South Downs Way - Day 1

Eastbourne to Alfriston
Distance: 12.7 miles
Ascent: 700m
Weather: rain, drizzly spells, more rain
Bunnies: plenty
Plus squirrels, foxes, geese, swans, stonechats,   interesting bird to yet be id'd (or not, quite possibly), pretend shepherds.

It was slightly odd this morning as we set off to begin the South Downs Way that we were walking down Regents Street and passed Buckingham Palace - having spent the night in London before getting the train from Victoria Station to Eastbourne. It was drizzling slightly as we set off,  and I began to hope that the weather forecast had been wrong. It wasn't.

We made our way to the coast, along slippy stone streets with a seagull eating a sponge, and stopping at a little park to shelter  while we had a quick first lunch and put waterproofs on. Then we headed up on to the cliffs towards Beachy Head. Very impressive cliffs, and a dramatic view down to the crashing waves and lighthouse beneath - followed by a more sombre sight of the little crosses and flowers laid in memory of those who have jumped.

The cliff tops undulate along, grassy and gorse,  and we saw foxes and birds as we went,  plus a few other walkers.

Around the headland at Cuckmere Haven we turned inland through the Seven Sisters country park and along Cuckmere River,  which apparently was much involved in smuggling once upon a time. We didn't see anything suspicious today - although the sheep looked a bit shifty. We had second lunch under some trees at the visitor centre,  and had a look in an old shepherds hut wagon thing, where some people who clearly weren't shepherds were eating their sandwiches.

The path followed a flood defence by the side of the river,  at times quite muddy - and it seems that this is the type of mud that sticks to the bottom of your shoes, which is a nice thought at the beginning of a 280 mile walk.  The weather is supposed to be better tomorrow.

We are now in Ye Olde Smugglers Inn in Alfriston which is very pretty, we have beer (Copper Hop from the local Longman Brewery) and the sun has come out.

Bank Holiday Weekend Out - Day 3

Distance: 16.5 miles
Ascent: 680m
Weather: dry, sunny
Squirrels,  sheep and lambs,  cows, horses. Fly-by grouse.

After a fantastic dinner and a good night at the Staff of Life at Eagle's Crag north of Todmorden (untroubled by ghosts of little boys or, more likely but slightly less mysteriously, cats) we left at about 10 am, stuffed full of breakfast. We crossed the road and headed up a pretty grassy path around the valleyside around Todmorden Edge, past Dobroyd Castle - with great views up and down the valley and over to Stoodley Pike. Due to the nature of valleys, we had to descend at Gauxholme and climb up the hillside again. We joined a track that crossed farmland where we met some cows and then some super cute lambs.

A wide road has been put in for the construction traffic for the new wind turbine being erected and as we approached this we were buzzed by a low flying grouse.

We continued over open moorland, with sheep, cows and lapwings, a grassy path brought us down into Littleborough and, after a bit by the canal and a rather muddy farm, Hollingworth Lake.  It was heaving around the lakeshore today and a blessed relief to leave the shore path and headed away to the motorway.

We had a sit down under Castle Hill,  with tea and chocolate bars, while watching a couple with a dog negotiate the slopes on the other side of the valley.

Through a horse field,  we crossed the motorway and along the lanes up to Tunshill Farm and down to Ogden Reservoir. We walked through Newhey and along to Brushes Clough, where the cows were unusually disinterested in us.

Bank Holiday Weekend Out - Day 2

Bury to Todmorden
Distance: 21 miles
Ascent: 750m
Weather: warm and cloudy,  getting sunnier

Midges, a kingfisher,  buzzards,  goats, piggies, coos, sculpture,  ostrich,  deer, a very long dark tunnel,  bunnies,  squirrels, llama llamas, chickens,  sheep and lambs.

We waited until the shop opened at 10:30 before setting off, which was quite late considering the distance planned,  although the route was fairly flexible - there are plenty of path options.

At first we were in a very secluded little valley (not many place names on the map) which was quite wet underfoot and filled with midges.

We emerged on to a narrow little lane, and turned right at a t junction,  thankfully the massive skip lorry went the other way.

Our route took us up to Bull Hill around the edge of the escarpment looking over to Peel Tower. There was a stream to cross that took a bit of navigating, it rained quite a lot last night. This area is marked as a Danger Zone, as it is a firing range - but there was no firing today, the red flags were down, plus we'd checked on the government website before setting off. 

Up on Bull Hill it was cloudy,  but it stayed dry all day (apart from a very brief shower) and the sun was out for quite a bit.

Coming down off the hill, we crossed a road and joined the Rossendale Way - which does not appear to be much used. We visited a manure heap, and then realised that the path was on the other side of the fence. Crossing over and around the edge of a grassy field, we entered a dingly dell with little stream, bluebells and a slippery stone footbridge.

The path comes out in Rawtenstall and we met the River Irwell, complete with horses. The Irwell Sculpture Trail follows the side of the river, occasionally muddy, occasionally very pretty, occasionally a bit of a mess. We saw one of Thomas the Tank Engine's friends on the East Lancs Railway and then, whilst trying to identify said engine (ed- it was James) saw what was undoubtedly a kingfisher, flying along the river looking very bright and blue, my first ever.

Once into the urban terrain the route became less clear, and we weren't sure for much of the next couple of hours that we were even on the current route of the trail, although coming unexpectedly upon a sculpture made us feel we were on the right track.  Through Rawtenstall and along the Rossendale Valley the surrounding areas became more industrial, with echoes of old mills and railway lines, including a very long dark tunnel to walk through,  just hoping that there wasn't a big hole in front of you. The path through Newstead Tunnel is part of the new Valley of Stone Greenway that is under construction. 

Above Bacup we were back on moorland tracks, passing wind turbines and smallholdings with interesting animals and quite a variety of tidiness. It turned out that the ten minutes we had for a possible tea break,  we spent visiting a deer enclosure...

The path was still quite wet over Todmorden Moor, but the path pleasantly clear and easy down to the Staff of Life Inn at Eagle's Crag.

Bank Holiday Weekend Out - Day 1

Trub to Hawkshaw

Distance: 16 miles
Ascent: 450m
Weather: damp, cold wind
Goats, sheep and lambs, squirrel, hare, buzzard being harassed by a crow, ducks, geese, heron, coot, goldfinches.

A good night's sleep and a great breakfast, and we were off at about 9am. The weather forecast said rain coming in for the afternoon,  but as it was it was mostly drizzle and we just put rucksack covers on and stayed in our windproofs.

We made our way through Castleton and joined the Rochdale Way, passing Crimble Mill (the elves are still slacking) and through the wood along Simpson Clough and Nadon Brook.

At Ashworth Moor Reservoir (it was very windy) we Left the Rochdale Way and followed footpaths a while, one of which seemed to lead straight into a wall with a metal fenced gap, but it was a gate and (with a bit of effort)  openable. The going was grassy and mildly squelchy, with lady's smock flowers growing.

We had lunch on a bench at a junction of lanes, and met a chap who was determined to have us help him find a place that wasn't on the map.

Many, many signs have been put up for the Village Link, they really don't want you getting lost in a field, and we followed these for a while then left it when it turned right onto a disused railway and we went straight on. Later we randomly rejoined it as we finished our walk in Hawkshaw. 

We saw the steam of a steam train and heard tooting,  a fancy farm with a tower that looks like a great place to survive a zombie apocalypse, and I trod in quite a lot of poo

Bank Holiday Weekend Out Day 0

Distance: 6 miles
Ascent:
Weather: dry
Music: unusual singing and piano playing near Tandle Hill.

Apparently I was on a mission, our recorded speed something like 3.5 miles per hour. Possible because I hadn't done many steps during the day,  possibly because I don't really like walking through urban places, possibly because I was hungry,  possibly because of tummy issues earlier today.

Still, we made it to the Norton Grange hotel by about 7pm, showered and ready for dinner by eight.

Tummy appears to be fine. Hopefully.

Reverse Saddleworth Round

Distance: 16.5 miles
Ascent: 700m
Weather: sunny, chill wind
Goldfinch, hairy caterpillar, small tortoiseshell,  peacock and orange tipped butterflies.
horses: some
donkeys: none

There were beautiful blue skies today, although it wasn't as warm as it looked out of the windows before we set off.  We headed out at about 11ish, along the track and around Brushes Clough. We joined the Tame Valley Way in Denshaw and followed this through Delph, to meet up with the Delph Donkey Trail which STILL HAS NO DONKEYS.

We had our homemade (!) sandwiches at a handy picnic table,  then carried on along the track avoiding the canal by staying on the higher path through the old quarries.

It was quite windy at the top of Wharmton hill,  a good test for my new Barmah hat. We retraced our steps back through Grotton,  Lydgate and Lees - via Strinesdale.

 

 

Hollingworth Lake

Distance: 21 miles
Ascent: 750m
Weather: cloudy,  windy
Nosy cows, heron, common sandpiper,  geese and ducks, swallows, wheatears, cute lambs, Shetland pony foal, short eared owl, very angry dogs, magic cows/horse.

We had second breakfast and delayed setting off until the worst of the rain had stopped. Rob wore his waterproofs for about half the walk, although it didn't rain very hard it was quite drizzly and quite cold in the wind. Plus there's a possibility he's coming down with a cold.

We walked along the track and down through Pingot Quarry,  around the field of cows who came to say hello, and seemed quite keen to come through the gate, and into Newhey to Ogden Reservoirs. We had lunch and did some litter picking, deciding
 there would be a bin at Hollingworth Lake so we went that way. At the lake, we remarked that in all our time here we'd never walked all the way around it,  so we did. We also did a bit of bird watching. There were quite a few people walking around,  but not the crowds you see here on a sunny day.

On the way back under the motorway,  the small herd of cows that had been sitting placidly by the cattle grid had turned into a horse. We went along the valley that runs parallel to the M62 up to the aerial,  following the more sheltered footpath rather than the overused and churned up track.

Over White Hill and round to Readycon Reservoir,  we stopped to put on warm layers as the temperature had dropped noticeably during the day. We also had flapjacks and the last drops of tea. Crossing the road and continuing down to Piethorne,  we then followed the footpath up over Edge Gate to Brushes Clough, where by this time the sun was near setting. We watched an owl hunting and continued down through the trees to the quarry, then back the usual way.