early start thanks to wonky services on the TPEs, a time gain that isn't well used as we set off from St George's square and up the Gothic-y Railway Street, and onto the deeply nondescript Market Street because we have to nip into Sainsbury's to buy extra drink as I've managed to travel light, a store which stands on the site of the circular Cloth Hall of 1766, which has been lost from the landscape since 1929 (though the gatehouse and clock endure in Ravenknowle Park, as seen back in March). Beyond the High Street junction, we're soon out of the under populated town centre and into the municipal district, passing along the walkway between various offices of Kirklees Council and the Magistrates courts before we cross the Castlegate inner ring road, spotting that Castle Hill is still hidden in the mist before we make our way down Outcote Bank to meet Manchester Road by the Chapel Hill student flats blocks, perched just above the Narrow Canal and opposite the Bankfield terraces, and just downstream from St Thomas's church. We head west from here, past the motorcycle dealership and the local branch of Wickes, already low down in the valley of the Colne as we come around past the Bridge Inn and spot my regular train on the Penistone line travelling over Longroyd viaduct as it passes high overhead on its mix of stone arches and steel spans, and we are soon over both river and canal via the Longroyd bridges and following the A62 uphill among the runs of terraces and industrial units to pass under the railway at the south end of its elevated passage. Split off Manchester Road and continue our long rise out of the Colne valley as we follow Blackmoorfoot Road on its long ascent, keeping to a consistent pitch uphill as we have long run of terraces to the south of us, and a varying landscape to the north, passing the enduring site of Crosland Moor mills and the completely built over grounds of Crosland Lodge, a landscape that denies us contextual views in any direction, even at road junctions along the way, though the fog seems to be still in the air if we do look back to the path just travelled.

Holme Valley Circular #2 - Holme to Berry Brow 26/08/19

8.7 miles, via Digley & Bilberry reservoirs, Austonley, Hogley, Brook Wood & Black Sike, 

 Upperthong, Wickens Dike, Netherthong, Deanhouse, Honley, Lower Thirstin, Magdale, 

  Mag Wood, and Armitage Bridge.

Long Distance Trail
means Selfies!
#2 at Holme.

Back to the trail on Bank Holiday Monday morning, and there's absolutely no way to get back out to Holme for a start that could be considered early, as thanks to Sunday bus timetables and the most awkward of travel connections, it's going to be a two hour trip out by train and bus (the uphill ride on the #314 taking as long as the downhill trip did, incidentally) and we can't get going until we've alighted at 10.20am, with the wall of heat hitting you hard, and making you grateful that this isn't going to be anything like a long day on the return leg. It's not often that a day's walk starts with the feeling of peak temperature in the air already, but that's where we are as we set off away from Holme's idyll at the habitable limit of the upper Holme Valley, heading up Meal Hill Road but choosing to not duplicate more footfalls on the Kirklees Way route and instead stick to the lane as it passes out of the village past the school which still endures with possibly the tiniest catchment area, and out into the moorland fields beyond Meal Hill farm, where we crest around the hillside with a fine view downstream. We'll split off Issues Lane, and its alternate route onto Black Hill and instead carry on down Further End Lane, where no right of way endures since the creation of Digley reservoir severed it and the Lumbank farms passed out of the landscape, but I'll strike a blow for reviving old paths as it heads towards the water's perimeter path, with the track petering out as we meet Intake Gutter and strike across the rough path to meet the Kirklees Way path again, which steeply descends as it enters the wood at the reservoir's heel, well illustrating the challenge that comes with any circumnavigation of an artificial lake. Bottom out at the dam of the much older Bilberry reservoir, where the colours of the cloughs beyond are much brighter than when seen in 2014, splitting from the rising route of the Kirklees way path again as we continue onto the north shore of Digley Reservoir, which still show traces of the landscape that it consumed during its construction in the 1950s, as we are mostly kept away from the shore behind the welcome shade of trees before coming round to the remnants of Gilbriding Lane, which gets increasingly overgrown as we rise among the quarries that it once served to the lofty vantage point above the reservoir and its dam.

Holme Valley Circular #1 - Berry Brow to Holme 24/08/19

16 miles, via Cold Hill, Castle Hill, Molly Carr Wood, Royd House Wood, Farnley Tyas, 

 Farnley Moor, Height Green, Thurstonland, Haw Cliff, Fulstone, Gate Foot, Hirst Brow, 

  High Brow, Jackson Bridge, Hepworth, Boshaw Whams reservoir, Snittle Road, Bare Bones, 

   Hades plantation, Copthurst moor, Dobb Dike clough, Crow Hill, Riding Wood reservoir, 

    Yateholme reservoir, Holme Woods, and Gill Hey.

Long Distance Trail means Selfies!
#1 at Berry Brow.

It seems that my cursing of this Summer's weather has brought us an exceptionally warm August Bank Holiday weekend, and I'm not going to complain when I've got 24+ miles of walking on the Holme Valley Circular to come, but it's a frustrating contrast to the conditions that I got this time last year when any sunshine on the peaks of Upper Wharfedale would have been appreciated, but we'll take it when it's here even if an early start will need to be in order as the outbound leg of this trip has shown up to be a much longer route than I had anticipated. It seems that the Holme Valley circular is the forgotten route of Kirklees district as no route guide is in print and there's not a single sign or waymarker for it anywhere on the ground, with only the OS map showing up its route on the OL288 plate, and that will have to be our sole navigator as we ride out to Berry Brow station, on the edge of greater Huddersfield and amazingly still not the last station to be visited on the Penistone line, where we alight at 8.20am, surely ahead of all but the most dedicated dog walkers of the borough. So away into the morning haze, and on down Birch Road past the school at this smart outer perimeter of town, with out first destination of the day silhouetted by the low sun, as our trail takes us over Bridge Street and then up Lady House Lane, with its stepped terraces and improbably located suburban outliers along its steep uphill drag, where we soon split off for a field walk, through the damp long grass. We are getting fine views westwards, though, across the wooded cleft of the upper Holme Valley towards Meltham Moor to the fringes of the Colne Valley to the north, and they are views that expand impressively as we gain altitude, up the side of Cold Hill, though the path route is vague as we scratch our way up to the track at the top, which takes us through the cluster of farmsteads at its crest, with a direct line ahead towards Castle Hill. A rougher track ascends us up to Ashes Lane, where small farmsteads cling to the high ridge edge which we have to look down from, towards the spread of Huddersfield below which feels a lot less alien than it did five years back, but still not quite familiar enough, which positively basks in the morning sunshine nonetheless, as does the view to the southwest and the upper Holme Valley, where so many miles will be put down further into this trip.

Colne Valley Circular 11/08/19

13.4 miles, from Golcar, via Linthwaite (Hoyle House and Lower Clough), Banks Brow,

 Kitchen Clough, Yew Tree, Top o' the Hill, Lingards Wood, Holme Moor brow, 

  Binn Moor brow, Binns, Bank Bottom, Marsden, Huck Hill, Slaithwaite Moor, Reaps Hill, 

   Scout Wood, Merry Dale, Ainley Place, Wilberlee, Campinot Wood, Crimble Clough, 

    Westwood Edge, Bolster Moor, and Heath House wood.

Another Summer Saturday drops from the schedule due to heavy rainfall, as if the peaking of national all-time temperatures in late July was the cue for everything to go downhill and render the remainder of the season changeable and rather chilly, and so we are shunted onto a Sunday trip again, with my options limited by the issues that come with transport connections, and that's why we end up on an early bus ride out to western Huddersfield to start the Colne Valley Circular walk from Golcar, not a part of the world I've travelled into so far due to its distinct lack of railway stations. So alight the #301 bus by St John's church, in this village that has now been largely consumed into the neighbouring town's suburbia and we make our way to the Colne Valley Museum, where we'll have a 9.05am jump off, elevated above the valley side and surrounded by the many cottages of the domestic weaving industries of the early 19th centuries, and set off with the guidebook in hand, ready to be informed as to why so many houses have multiple storeys and large upstairs windows as we head down the steep Carr Top Lane, because many had their workshops located in the part of the cottage where maximum daylight for their workshops could be gained, it seems. This guide, which I've had my shelf for over 5 years, seems keen to inform me about everything there is to see on this route, and provides detail about the Sunday School and the lost Baptist Chapel on Chapel Lane before we hit the path by the burial ground that seems far to slick and slippery for comfort, descending us down towards the railway lines, where two short viaducts span a descending brook, one a disused relic of much busier times on the L&NWR's Leeds to Manchester lines, which are passed under to hit the soft track that descends to the valley floor under the cover of trees. Meet the Huddersfield Narrow canal by lock 15E, which has us tied to a familiar trail again, albeit one that's nearly 7 years old, and the route guide would send us along the towpath, but I'm ready for a deviation even at this early stage, which will take us down by the side of the Colne, which charges angrily after the rains of the last two days, along the path on the edge of the flood plain where the long grass will quickly saturate one's trousers, taking us around the Linthwaite's famous Titanic mills, named for their 1912 completion date, rather than their massive size, and our route goes straight through their carpark, where the Titanic Spa and many apartments now dwell within the site.

Hadfield to Marsden via Black Hill 03/08/19

15 miles, via Padfield, Runal Intake, Devil's Elbow, Torside Crossing, Torside Reservoir,   
 Crowden Great Brook Clough, Laddow Rocks, Grains Moss, Dun Hill, Black Hill, 
  Black Dike Head, Good Bent, Dean Clough, Wessenden Head, Hey Cote Hill, 
   Hey Brinks, Rigg Shaw, Rams Clough, Binns and Bank Bottom.

After my Summer Jollies, it seemed wise to take a weekend off, as I'd been going at it on the trail for every weekend since the middle of April, and once back in work we experienced the most horrifying temperature spike, pushing temperatures up past 30C, which were then followed by the most dramatic shift downwards as the last weekend of July came around, more than 12C cooler and with both days blighted with rain that fell for many hours, scuppering any plans for getting out regardless of how modestly they might have been scaled. As it happened, we probably wouldn't have gotten out as it was, as an impromptu drinks get together was had on the Friday evening of the 26th July with my good friends IH & AK as we needed to have one last turn around with M&SW before they move away to Edinburgh at the end of August, which was a nice break from routine and had me snoozing off the booze for much of Saturday as the rain pelted down in a way that seemed entirely inappropriate. As M&S had scheduled up a final session for the next Saturday along, being available for that would be appropriate having enjoyed 23+ years of friendship with them, but a return ticket to Hadfield was starting to burn a hole in my pocket, with the August weather looking just a weird as July's, getting in my statement walk of the year, the one with West Yorkshire's actual summit in it, had to take priority, involving a 2+ hour trip out to the part of Derbyshire that isn't threatened with being underwater after a week of storms, a journey that would be so much easier if we could get the TPEs to stop at Guide Bridge and not have to make the connection at Manchester Piccadilly. So alight at 9.40am, feeling that it's slightly odd that it should be here, about as far south as is possible, that I have chosen to make my contact point on the west side of the Pennine divide, admiring the once mainline station that now sits at the lonely end of its branch line, starting out be retracing steps to the Trans Pennine Trail, admiring the views over the suburban rooftops to the moors to the north of Longdendale before passing under the old Woodhead Line at Platt Street bridge. This leads us into Padfield, among the old terraces and newer arrivals that have clustered around the largely still industrial site of Hadfield Mill, rising with the long uphill terraces of Post Street, which seem to be the way of such things on the west side of the Pennines, heading up past the former Wesleyan Chapel to meet the old rural village on Padfield Main Road, around the Peels Arms inn and displaying a whole wad of rural charm on the lane up to the Whitehouse Farm B&B.

Holmfirth to Hadfield 13/07/19

13.8 miles, via Hinchcliffe Mill, Holmbridge, Holme, Lane, Holme Moss, 

 Heyden Brook valley, Heyden Bridge, Woodhead Reservoir, Crowden, 

  Torside Reservoir, Hollins, Rhodes Wood, Valehouse Wood, and Tintwistle. 

After six weeks of pushing the boundary of my Field of Walking Experience southwards, and using the High Season weekend to probe the upper reaches of the Don Valley, like I'd promised to do, it's time to shift focus and start to looking westwards, so that I might start pressing westwards, so that we might properly investigate the Holme valley while Summer is still in business and can get in the long days of travelling before the days shorten too much, and having made such a big noise about all my approaches toward western Kirklees, my first day of travelling from within it will actually be striking for a finish line far beyond it. An early start is essential, predictably enough, but not just because of the length of the trip, but also because I'm NIW for the week and My Mum is travelling up so we might get some issues with regards my legacy and inheritance sorted out, and so it's away on the earliest of plausible trains and then off on the nearest available bus to land in Holmfirth for an 8.50am jump off, which comes after the necessary use of public conveniences as there are not going to be many places for comfort breaks on today's trip. July ought to be bringing the joy of the season, but the projections for the day have gradually rendered it mediocre, with little chance of sunshine in the day's first half, and thus we're off under gloomy skies, but wholly tolerable warmth, as we note Holmfirth's memorial pillar to the Treaty of Amiens of 1802, a rather premature monument to peace with Revolutionary France when 12 years of the Napoleonic Wars would start only 14 months later, placed opposite the bus stands that have been the focus of all our visits so far, before we make for the opposite bank of the Holme, which takes us up the politely dressed shopping parades of Victoria Street. Even before regular opening hours, the town feel busier than it ought to be, and thus the people need to be shed from our path as we strike westwards on Huddersfield Road, the other main street so far unseen in this town, as it leads past Holmfirth's market and mill, to the division point of the A635 - A6024 where the choice of moorland routes needs to be made, and admiring the landscape of weavers cottages and modest factories that still look the part of a town that originally thrived because of the domestic production of woollen goods, rather than heavy industry.

Penistone to Holmfirth 06/07/19

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

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

The Long Walk to Leicester #5 - Rowsley to Belper 23/05/19

17.3 miles, via Northwood, Churchtown, Darley Bridge, Oker, Matlock, High Tor, 

 Matlock Bath, Cromford, the Cromford Canal, High Peak Junction, Robin Hood, 

  Whatstandwell, Ambergate, and Scotches (plus the Derwent Valley Heritage Trail Leg #3).

Long Distance Trek

means Selfies!

#5 at Rowsley

Take two days out from the trail to allow the legs a rest and to blog to my hearts content in the down time, and also to do holiday stuff, because I'm on holiday, which has Tuesday spent riding the train at Peak Rail, because it's not a trip away without visiting a preserved line (which would make Dad happy, for sure) and then Wednesday is spent getting in the industrial heritage in at Cromford Mills, where the concept of factory manufacture took off in the late 18th century. With holiday whims satisfied, we can thus get back in the walking saddle on Thursday, knowing that another 17+ mile day lies ahead, with weather that promises a lot of sunshine and heat, in complete contrast to the already distant feeling trip over the Dark Peak only five days back, taking off in the Parental Taxi with a bag full of food and liquids that I know I'm going to need for a jump off at the Grouse & Claret in Rowsley at 9.05am. We're right by the side of the A6, which as we know is one of Leicester's main roads and could rightly be followed for the remainder of my Long Walk, but we know there wouldn't be as much fun in that, and the Derwent Valley Heritage Way will offer a much more peaceful take as it ventures down Old Station Close, to the sight of the second and longest enduring of Rowsley's stations, lost under industrial units since its 1968 closure, and we could walk the cycle path on the railway formation south from here, but the way wants us to venture into the beech woodlands by the side of the river, and so that's the way we head. A nice and shaded start to the day, feeling that it's much longer walk down to the newer Peak Rail station than it felt when we drove down there, and only slight landscape hints are felt during our passage, and oddly, we miss seeing the confluence of the River Wye as it flows in from the west, and it's odd that such a major branch of the Derwent could arrive invisibly, especially as I knew that I was looking for it.

The Long Walk to Leicester #4 - Bamford to Rowsley 20/05/19

14.4 miles, via Shatton bridge, Goose Nest wood, Leadmill bridge, Coppice wood,

 Grindleford bridge, Horse Hay coppice, Froggatt wood, Frogatt, Calver, Bubnell, Baslow,

  Chatsworth Park, and Calton Lees (plus the Derwent Valley Heritage Trail Leg #2).

Long Distance Trek means Selfies!

#4 at Bamford

Sunday makes for a nicely chilled out day away as we spend it settling into our rather curious cottage in Winster, one which has two double bedrooms, a dining room that seats six, but a living room with only space for two armchairs, so it'll be fine for Mum and myself to fill for the week, and the village itself has a tonne of charm, with many stone cottages crammed together on its hillside, largely borne of the lead mining industry and sat around the National Trust's very first property, the 15th century Market Hall. Thus relaxed, we are ready to go again on Monday as the weather showed a marked spike in improvement, tootling our way back up to the Hope and Derwent Valleys to resume the trail, not getting out quite as early as I'd would have liked, due to Mum accidentally breaking our cottage's shower, and me managing somehow to successfully fix it, landing us at Bamford station for a 9.30am start, hopeful that I haven't seen too much of today's passage already on our way back. Anyway, I can guarantee that this will be a much shorter and gentler trip than Saturday's escapade, as we make our way back over retraced steps over Mytham Bridge and past the Hope Valley Garden centre to resume the Derwent Valley Heritage Way, at Shatton bridge, leading into the dead-end village of Shatton and taking us over the lowest crossing of the River Noe, the main watercourse of the Hope Valley itself, which flows to our left as we pass around an equestrian paddock as we make for the Derwent's bank. Where the Noe converges with the Derwent is where the latter becomes considerable, as both drain an extensive area of moorland, and thus we have a large channel to follow as we join the undulating an occasionally high bank of the river, skirting along the edge of the broad pasture below the rises of Offerton Moor to the south, following it around Kentney barn before we get a reveal of the local Dark Peak company behind us, with Lose Hill and Win Hill flanking Crookstone Moor, the eastern edge of the Kinder Scout plateau. Bamford Edge also muscles into the view as we press on, but there's not so much to see going forwards as the bank gets tight and undulating until we get a reveal of the hillsides above Hathersage, a proud Derbyshire village that looks like it will remain completely unseen from this trail, hidden away on the north-eastern bank, with only signage indicating its presence somewhere beyond the coverage of trees and the string of stepping stones.

The Long Walk to Leicester #3 - Penistone to Bamford 18/05/19

17.5 miles, via Cubley, Sheephouse Height, Midhopestones, Ewden, Smallfield, 

 Bradfield Dale, Bole Edge Plantation, Strines, Moscar, Ladybower Reservoir, 

  and the Thornhill Trail (plus the Derwent Valley Heritage Trail Leg #1).

Long Distance Trek

means Selfies!

#3 at Penistone.

It's a weird feeling to organise a holiday for the family without having Dad around to enjoy it too, but after his passing getting away for a week was one of the first thoughts for the future that Mum and I shared, and with a legacy having come my way, affording a few weeks away over the coming years shouldn't dent my finances at all, and as Mum has gotten her driving confidence going again, added to getting herself a sat-nav app, her being my taxi for a week of walking across Derbyshire should be as straightforward as is possible. Getting going is the first order of business then, leaving Morley at ouch o'clock in the morning, and leaving Mum as custodian of my flat and the baggage as I make for the trail that will link my local wandering fields to the Midlands, which probably aren't as far away as my brain would think, riding the rails and cursing this month of May that still hasn't brought any consistently decent weather, arriving at Penistone for an 8.45am jump-off, under gloomy skies and clouds that look like they could threaten rain at a moments notice. We thus start our resuming path into the unknown by slipping onto the Trans Pennine Trail path which heads south of the station and reveals the platforms of the former MS&LR Woodhead route, which were coated in trees when we visited in 2014 and haven't seen a regular passenger service since 1970, and we then slip down Eastfield Avenue to make our way through the town, rising among the terraces on Church Street to pass around the other side of the parish church of St John the Baptist. Land on the High Street opposite the pubs and the Co-op, and am struck that folks seem to already be out in force despite the early hour and we press on south as the stone houses slip from townhouse style to a scale more modest, and occasionally rural before the lane takes a dip and slips solidly into suburbia, gaining the name of Mortimer Road as it goes. The rise away from the Don valley resumes as we climb towards the bottom end of town, and there's more to Penistone than you'd expect clearly, meeting the council estate at Cubley, right about where the Barnsley district bus terminates and we start to slip into the countryside, past the Cubley Hall hotel and pub, and into the elevated fields that lie beyond, shrouded in an uninviting grey haze, which sadly gives us little by way of gaining a contextual view into the landscape around-abouts.

Grisedale Pike 28/04/19

4.2 miles, from Braithwaite to Whinlatter Forest Park.

After the warmest Easter Weekend in recent memory, the very next one, when I travel over to Lancashire to visit My Sister and her family, brings an absurdly sharp drop in temperatures and constant rain that keeps me awake in the guest room in the loft after a Friday night of hitting the sauce, and washes out any possibility of us attempting the green road to Manchester from her abode in Egerton, leaving Saturday only good for doing some shopping in the big city, while dodging the precipitation the whole time. Sunday also looks like that it's not going to allow for much as Dr G and the girls have been booked onto a Mountain Bike Cyclo-Cross race in Whinlatter Forest Park in the northwest corner of the Lake District, two hours distant from greater Bolton and surely too far away for any consideration of approaching a Lakeland fell when I'm surely going to be needed as chaperone or spectator. So after suggesting that we two non-riders go up Grisedale Pike, pretty much on a whim, I'm surprised when My Sister agrees to this, and thus we travel away on Sunday morning with this idea in our heads, both expecting the other to call it off, with me anticipating her to claim timing problems while she expects me to bail due to not being an able hillwalker, and neither of us is expecting the weather to be good enough for a cloud free ascent, so we're both surprised to get as far along the A66 as Keswick and find the skies clear and the way ahead looking walkable, as the peak rises invitingly above the North-western Fells. So we get dropped off in Braithwaite village at 9.35am, just by the Hobcarton tearooms, (and far away from where I'd been anticipating walking this weekend or indeed this year) with 700m of ascent to look forward to as we set off up the B5292 Whinlatter Pass road, rising through this lovely Lakeland village, where everything is coated in whitewash, be it semis, council houses, holiday properties or miners cottages, passing the Royal Oak inn, the orthodox church and the well contained Coledale Beck. We don't have a sightline to the summit as the road pushes beyond the village, obscured by its easternmost ridge as we press uphill to the small access carpark, where we rapidly get off road and start rising on the path that tacks north to put Skiddaw and the bottom corner of Bassenthwaite Lake ahead of us, before shifting around onto a southward stretch to look over Braithwaite and Keswick to Derwent Water and the wooded top of Swinside, with the High Seat and Helvellyn ranges on the eastern horizon.

Bolton Abbey to Burnsall via Troller's Gill & Grimwith Reservoir 07/10/18

15 miles, via Riddings Hill, Barden (Beck, Scale, Tower & Bridge), How Gill, Skyreholme, 

 Troller's Gill, Appletreewick Pasture, Grimwith Fell, Grimwith Reservoir, Gate Up, 

  Hartlington Moor, Hartlington Raikes, and Hartlington.

The last viably warm weekend of the year comes around, and it's not feeling as good as some that we've had in previous seasons, as if Autumn in 2018 feels determined to disappoint us, and we're going again on Sunday as the Saturday weather doesn't look so clever and the appeal of a lie in after an extremely testing week as work is strong, and we can be quietly overjoyed that the road up Wharfedale is open again, which allows us to take the bus ride up to Bolton Abbey without having to take any stressful diversions. The additional bonus is that travelling on the Sunday gives us an extra half hour on the schedule, which is most welcome as a 15 mile tilt over some rough and remote paths in only six hours would certainly be a bit of a test as the cooling days of October start to take their grip, and despite the waning season, the #874 seems to be busier that ever as it's not even standing room only all the way to our start line, somewhat delayed as we disembark at 10.40am, but still with plenty of time available to complete our trip. Our first hour will follow the B6160 as we head north to Barden, setting off behind the Priory Gatehouse that has been gradually redeveloped into Bolton Hall, passing the tope edge of Priory church's grounds before rising with the path above the dramatic loop of the Wharfe and meeting the Cavendish Memorail Fountain, where we split away from the Bolton Abbey estate to continue against the oncoming traffic past the farmstead at the roadside and above the riverside car parking fields. Thankfully the Sunday traffic is light and the sightlines keep progress un-fraught as we elevate further to see the company of hills on the fringes of Hazlewood Moor and Barden Fell rising above the river valley, with North and South Nab, with Carncliff Top beyond, presenting a drama filled view that had been seen many times when riding the bus down Wharfedale, and one that need to be added to my walked experience list. This keeps us company as we progress past Cowpert Gill and Riddings farm, as we skirt Riddings Hill on the green south-eastern edge of Barden Moor, getting a truly fresh perspective on this quarter before the road descends markedly and views diminish as the road grazes the top edge of Strid Wood, where we pass more car parking and tourist facilities to keep the day trippers happy, sneaking a view west to the heart of the moorlands as the depression filled by Barden Beck approaches. The thing to see here is beyond the plantation as the road bottoms out, and that's the Nidd Aqueduct, making another of its appearances above ground, just south of where its castellated companion passes over the Wharfe, making a multi-arched passage over the beck before disappearing underground again on its long journey to Chelker reservoir and on towards Bradford, which I take many pics of, not really satisfied that they're better than the ones I once took from a moving bus.

Buckden Pike (aborted) 27/08/18

6.3 miles, from Kettlewell, via Top Mere Road, Cam Pasture, Starbotton Cam Road,
 Tor Dike, Hunters Sleets, Top Mere Top, Buckden Pike, Buckden Rake, Buckden, and 
  Starbotton. Park Rash, and Cam Gill Road.

The weather projections for Bank Holiday Monday morning look a whole lot more favourable than those we had for Sunday, suggesting that the worst of the lingering rain should be done before 9am, and as I've got my camera working again and all my clothes dried, with a potential six and half hour window to use before the last #874 bus runs back to Leeds, it makes total sense to tilt again at Buckden Pike and hang the consequences of a dozen extra miles walked when I still need to return to work on Tuesday. So rise for breakfast at 8.45am, again eating as much food as Zarina will put in front of me to sustain another trip out, feeling teased by the suggestions of blue skies and sunshine breaking through the light clouds as I watch an early starter walk up the ascent up to Gate Cote Scar across the valley, but as I make plans to leave an hour later, the weather looks a whole lot less favourable, and I'm already mentally revising my plans as my hosts agree to allow me to leave my bag containing my clothes and ancient laptop at the tearoom to collect on the way back. Step out at 10am, cursing the fact that Upper Wharfedale never seems to bring the weather that you'd like to have, striking back along Middle Lane again as I choose to get the long ascent up to 500m altitude done early, rather than retracing steps up the main road back to Starbotton, stepping past the Village store again and walking up the north side of Kettlewell Beck, past the various cottages and farmsteads to the former village school at the bottom of Cam Gill Road. The ascent here starts in earnest, and even before we've risen above the tree cover, the drizzle has shifted to a steady rain, and I'll pause overlooking the village to look to the north west to see if the weather shows any sign of relenting, which it doesn't and so we get fully waterproofed up again as we hit the slippery limestone-clad track of Top Mere Road, wondering aloud if we're getting yesterday's weather back, returning for a bonus downpour or two over Wharfedale again. The steepest stretch of the days' ascending is the rise to 350m, the regular 150m ascent from the river valley being something of a West Riding tradition, and looking back down the valley as we go gives a distinctly shifting view of the weather as the cloud level changes with nearly every look, sometimes revealing Barden Moor all the way down the valley, and at other times offering nothing further away than all the marquees around Kilnsey, and hopes for high land progress feel stymied once I get sight over to Great Whernside, with cloud shrouding it above the 600m contour.

Great Whernside 26/08/18

10.1 miles, from Kettlewell, via Hag Dike, Great Whernside, Stone Top Head, Blackfell Top, 

 Black Dike, Hunters Sleets, Top Mere Top, Buckden Pike, Buckden Rake, Buckden, 
  Tor Dike, Starbotton Cam Road, and Starbotton.

As it's August Bank Holiday at the end of one of the hottest summers in the last few decades, it's entirely natural that the weather projection isn't looking good, and it looks like a complete circuit of the two 700+m fells around Kettlewell is unlikely to be completed before foul weather takes the day over, so after a decent night's kip I rise at 8am, the only early starter in the B'n'B so Zarina can host me with a three and a half course breakfast, which will hopefully be enough to fortify me for the whole day, and against whatever it might throw at me. I'm not quite prepared for winter weather but waterproof and gloves ought to protect me against the coming rain and wind, which are already underway when I depart at 9.10am, hopeful that I might get well on over the high grounds before the weather worsens around midday, wandering off up Middle Lane to the corner by the Village Store and crossing over Kettlewell Beck by the King's Head Inn and pressing east up Scabbate Gate, among the many cottages that grew up here thanks to the boom in the Lead mining industry in the 19th century, surpassing the textiles and farming industries that preceded it, and it's the sort of Yorkshire village that I love most, until you realise just how far from the wider world you really are up here. Which makes it ideal for the adventurous type, which we are being this weekend, following the road as it turns to a rough track leading up to the campsite at the bottom of Dowber Gill, where we pick the bridleway as our ascent route up to Great Whernside, which still sits away hidden from view above the village, and as we rise aside the neighbouring valley of Cam Gill Beck, we gain a fresh perspective over the side valleys that cannot be seen from the main body of Wharfedale. The road up to Coverdale can be traced as we rise above the tree cover and press on up well built track until we hit the 350m contour and split from our north-western trajectory to hairpin back and trace a broadly twisting path across the high pasture that leads back towards Dawber Gill, giving us evolving views back down Wharfedale and across to Firth Fell, to Buckden Pike and its companion Top Mere Top to the north, and finally up to the top 200m of Great Whernside, a summit strip that is over a mile long, and thus I'm not entirely certain that we can see the actual summit cairn from here.

Skipton to Kettlewell 25/08/18

14.8 miles, via Tarn Moor, Scale House, Rylstone, Cracoe, Swinden Quarry, Threshfield, 
 Kirk Bank, Kilnsey, and Skirfare Bridge.

August Bank Holiday weekend arrives, at long last, or rather suddenly as the month already hits its last week, and even if the weather projection for much of it is not looking too great, I'm still going to take my long weekend away in Kettlewell to face down its pair of 700+m neighbours as I've had this trip planned since May and have already paid half of the costs of my room and board, and most probably won't be seeing that money again if I chose to stay home and rest up instead of walking. So stuff my life into two bags, rather than the largest single one, as wearing them slung fore and aft offers more comfortable weight distribution, despite me looking like I'm primed to attend Leeds Fest instead, and set out late-ish as Northern Trains and the RMT are still at loggerheads, meaning that I don't get to my jump off point in Skipton until 10.40am, with my sights set on Upper Wharfedale, which immediately feels like a long way away as the extra weight of my holiday bag is soon felt. Skipton station being offset to the town's south-west means that finding routes north will always follow familiar pavements, and that's the case today as we hammer out along Broughton Road past the mill conversions as far as the canal bridge before turning up Coach Street to pass among the old wharf-side building before crossing the Springs Branch and heading uphill among the town's car parks to meet Gargrave Road, and the route up the sealed off rat run of St Stephen's Close. Suburbia butts up against hidden terraces along here, where the RC church also hides concealed, where a last look over the town is gained before we slip downhill to the leafy passage of the B6265 Grassington Road, which will be our companion as we press away from Airedale, rising out of the walled in section below the trees and on past the smart range of suburbia that has never quite grown to fill all the fields above the town, where we gain sight of the Barden Moor fringe before we lose our footway and have to make a passage over the A59 Skipton Bypass. It's going to be road walking for such a large chunk of today, so it's nice to briefly get a detour onto an off-road trek over Tarn Moor up as far as the Craven Heifer Inn, a path seen before as long ago as 2012, meeting the pub and having the three high crags on the southern edge of the moor announce themselves as we press on, along with Sharp Haw and Rough Haw arriving on our horizon to the west. The road walk thus starts in earnest as we rise and fall with the lane as Eller Beck flows south towards the town beyond the adjacent fields, as we enter the Yorkshire Dales National Park with the traffic level looking like it might prove more challenging than on my escapade along the A65 in April, pressing on in the shadow of Crookrise Crag as we pass Bog Wood and None Go Bye farm, and the West Riding roadsign indicating that we are only two miles out on the Skipton & Cracoe turnpike.