Walk Leader – Neil Harwood

Number on walk – 7

Distance – 14 miles

Weather – Wet and cloudy for much of the day with a sunny finish!

The weather was poor again with rain at the start, but the forecast was for it to clear later in the day. With the hope that this might be early afternoon I decided again to walk the route in reverse so that we would have good views from Black Hameldon and the Brides Stones, which would now be at the end of the day, when hopefully we would have better weather.

After a couple of overgrown and wet paths at the very beginning of the walk, we briefly joined the Pennine Bridleway, which took us down into the Colden valley. Then it was up and over the other side of the valley and down into Hebden Dale and Gibson Mill. The latter is a pretty mill restored by the National Trust and provided a good lunch spot with toilets, seating and a café if required.

Suitably refreshed the route then heads up the western side of Hebden Water directly along the riverbank. Although this misses Hardcastle Crags, I think it is the prettier and more interesting route. And the sun came out briefly! We then cross onto the other side of the river, which we follow upstream at various distances and heights to almost the bottom of the Lower Gorple Reservoir. Although there are good views back down the valley there are lots of ferns to contend with at this time of year – not the best in wet conditions.

We join the Pennine Bridleway again briefly before heading up to the ancient Reeps Cross. The weather has taken a turn for the worse again and accompanies us across the boggy and wet Heptonstall Moor to our next brief stop at the trig point (479m) on Black Hameldon, also known as Hoof Stone Heights. The plan of avoiding the worst of the weather had not worked but the view was decent and even dramatic in the cloudy conditions. We had also finally made it back to Lancashire, albeit briefly.

It is a quick descent to the road, which we follow back into Yorkshire and then came off to follow a decent track back east. The downside of reversing the route is that we had one final climb up to the Bride Stones. But by this time, which was late, the sun came out and spirits were lifted, especially with the views across the valley and the fact that we could clearly see our parked cars.

We sometimes think Yorkshire is a long way away but it is just next door and it is only a 45 minute drive home so if you are looking for somewhere a little different, take the Causeway Road from Mereclough just above Burnley and venture into some great countryside!