Distance: 5.2 miles
Ascent: 800 ft
Walking: Andrew
Weather: Cloudy with sunny spells, cool
OS Map: OL21 - South Pennines
Parking: Informal parking area, Back Lane, Stanbury
Photography: Andrew using Nikon D610 / Nikon 24-70 mm f2.8
A variation on the classic short walk up to the ruins of Top Withens Farm, the location believed to have inspired Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, to watch the sun rise with couple of scenic detours.
After a couple of times doing this walk recently when I was not inclined to take my camera out of the bag because of the pouring rain, the forecast suggested that I might catch a decent sunrise today. Unfortunately, I set off slightly later than intended but I still managed to get some pretty dramatic skies.
Dawn had broken by the time I parked up and started walking and there were some beautiful colours beginning to appear in the sky. I decided to take a detour around Upper Heights Farm to take in Master Stones but the path marked on the OS map was difficult to locate so I just followed a more obvious path for a bit to get a few shots of the stones, then retraced my steps back to the main path. It was well worth exploring for the views over Ponden Reservoir and back down the Worth Valley.
I continued up to the ruins and had a wander round taking various shots, then headed off further up the Pennine Way path up Delph hill for some distant shots as the sun came over the hill behind me. It was great spending some time watching the patches of light glide across the hills.
Heading back down to the ruins, I took the track at the back of the building instead of the main path as it runs higher up the hill and offers better views back down the valley.
I rejoined the path just above the lone sycamore and then turned off again to follow the Pennine Way down the hill a short distance, then back to the car via Cold Knoll.
