Stoodley Pike 10/11/12

When I did my first walk back in March, I talked with some members of the FOSCL group about my reservations about the idea of walking through the months of Winter and was told in return that 'walking season never ends'. As Autumn lowers the temperature and shortens the days of 2012, I'm not so sure that statement is true as the available windows for excursions reduce and I have additional pressures on my time, mostly a couple of imminent birthdays and the on-rushing festive season, and I need a rest. The short days and lack of sunlight wreak havoc on me during the dark quarter of the year and I feel work pressures aren't going to lighten any time soon, so I need to draw a line under 2012's season and get some proper rest. Let us have one last wander then, to the place I'd observed so many times on my wanders through Calderdale but had never actually visited, and a small celebration to wrap up a successful season.

Mytholmroyd to Hebden Bridge, via Stoodley Pike.  6.4 miles

The ascent from Mytholmroyd

Gather up in Mytholmroyd, not forcing an unnecessarily early start, to see who has answered my call for social interaction on my last walk of the year, and my good friends IH and MW have answered the request as I had hoped they would, AK will not be joining us (also as anticipated) but will be offering moral support by picking out a drinks venue for the end of the day. We compare gear and wonder how we're all in November after last getting together before Easter, and once MW's GPS is primed, we can get going a 10.35am, and needing the quickest route to the hills from Cragg Road, IH directs us to the muddy path next to the Old Folks home, so called because it is always muddy regardless of the weather. As we've had a pretty moist year, the initial going is slow and not aided by traversing another cow-gouged field, meet the major path out from Mytholmroyd and hope things don't get slippery as the constant climb at 35 degrees kicks in. It's all an opportunity to see how healthy we are feeling, and it's encouraging to know that despite being regular walkers both MW and I still breathe hard on the ascent, whilst IH has the problem of knees that haven't gotten any younger since we last socially walked some 7 years ago. Above the tree we see another day that promises much autumnal sunshine and we all chat of how much we all love Calderdale, as I note how much more this landscape makes sense to me after interacting with the high moors and MW picks out the route of the Stanza Stones trail which he walked back in August and blogged in much more impressive detail than I have managed on these pages. Meet Park Fold wood, which IH is always keen to point out doesn't appear on any OS map, and at the top of the ascent, the calm air of the valley is replaced by a sharp wind coming over the moors.

Stoodley Pike from Erringden Moor

Follow the field boundary path that leads to the long walled path to the moor and observe the first of many point where the path disappears under a lot of water, IH notes that this has been the first year since they moved out here in 2006 that there have been no fires on the moorland. We are led out to the edge of Erringden Moor, and picking the trod that I think we should be following, we notice a walking group some distance ahead of us and have a laugh at them as some of their number do the wobbly arms flailing walk over the moor. We should know better than to laugh at people for such things, as MW point out if anyone ever wants to embarrass him, they dig out one of his 'falling in a bog' stories. It turns out that some of the streams that run across the moor have completely waterlogged some sections and what might have been spongy going in better conditions has become completely aquatic today. Tentative prodding is done and whoever leads chooses their footing before telling their followers to choose a better path, too many times you set off into a marshy bit to discover your third or fourth step has you sinking to half way down your calf. Thankfully, it's not a long or remote moor traverse, and as the moorland rises we see Stoodley Pike rise in the distance, followed by the wall on the far side of the moor which we had been aiming for. Pause to water and compare maps, and then it seem that we might be joining up with the walking group that we had observed earlier, but they are taking the low road to Stoodley Pike whilst I'm aiming us to the high route to avoid unnecessary descents.

Stoodley Pike

Turns out I'd aimed us across the moor on one of the more northerly paths, so a farm track is followed which leads us to Dick's Lane, and just to prove that I am 12 years old, I can't help but laugh every time anyone mentions its name, this is not aided any by IH keeping on saying it like Christine Baranski did in Cybil (and is that ever an obscure reference?). Anyhoo, Dick's Lane is tougher going than it has any business being, as it's fenced off half way along its length and it's about as churned up and irregularly surfaced as can be. There's paddling into pools of uncertain depths and clambering along walls to be done and once you meet the path that comes out of the forest, the route to meet the Pennine Way is even worse. Having paddled and clambered over that stretch, getting on the Pennine Way path is a huge improvement and then its a run up to Stoodley Pike itself and despite taking what I deemed as the worse route, the walking group has gotten there before us. The monument up close is not as tall as it appears from a distance, a 121foot Gritstone pinnacle, which is still undeniably bulky, originally built to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 and rebuilt in 1856 after the original collapsed at the outbreak of the Crimean war. We all light our walkers torches to climb up the spiral staircase to the balcony, 40 feet up, and enjoy the views, the one over Todmorden has already been described and the look south to Withens Gate looks, in this light, not unlike something the Mars Curiosity Rover might have photographed.


Stoodley Pike from the Pennine Bridleway

We've burned about 20 minutes at our destination before we need to head off, and I pick the route straight down the hillside to the Pennine Bridleway, about 150 metres of descent and carefully chosen steps that seems a lot more preferable to walking up the same way. I observe that many walkers, even in November, seem to be under-dressed for the season and progress is slowed by IH starting to have issues with his knees, and me starting to have issues with my camera (its terrible battery life is a long running joke). Gather ourselves at the Pennine Bridleway and I'd assumed that this would provide a decent, level surface for our run back toward Hebden Bridge, but no the surface is carved up and soft and goes uphill for the first half mile. There are hilariously passive-aggressive notices posted along the fences, reminding us that the path surface is the responsibility of Calderdale council, and thus urge us to complain. I'm okay with heavy going, it's not a long walk anyway, and the surface improves markedly after crossing the Pennine Way and Swillington farm. Keeping the church in Heptonstall as our guide on the horizon, we plough along Kilnshaw lane and chat turns to walking in 2013 and MW is keen on some of the local challenge walks, notably the Hebden Bridge and Todmorden boundary walks, and they still seem a bit too long to be fun in my eyes. We also talk about old times and how our social group met via the early days of the internet at Leeds Uni, and it's shocking to think that our 20 year anniversaries of being in this end of the country have either just passed or are coming up next year.


The descent to Hebden Bridge

I choose to not follow the hard surface of the Pennine Bridleway into the valley, instead picking the more direct paths, which of course means sharper descents, and whilst I'm fine with them, I forget that IH might have serious trouble. Jumps Lane and Broad Lane are fine as cobbled far tracks go but the next path, down to Crow Nest wood is little more than a ditch carved deep between two walls. I figure that I have enough balance to walk unaided and pass my stick to IH so that he might make sounder progress and he almost immediately proceeds to break it as it gets stuck in the mud. Just as quickly he manages to repair it, so he won't be having to get me a new one for Christmas, and it does seem to make a huge difference for him, and I say it is a bit of kit that should be owned by every walker! There's an unusual feature here as the descending path goes under the track running laterally across the hillside, carried over on a small stone bridge, and I don't think I've encountered one of those before. Descending into the wood is fun as every footfall seems to land in several inches of dead leaves, and then there's roots and soft earth to contend with too. At least we get a direct view down to our destination, but it's still a long way below us and I feel the need to apologise profusely for taking us down this route, and everyone says they're cool with it, and say we're more likely to have an accident when we hit the roads! Eventually the descent through the wood ends and a hard surface is regained to the relief of all and followed down to where someone has drawn devil horns and tridents on the figures on the footpath signs and this amuses us no end.

End of the 2012 season
Cheers!

It already feel like evening in Hebden Bridge as the sun has dropped below the line of the valley sides and we have to traverse our way over the transport features to get into the town itself, so it's over the railway line, trace a path to the mysterious path that appears to go nowhere to join the Rochdale canal and go over the aqueduct that takes the Calder under the canal, and then over the canal at Lock 9. Then it's on into the throng of tourists in the town to meet the A646 and the bridge over Hebden Water to our end point at the Old Gate, where AK is waiting for us, not quite with pints primed, but close enough. The GPS is checked and 6.33 miles is reported as our distance for the day, but our time of  4 hours and 15 minutes is pretty pathetic, still it's 2.40pm and it already feels like evening, and we feel like we have earned our beer and burger, though a plate would have been nice rather than having it served on a board. A session would have been nice, but there's honestly not much left in any of our tanks, so hopes are made that I have not done anyone any lasting damage and gratitude is extended all round as a line is drawn under the 2012 walking season.

1,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 465.3 miles