Hikes on the West Yorkshire hills and further afield
Hot on the (blistered) heels of The Ridgeway trail hike, I did a shortish walk this weekend with friends Taru and Jenny.
We took part in the Marsden 10 Mile Challenge, which starts in the village then heads over towards Meltham and back along the Wessenden Valley. Essentially following the flanks of the Shooters Nab : West Nab ‘massif’. (Maybe not a massif as such but I’m not actually sure how to describe this extruded saddle shaped area of the moors).
We (myself, Jenny and Taru) haven’t been able to get out that much recently to get in the zone for the looming NSPCC North HACK (Hike Against Cruelty to Kids) challenge but we nearly constituted a full team this weekend, with Taru and I hitting the rain-sodden hills. This was our second walk along the Kirklees Way – this time … read more >
I’ve walked up, down and around the Wessenden Valley countless times now (as witnessed by a quick search on this blog: https://halfwayhike.com/page/6/?s=Wessenden) but still only have a sketchy idea of its history, which was borne out at the weekend..
I had a walk up above the Wessenden Valley and reservoirs at the weekend and noticed a new (to me) sign on some of the stiles. Bright yellow and clearly just applied with a stencil. And some of the posts that punctuated the wire-topped dry stone field boundaries also sported fresh yellow caps. Hmm. They were obviously marking out a route but I wasn’t sure which. The mystery (for me anyway) was solved via a Facebook discussion later that day. Turns out to be a refresh of the waymarkers for the Colne Valley Circular Walk.
I didn’t have time for a big walk this weekend but I did want to check out a ‘peak’ which might form part of my half-baked Marsden 3 (or possibly 5) Peaks walk which I fancy doing at some point. I say ‘peak’ like ‘that’ because they’re aren’t really any peaks, in a mountainous sense, near to me. There are high enough spots to get a trig point and to command some great views – and to be really challenging in sometimes atrocious weather – but they’re not that Peaky.
I’ve had a few shortish walks on the hills and moors over the past few weeks but nothing that could really be called a ‘proper’ walk / hike. And the annual ‘Snowdon in the Snow‘ date looms so I wanted to get some leg-stretching in. The recent snowy conditions were perfect timing for myself and son Joe to hit the hills 🙂
We basically took the same route as my last post – up the Wessenden Valley in Marsden and onto the Swellands area (home of two adjoining reservoirs) and describing a big loop back down in to Marsden. But what a difference the snow made.. it took us an hour or two longer than last time and was pretty tough going in parts. Both of us had ice spikes on which made a big difference in places!