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| Photo by Ray Green. All rights reserved. |
Recently I was asked to write a regular walking column in the Saddleworth Independent newspaper. The following article appeared in the January edition.
Start:
Wessenden Head, A635
Distance:
7.5km (Approx)
With the season making its change from the rich
golden colours of autumn to the dark blanket of winter, todays early morning walk
onto Black Hill revealed the first snowfall of the season.
Setting out from Wessenden Head on the
Greenfield/Holmfirth Road, I headed along the Kirkless Way towards Goodbent
Lodge. This section of the route is often wet under foot, however, today the
ground was firm after a night of hard frost. Upon reaching Nether Lane the
route turns south, over a stile, prior to reaching the former Victorian hunting
lodge. Descending the fields I heard the familiar sound of a heavy-lift
helicopter drifting up the valley on the wind. Scanning eastwards, the double rota-blades
of a military Chinook helicopter came into view above the trees that surround
Digley Reservoir. This beast of burden flew slow and steady above the moor
before disappearing from view behind Black Hill.
Continuing my descent I soon reached Black Pool
Bridge, which spans Marsden Clough just below the convergence of Reap Hill
Clough and Dean Clough. This picturesque spot marks the start of the climb over
Good Bent, along a prominent track which leads to Stopes Moor. The numerous
shooting butts which line the track are a clear indication that this is prime
Grouse shooting land.
After crossing Issues Clough, I headed due south and
made the slow lung-busting climb directly up Hart Hill before turning west
along Issues Edge. Looking back down the valley, a wonderful vista unfolded across
to Digley Reservoir as the early morning mist began to rise from the valley
floor. Continuing south-west, my feet broke through the outer frozen layer of
peat that was covered in a thin layer of fresh snow. After a short while, the summit
trig point on Black Hill came into view and soon after I reached the white
concrete pillar known as Soldiers Lump. It was from this point that, in the
eighteenth century, a Royal Engineers party took triangulation measurements
whilst conducting the first full mapping survey of Great Britain, which began
in 1783.
Taking shelter behind the trig point, I savoured the
warming contents of my flask whilst reminiscing about a previous journey across
this peaty plateau when completing the Pennine Way. Unlike today, there was no
stone flagged path providing an easy navigable route across what was a desolate
black quagmire. Alfred Wainwright said of Black Hill, "It is not the only
fell with a summit of peat, but no other shows such a desolate and hopeless
quagmire to the sky”.
Continuing on along the Pennine Way, the stone path
was slippery underfoot, beyond Black Dike Head, and care had to be taken on the
long descent after the previous night’s frost. Beyond Dean Clough the short
climb back to Wessenden Head marked the end of what had been a delightful early
morning outing.
