David and Jacinta's Walks- 2025

Around the Hills of Hayfield We were aiming for a slightly longer walk on Wednesday and chose a trip around the hills of Hayfield as it seemed to offer a mix of old and new landscapes. Parking in the familiar setting of Bowden Bridge, the route then took us up to the moorland by a different way, to a col on the flanks of Mount Famine. Trackside monolith, South Head and Mount Famine The views were wonderful and the morning mist had cleared from the hill tops. We worked our way down to Peep-O-Day farm and then up to Higher Hills Cottage, admiring the smart new hen house on display at the front of the house. Neither of us had noticed the mouse carved into the gatepost of the cottage before. Higher Hills Cottage gatekeeper We were then taken down to the main road at Birch Vale which provided an excellent chance to nip into one of our favourite haunts, the Sett Valley café. Duly refreshed, we began again, this time to walk up to the route to Lantern Pike. We met one of the local residents w...

Howden Edge, Margery Hill and Crow Stones- David with Paul I was out for my occasional walk with Paul, and as the walk of 9th July with Jacinta had been so enjoyable, I felt that it was worth repeating. As the road from Fairholmes to King's Tree was open, we took advantage of this and parked up at King's Tree and reduced the amount of reservoir-side walking, which was something of a relief. To begin, we only had the walk north-south the length of Howden Reservoir, rather than twice the length of the Derwent Reservoir. On Nether Hay, we had an unwelcome encounter with a small herd of cows, which we managed more or less to bypass. Cows... looking back at us. Lose Hill and Back Tor in the background We had intermittent rain but it had eased by the time that we had reached Margery Hill, where we stopped for lunch in the welcome lee of the Margery Stones. Margery Hill trig- the highest in South Yorkshire Despite Paul's unfortunate encounter with waist-deep quagmire back in Apri...

A Turn Around Lyme Park An opportunity presented itself to go for a quick walk in Lyme Park on a Monday morning, so we set off and parked at Bowstonegate near the Gritstone Trail. Watching the passers by on the Gritstone Trail It's a walk we have done many times, but it was still pleasant to go round. In the distance, we could see The Cage, which is currently undergoing some work. The safety netting around it made it look very much like a Playmobile castle. Playmobile Cage We diverted to the viewpoint indicated on the OS map and then recognised the trig point on Sponds Hill, where we'd stopped for lunch with Ann and Julian some years ago. Trig point and Manchester in the distance We then cut back down to the Lyme Park boundary wall, stopping for a nice lunch on a bench before a big descent and climb through Cluse Hay to visit the Bee Hive.  Path up to the Bee Hive We then diverted for a coffee at the café down by the house, before climbing back up to Bowstonegate and the car. ...

Hebden Bridge to Stoodley Pike On Day 2 of our South Pennines trip we decided to do a longer walk which took in Stoodley Pike as it is such a prominent  feature of the landscape. After a coffee at a lovely little cafe in Mytholmroyd, we parked up at Hebden Bridge station and began. We joined the Rochdale Canal towpath at Black Pit Lock which had its own idiosyncratic bench. Black Pit Lock bench A little further on, there was a blue plaque for Ian Curtis' birthplace on a canalside cottage. Commemorating Ian Curtis' birthplace After another short distance we crossed the A646 to go up a steep wooded slope. The path led to the picturesque village of Heptonstall and its remarkable church and earlier church ruins, all dedicated to Thomas a Beckett and, it appears, a very rare  sight in English ecclesiastical architecture. Jacinta also visited the grave of Sylvia Plath. The next section of the walk took us up to woodland but unusually, we were directed to take a footpath along the to...

Bride Stones Moor from Lydgate Day one of our trip to the South Yorkshire Pennines and, making the most of the trip, we squeezed in a walk before checking in to our rental. The first (and also the last!) section of the walk is steep and shrouded in trees from time to time. However, there are views of the heavily valleyed area from time to time. View of Robinwood from Stannally Farm on the way up Eventually we reached the point at which we'd rejoin this upward path on our return, and a waymarker with helpful direction indications. Fortunately, the map and the guidebook were clear and we eventually reached a relatively level section of the Calderdale Way. This was paved with ashlar blocks, which the guidebook said was indicative of the course of packhorse trails. Our walk was peppered with many path options- fortunately, the guidebook was helpful. Choices,  choices. Above Kit Hill Farm As well as the many direction posts, our walk also had several interesting artefacts: Lonely (fence...

Longstone Moor and Cressbrook Dale Our walk began at Monsal Head, a dramatic and scenic spot. After coffee and sustenance, we walked to Little Longstone and then uphill towards open country. Lovely to be in the open country- on the way up to Longstone Moor We recognised that this walk was different from the one we did last year in the same area. The walk took us uphill to a cairn and a tumulus and we were delighted to see a little plaster head of what might pass for a pagan deity, deposited gently in the pile of rocks. Tumulus cairn... ...with plaster head! We continued through 2 copses (spell-checker suggested "corpses"...) to a crossroads where we stopped for a drink and to admire the sheep basking in the shade of a solitary hawthorn tree. Sadly, we had to walk close to these poor baking sheep. Nevertheless, they didn't move far as it was so hot. Looking back to the tumulus, its cairn and the two copses The route then went downhill and across various roads and tracks an...