Distance 20 miles
Ascent 800m
Weather dry but overcast
Donkeys, deer, fox, woodpecker, fighty sheep, posh curly sheep, cute little lambs
We left the Pennine Manor Hotel and walked down the hill on a pretty track, where we (and by we I mean Rob) decided to avoid a bit of road walking by following a footpath that ended in a bog. We made it out by a slightly less wet path nearby. A couple of times today we had to try and navigate around houses where footpaths are confusing or obscured - we talked about being more belligerent and asserting our right to pass on rights of way - as it was we just tutted and walked around.
We got lunch at the co-op in Ripponden and ate it sitting on a bench on Coal Gate Road. The bench wasn't very sheltered but had a good view of the wind turbine.
A path over the moors led up to Manshead End, which has a trig point and impressive views over Rishworth Moor and Soyland Moor, before heading back along the wide ridge to Great Manshead Hill.
We crossed the valley at Crag Vale then went up Cove Hill and along the footpath around the edge of Turley Holes and Higher House Moor, which proved to be very holey indeed. The gate at the other end by the dam wall at Withins Clough reservoir was padlocked shut so the path is still officially closed. We were able to squeeze through the narrow gap between the wall and the gate post.
We walked round the drystone walls up to Withins Gate, the cows here distinctly unimpressed with us. We crossed the Pennine Way and dropped down into Mankinholes where there were lots of people enjoying the garden at the YHA. We still had miles to go.
A nice grassy link path took us through sheepy fields down into Todmorden, then we were on pavements until reaching the Staff of Life. It's amazing how much longer 10 minutes seems when you're on the last uphill walk of the day compared with 10 minutes to get ready for dinner.
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