| Hit and Myth-olmroyd |
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Date : 27th September 2009
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Leader : Robert Eccles |
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Report by : Robert Eccles |
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Photos © : N/A |
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Seven Hyndburn Ramblers gathered at Mytholmroyd to start a 12 miles circular walk of Hebden Bridge. The weather was over-cast but there was a promise of a dry day with some sunny periods.
We started south from the car park through Mytholmroyd to the Daisy Bank footpath. With a little distance between the cars and us it was considered safe to mention that there would be one or two (Ok, three) hills on the journey and 800m of ascent. The news went down reasonably well.
The 150m ascent to Daisy Bank soon got the heart and lungs working and resulted in a “get your breath back” stop and a chance to appreciate just how much we had climbed. The ground started to level out and after a right turn we started the gradual descent towards Horsehold. Views down into the valleys were great and we could now see Hebden Bridge nestled in the bottom and up the sides of them.
A short sharp climb got us to the start of Horsehold Woods and the view point. A refreshment break allowed us to review the rest of our journey to Blackshaw, Heptonstall and Pecket. We completed the descent through the woods and across a stream that, despite the dry spell, was still quite feisty. Finally we reached the canal and headed left to cross the road and start the second ascent of the day.
The 200m climb up Hippins Clough / Water was made harder by the temperature and humidity in the woods that line the valley. All the way up are the remains of mills that had exploited the water and the gradient together with natural and man-made waterfalls. We finally emerged from the wood in need of a breather. Thus: lunch!
A signpost hinted that we could take an alternative route to the next target of Colden Clough. The leader decided to live dangerously and take this path rather than the planned one. A couple of bogs and a game of hunt the stile later we reached the spot where the Pennine Way crosses the Colden Valley. This is a lovely little spot and very popular with locals.
We headed east along the line of the valley towards Heptonstall. It appeared that we were climbing but in reality the valley was dropping away from us and at the end of Eves Wood we had a spectacular view down onto Mytholm and the valley bottom.
Heptonstall isn’t really a place you can just pass through. There is a lot of history packed into a small space and we took a few minutes to check out the museum and church ruins. Passing the octagonal Methodist church we dropped down into our next valley at Midgehole (a well named place) and the Blue Pig.
After a pint and a discussion on the role of women in the home and workplace the option of missing out the last hill was raised by the leader. The offer was declined (makes you proud) so we started the final 220m climb along the Calderdale Way to Pecket Well and the edge of Wadsworth Moor.
The next few miles along the edge of the moor were level and soon completed. Again the views into and along all the valleys that surround Hebden Bridge were excellent. Once we reached the golf club we started the final and steepest decent of the day through the yellow gorse and down to Mytholmroyd.
As a reward for all the climbing, a nice level canal towpath brought us to the cars.
Overall, a hard but good day’s walking in the South Pennines with varied terrain and great views.
