Blake Dean

I wasn’t sure where to walk today I’d spoken to Melanie and she thought Jumble Hole Clough may not be a good idea with it being so muddy.  At least by lunch time it had faired up although driving over Cockhill the mist came down low. Yet when I dropped down to Pecket Well the mist rolled away and it wasn’t too bad.  I was still making my mind up where to go. As I dropped down into Hebden Bridge I decided to go over towards Widdop at Clough foot I would have two options – either going around the Gorple Moors or Blake Dean.  When I got to the parking place I decided to on the Blake Dean option being slightly shorter and not quite so wild a walk hopefully.  Although I had never done this walk before.

I set off and turned down the path sign-posted Hebble hole. 

 Down I went at a fork I took the right flagged path down to the valley bottom of Graining Water.  It was very pretty, but the wrong way.  

So I had to trek all the way back up the path again. 

 Instead I was to carry along the hillside on a thin path and past the outcrops of Ridge Scout. 

Eventually the path went down the hillside to a stile onto the road. I was facing the site of Blake Dean Baptist Chapel – the burial ground along side is still there. 

From here I dropped down the road and going left to a stile with some very steep steps down to Alcomden Water.  It was very broad and fast today. 

  I should imagine in the summer its just a gentle stream ideal for paddling in. Crossing the footbridge I climbed the hill to come to a flat pathway – this was a railway cutting built in 1901 to carry materials to Walshaw Dean. 

 From here I turned left up the hill – through a couple of fields and onto a lane.  Now I was heading back towards the car and the wind was in my face. 

 Hard work walking and my eyes were streaming with the wind.  This was now a long walk along the access road.  I followed this down the valley over a stone arched bridge up the other side where there were a group of teenagers out walking too.  They were having a break having come from the opposite direction to me. I continued left past a plantation and back to the road and my car.  Good walk but nearer 4 miles than 3.5 and with the wind against me all the way back it had been hard work. Think it will be lovely to do this again in the summer.

Hurst Green and Stonyhurst

Today we did a family walk for my birthday – I’d picked this walk as the children love The Hobbit and all things Tolkien.  The thinking was it would make it more interesting than just going out for lunch.  We would do the walk and then finish at The Three Fishes for lunch around 2pm.  It was a good thing I had downloaded 3 walks of various lengths as you can’t control the weather. We set off just after 9 to get to Hurst Green for about 10 to 10.30 ish and it was foggy and raining.  Luckily we had all the gear, the children were well wrapped up and Albert was well layered up when we poked him in the back-pack for Jo to carry him round. 

The rain wasn’t for letting up as we set off.  We turned down the main road towards Clitheroe the directions said turn up a track to Fair Field but we passed the first drive and the second before we finally turned up a track towards some farm buildings

 – we still hadn’t found the track to Fair Field but we knew we were heading in the right direction.  It was very muddy.  At the top we popped out on the right path which was lucky so we picked up the way forward.  We headed of down the lane and there it was

 – JR Tolkien’s school in all its majestic glory.  What an imposing and beautiful building – absolutely stunning architecture. As we walked down towards it we passed the walking tree.

 How daunting must this building seem to a small boy coming down the driveway to this place for the first time? 

Today though the weather was too bad for us to linger – rain was gradually turning to snow and Albert was crying non-stop and wouldn’t keep his mittens on.  So off we went past this beautiful place and up the lane to bear left

 and then left again up a farm track to a muddy way through a farmyard.  Here we had to back track a little as we missed the path through a field.  It was ‘proper snow’ we were battling now.

The path took down a really slippery sliding muddy path to a footbridge over Dean Brook. George came a cropper as his feet slid from under him – I don’t know how he managed it but he balanced on his elbows and kept his trousers dry.  Mabel and I skirted around the undergrowth where it was boggy but less slippy.  I don’t know how Jo managed it with Albert on his back as you have to stay really upright otherwise you feel like you’re going to topple Albert out over your head.  It was pretty muddy the other side of the bridge too and it was a steep climb.  Bernard seems to instinctively know when to go slow and not pull on his lead which is a good thing. From here we skirted around a wood and through a stile onto a broad farm track. 

Albert had finally stopped crying and fallen asleep. All along here Aggie took Bernard’s lead and it was now a straight walk on good tracks (it was now hailing) George pointed out we were going down Shire Lane to a pretty dell and back up to the village where we were parked.

George and I had brought our cameras but the weather meant we didn’t really want to stop and choose a perfect picture. We had all worked up an appetite and were cold and ready for something to eat.  A walk to do again in better conditions.

Leeming Reservoir

Sunday and the weather is no better today than it was yesterday.  I was just looking for a short walk to take a few photos with my camera rather than with my phone camera so I bobbed up to Leeming Reservoir for a quick walk around to see what I could photograph.  The light wasn’t particularly good but never the less I managed to get a couple of photos I was quite pleased with. 

  Hope to get better and make better use of the settings this summer (one of my new year good intentions). 

Didn’t see anyone on the way round and the paths were really muddy – by the time I got back to the car my fingers were getting pretty cold.  Still you always feel better for having been out for a walk in the fresh air. 

Back home and more research on photography I think now.

Blackpots & Rivock Plantation

Another cloudy Saturday, today the light has been gloomy and I felt it was going to come dark early so I decided to do one of my favourite short walks.  It’s not far to drive up to Holden gate and because I have done this walk quite a few times now I didn’t need the directions.  The windmill was turning and the sky was grey and hazy.  No sun was going to break through this afternoon.

As I walked on and headed towards Rough Holden Farm I could see the way was going to be pretty muddy.  Farmyards are notorious for mud. 

As I made my way through the sheep that were in the yard watched me suspiciously – they can be quite forbidding animals when they all turn and watch you as you walk by.  I continued along below a stone pump house and along through the wet fields of moss and bulrushes. Heading for a derelict building, I turned through the stile down the dip and out the other side. 

  From here I crossed the field down to a stream with a stone slab bridge and up the opposite side. 

Several fields and stiles later I came out in front of Blackpots and onto the farm track (Jerry lane). 

Turning right along this lane took me to the start of Rivock Edge plantation.  From here it’s a clear path through the trees – always unusual light here.

 Eventually leaving the plantation through a gate.  I could hear the shooting from on top of the moor as I headed back down past the TV mast and back onto Silsden to Morton road. 

Turning right was a short walk back to where I’d parked up.  As I got to my car the light was falling fast and it was only quarter to four.  Daylight was leaving early today. A good 4 miles to blow the cobwebs away.

Yorkshire Photo Walk Around Penistone Hill

I was very excited to do this walk this morning – especially as it was so close to home.  We met up on moorside car park opposite the Harbour Lodge access road.  There were 6 of us and our tutor Tom Marsh. It was really cold and blustery we were going to learn how to create a moody landscape, that was the idea anyway.  As we set off the sky was pretty obliging with clouds skudding across the sky.  However by the time we were an hour into the walk the clouds had rolled away and blue skies prevailed – not ideal for a moody landscape but at least we were learning the theory of light, contrast texture movement. 

After attempting several tasks over different areas of Penistone we all felt we had learnt something of how to compose a picture.  

By the time I got back to the car my fingers were frozen and it started to hail/rain.  It had been a really good morning though and I would definitely go on another of these walks in the future. I had also managed to walk 4 miles in the process. Bonus.