6.5 Mile Walk - Stanbury | Top Withens | Alcomden Stones | Ponden Kirk

Distance: 6.5 miles

Ascent: 1050 ft

Walking: Andrew

Weather: Snow underfoot, overcast with sunny spells

OS Map: OL21 - South Pennines

Starting point: Main Street, Stanbury

Photography: Andrew using Nikon D750 / Nikon 24-70 mm f2.8

The hamlet of Oldfield lit by the early morning sun across the Worth valley

The Old Silent Inn, reputedly a hiding place for Bonnie Prince Charlie during his retreat to Scotland following his defeat at Derby

The Yorkshire gate maker's art at its best

Royds Hall Farm, looking up the valley to Ponden Reservoir

Coney Garth

Looking back down the Pennine Way to Buckley Green

Looking back to Stanbury and Lower Laithe Reservoir, a snowstorm is approaching.

Lower Height Farm

Looking back again from just above Upper Heights Farm

The view onwards to Top Withens from Flaight Hill

Harbour Hill

A nice bit of dry stone walling

Top Withens, viewed from the site of Lower Withens, which was demolished in the 1930s

The site of Middle Withens, also demolished in the 1930s

Arriving at Top Withens

I continued past the ruin to take some photos of it from further up the Pennine Way 

Heading up Delph Hill

The trig point on Delph Hill ('Delph' is a local word for a stone quarry)

The over towards Walshaw Dean Reservoirs from Alcomden Stones

The collection of boulders known as Alcomden Stones was deposited here by a passing glacier thousands of years ago

Looking back at the stones from the tricky-to-find grouse shooters' path down Middle Moor Clough

Middle Moor Clough

The top of Ponden Clough

The large protruding rock in the foreground is Ponden Kirk, the inspiration for Penistone Crags in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. This is where Heathcliff and Cathy could secretly meet and feel safe.

After a 'shorts and t-shirt' weekend last week, it was a bit of a surprise to see icicles just a few days later

At the base of Ponden Kirk is a narrow hole known as the Fairy Cave, which also featured in Wuthering Heights and is the subject of several local legends. One of these states that if you pass through the Fairy Cave, you must marry within a year to avoid certain death......which is nice. Certainly not for the faint-hearted as the climb down to it is steep and it's a very long way down.

Ponden Reservoir and the Worth Valley from just above Upper Ponden Farm

Upper Ponden Farm

The view from Height Laithe

Scar Top across Ponden Reservoir

Rush Isles Farm

Click HERE to see the same walk in August (although in the opposite direction)