Distance: 8.3 miles
Ascent: 873 ft
Walking: Andrew & Mark
Weather: Cloudy with sunny intervals & heavy rain
OS Map: OL21 South Pennines
Parking: Informal parking area at Stake Hill
Pork pies: Wilson's Butchers, Morley
Roast lamb pasties: Home made by Mark's wife, Mandy
Photography: Andrew using Nikon D610 / Sigma 10-20 mm f4-5.6
A variation on a walk we did in early August when we were unable to appreciate the views because of the low cloud. You can view that walk by clicking HERE.
Arriving early at the small car park near Wainman's Pinnacle, the low autumn sun cast a beautiful golden glow over the monument, for a short time at least until the cloud rolled in. It was clear to see that we were in for some amazing autumnal tones on this walk.
Setting off towards The Hitching Stone, we decided to take the route we'd intended to take last time and, rather than climb up Hitching Stone Hill, we managed to find the faint path across Sutton Moor to Slippery Ford. After the recent heavy rain, the going was very wet and boggy and my feet were soaked before we'd gone 100 yards but we weren't going to let that stop us.
Walking along the side of the gulley, following the stream across The New Allotment, the range of autumn colours was incredible with the patches of vivid red, green and pale, almost glowing, yellow grasses standing out amongst the russet of the heather. Last time we did this walk, the heather was in full flower and this section was a sea of purple.
Approaching Slippery Ford, we passed through a field of dense, waist-high wiry grass, which soaked us through, although the views across to Keighley Moor made it worthwhile.
Finally reaching Slippery Ford Lane, we followed the road through the cluster of small farms to Morkin Bridge, from where we'd started the walk past time. From there, we turned to follow The Millennium Way as it climbed the track towards Keighley Moor Reservoir, passing a large gritstone boulder with stunning views back over Slippery Ford, finally starting to dry out a bit in the sunshine.
Reaching the reservoir, we could see a group of bird watchers on the dam wall, who'd pretty much given up on seeing anything interesting. I didn't mention the large bird of prey I'd seen lower down the beck.
It was turning out to be a totally different walk this time around, most noticeably here on the dam, where we could see for miles, unlike last time, when we were in and out of cloud at this point and couldn't see much at all. We are still none the wise as to what the large metal clad concrete pillar with the stone-on-a-rope on top of it signifies, so if anyone knows, please let us in on the secret (if there is one).
Taking the path up to Old Bess Hill, we joined The Pennine Way, stopping at the junction for elevenses, a stunning roast lamb pastie, made by Mark's long suffering wife, Mandy. As we crossed the flat boggy area known as The Sea, we could see the Wolf Stones and trig point ahead of us, although our route took us away from them and up Cat Stone Hill, at the top of which, the view over towards the hills of the Yorkshire Dales and Pendle Hill came into sight. The path at this point has been stone flagged but many sections were under water. One advantage of the boggy ground was the vast expanse of unbelievably vibrant red grass.
Dropping down Ickornshaw Moor past the numerous grouse shooting huts, we could see some ominous clouds in the distance heading towards us, so we had a quick pie stop, then pressed on. Just as we reached the tricky bit at Further Dean Hole, where we had to drop steeply down to a bridge over Dean Brow Beck through more waist high sedge grass, the heavens opened and, unfortunately, I had to put my camera away. I managed to take a couple of shots on the way up Hallan Hill on the way back to Wainman's Pinnacle but the rain got steadily worse and we headed straight back to the cars, soaked to the skin.
Despite that, I really enjoyed the walk again, particularly because it was a totally different experience to last time and I'm sure that will be the case next time as well.
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