South Pennines

Walk 1 - Heptonstall

It’s generally true of this area that, if you don’t like your current surroundings, don’t despair, because something very different is just around the corner. This route swaps cobbled village streets for stepping stones, ruined farmhouses for ruined churches, mills for open moorland, all within a few miles.

Walk 2 - Stoodley Pike

It’s hard to ignore Stoodley Pike if you are in Calderdale, so you may as well visit it. Take some illumination with you - this is one monument that maybe hasn’t undergone a full risk assessment. It’s also the site of England’s equivalent of the Rosetta Stone, and, because these hieroglyphs are in Yorkshire,  they may still require translation for outsiders. .

Walk 3 - Luddenden Dean

Most of the ingredients from the first walk are here too, but packed into fewer miles. It’s hard to believe that Halifax is just a couple of miles away when you are in a valley where bees are entrusted with tending the cemetery and the cat has been  ‘i th’ well for many years, yet nobody seems to think this is an inappropriate way to store a cat (or name a pub). Walk 4 - Goyt This is a great mix of moors, woods and reservoirs, with a ruined hall, a shrine and a burial ground thrown in if you are missing signs of (former) life. At one point, you will leave the path to cut across the moor, heading for a disused railway. It ran from somewhere to somewhere else. Sheep went half fare. People, increasingly, went by some other means of transport. Walk 5 - Wildboarclough Another long day with a mix of moorland and forest, a few more buildings, a church that isn’t a church, a Wincle that isn’t a winkle, and probably the best peak (the only peak?) in the Peak Distict. The video seems to suggest the roads are very busy. It was a very hot day in August - they aren’t always like that. Walk 6 - The Roaches Some common ground with the last route but with more rock and more bog too - it will be a rare day when you don’t get wet feet. The Roaches are very popular - Hen Cloud  and Ramshaw Rocks less so, possibly because they don’t conveniently make a circuit. That’s what this route does with them - albeit one with bogs.

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Walk 1 - Heptonstall

It’s generally true of this area that, if you don’t like your current surroundings, you won’t have to put up with them for long, because something very different is just around the corner. This route swaps cobbled village streets for stepping stones, ruined farmhouses for ruined churches, mills for moorland, all within a few miles.

Walk 2 - Stoodley Pike

It’s hard to ignore Stoodley Pike if you are in Calderdale, so you may as well visit it. Take some means of illumination with you - this is one monument that may not have undergone a full risk assessment. It’s also the site of England’s equivalent of the Rosetta Stone (see right) and, because these hieroglyphs are in Yorkshire,  they may still require translation for outsiders.

Walk 3 - Luddenden Dean                                                               

Most of the ingredients from the first walk are here too, but packed into even fewer miles. It’s hard to believe that Halifax is just a couple of miles away when you are in a valley where bees are entrusted with tending the cemetery and the cat has been  ‘i th’ well for many years, yet nobody seems to think this is an inappropriate way to store a cat (or name a pub).

Walk 4 - Goyt

This is a great mix of moors, woods and reservoirs with a ruined hall, a shrine and a burial ground thrown in if you are missing signs of (former) life. At one stage you leave the paths behind and take off across the moor, looking for a disused railway - it ran from somewhere to somewhere else. Sheep went half fare. People, increasingly, went by some other form of transport. Walk 5 - Wildboarclough Another long day with a mix of moorland and forest, a few more buildings, a church that isn’t a church, a Wincle that isn’t a winkle, and probably the best peak (the only peak?) in the Peak Distict. The video seems to suggest the roads are very busy. It was a very hot day in August - they aren’t always like that. Walk 6 -The Roaches Some common ground with the last route but with more rock and more bog too - it will be a rare day when you don’t get wet feet. The Roaches are very popular - Hen Cloud  and Ramshaw Rocks less so, possibly because they don’t conveniently make a circuit. That’s what this route does with them - albeit one with bogs.