Embsay Reservoir

Well today I am in recovery from a cough and a cold so I didn’t want to walk far, plus it was really wet and windy again. 

After racking my brains I just had a run out to the Embsay Reservoir.  

This is a short circular walk around the Embsay Moor Reservoir and has a good view of Embsay Crag,  which is a good climb but not today, it needs to be good weather and good views for it to be worthwhile.

The waves were large and there were no boats on the water so it was just keep your head down and walk around.  

It was also pretty muddy underfoot in parts so I had to skirt around the worst of the mud.  This is a lovely walk in summer and really nice for little ones to do.  

On getting back to the car I did feel better for getting out there and having a short walk I just wish the weather had been more pleasant.

Pinhaw from Lothersdale

Although the day was dull it had stayed fine all morning.  The weather forecaster were predicting the arrival of Storm Brian later in the day, but according to the forecast it was going to hit UK lower down the country.  I didn’t want to do a long walk too far away so chose this one.  I have walked this quite a few times before but it is a good walk, one of my favourite short walks in fact.

 I parked just before dropping to the Hare and Hounds pub.  Then walked down to the path sign posted The Pennine Way.  It was a straight forward climb through the fields up to the lane.  

Then across the gravelly track up to the top corner and out onto Carleton Moor.  By now it was raining on and off and the wind had really picked up – I think storm Brian had arrived.

The path turned left and is pretty clear all the way up to the trig point.  Now it was really windy and the gusts nearly blew you over.  Amy I crazy or what.  What on earth possessed me to do this walk in this weather? 

Usually from the trig point you can see Pendle, Whernside, Pen-y-gent, Ingleborough and Buckden Pike.  Not today just mist and rain.  Glad I had my full waterproofs on I was dry and toasty warm.

From the trig point I followed the path and then turned off by the wall going across the moor to a small plantation – it really was very windy and the trees were bending and wailing in the wind.  Over the stile into a large field full of sheep which at the bottom brings you out at farm drive. 

I crossed this and down again emerging at White Hill Lane. After walking down here I turned as though going to Raygill then took a gate down on the left to cross Lothersdale beck climbing up the other side and over to a stream,  

I followed this all the way back to Lower Spen Farm, usually there’s a really yappy dog there but not today.  Their drive takes you back to the main road and to my car.  

The Hare and Hounds Pub was closed and looked to have the builders in as though there is some major work going so maybe next time I walk here it will be transformed and re-opened.

A good 4 mile walk even in a storm.

Brass Castle and West Morton

The morning had looked overcast but no rain so far so we were good to go. Gail and I met up at Monica’s as we were going on a walk which started near enough to where she lives.  It was a Bradford Council self-guided walk which Monica had down-loaded from their website.  Exciting adventure.

The walk started by going along the path towards the old Isolation Hospital (well grounds there’s no hospital there anymore now). We walked into the grounds but the path wasn’t the one we wanted to so we had to back track.  We turned up along the canal and came across a family of teenage swans eventually turning up a path to take us up through fields onto the tops and popping out onto the busy Silsden Road (there wasn’t a car in sight)

After walking along the road for a couple of hundred yards we took a gate on the left which led us up onto Morton moor.  The paths were not as muddy as I thought they would be up here. 

 The path eventually curved around and we were faced with going through a field with bulls.  Monica said we should just stay calm, no sudden movements as that would spook them.  

We followed the track down eventually coming to a track running across our pathway which was just covered in slurry – about 6” deep all the way down it.  Unfortunately we read the directions wrong here as we gamely trudged through this slurry coated track.  

When we got to the bottom and we read the paper again we realised we would have to go back the way we had come.  Luckily there was a gate which we hopped over into the field which ran alongside and we retraced our path up to the top in the field.  At the top we scrambled over the wall and back onto the path we should have taken. From here we dropped down into a farmyard which was no better than the track.  It was pretty mud/silage and manure laden – we just had to keep going up to the gateway which led into a boggy field. 

Going down we eventually came out at West Morton where the path ran alongside a bungalow with the warning notice – do not enter the paddock if the dogs are loose.  The dogs (huge bull mastiffs) were going crazy in the yard by the house.  Even though the fence was 6 feet high they could see over.  We hopped through the paddock pretty quickly.

Here we wandered around as the directions seemed a little vague we walked down a field and found where we needed to cross the beck – with no bridge – Gail was an absolute star she grabbed stones and created a stepping stone path across it which Monica and I just followed.

The rest of the walk was straight forward back to the path by the old hospital and on to Monicas for a well-earned cup of tea.  With all the backwards and forwards walking we clocked up somewhere between 7 and 8 miles a good afternoon with a lot of laughs.

Warley Museum

This wasn’t a walk but it was an interesting afternoon, the anniversary of the 1^st year of Warley Museum.  Officially the smallest museum in England.  We actually went as Jo was playing in a brass band as part of the entertainment. 

There was also a folk group ‘The Landlubbers’, and a poetess/ performer who gave a couple of narrations.  It was different and entertaining.

Mytholmroyd to Luddenden Foot

This morning had been a wet Saturday so I’d racked my brains trying to think of somewhere to walk that wouldn’t be too muddy.  Eventually I came up with this walk.  I have walked on here before and so I wouldn’t need my book to guide me and it’s just a straightforward walk from Mytholmroyd Train station along the cycle route.

 The path to Luddenden foot goes along side the railway lines for a good part of the way. It then takes off through a field towards a small group of houses and an old school. 

  The autumn colours are starting to show through now and there were piles of leaves everywhere.  As I was walking along I came to a storage area for old buses. 

The way back from Luddenden Foot to Mytholmroyd is alongside the canal.  This part of the walk was much more muddy – probably because it’s a more well used path. 

The trees are just beginning to turn and the Rochdale canal looked really pretty even though the weather was none too brilliant.

A pleasant 4 mile walk when the weather is glum.