Adventures in wet boots

Well, due to unforeseen circumstances a gap appeared in my schedule today, so I set off to Bronte Country (^tmBradford Tourist Board) for a four mile amble and a bit of winter photography.

Take that as advance warning - this post has 24 images. 

This morning was glorious - blue skies and sunshine, crisp and chilly, with a crunchy carpet of snow underfoot and blanketing the hills. I took a couple of pictures of Haworth moor from the layby at Penistone Hill before setting off around the north side of the ridge.

Penistone Hill isn’t especially high (314m, or a little over 1000 feet) but as it forms a wedge between the Sladen and Bridgehouse Beck valleys the views over the surrounding countryside are surprisingly good. The hill itself as a former quarrying area is crisscrossed with paths, and has plenty of outcrops and old workings. I wandered cheerfully around up there for a while in the snow, slithering among the crags. Here’s a bunch of photos of Penistone Hill, the surrounding tops, Stanbury village and Lower Laithe Reservoir. 

[Show as slideshow]

After ambling around taking shitloads of wintry pics I dropped down the western slopes of Penistone Hill towards the road, crossing over and heading up a farm track along the side of Haworth moor, towards Bronte Bridge. This was a great place to be alive on a sunny winter morning. At least that’s what I told the Swaledales I passed on the way.

I passed a ruined farm building, after which the track deteriorated into a broad, well worn footpath. A bit more plodding and the path narrowed and started to descend into the deep clough carrying South Dean Beck. I emerged at the bottom beside Bronte Bridge ™, a small footbridge over the beck. I went a little way up the path beside Bronte Waterfalls to see if I could get a decent pic, but they’re not usually very impressive. Nice icicles today though.

I climbed back up the rocky path I had followed down to the bridge, and followed it back over the moor edge as far as the ruined farm building before cutting across Haworth Moor upslope towards my car on the horizon a mile away. The path was a bit sketchy but the sheep had thoughtfully laid out some (relatively) easy routes through the ankle-deep snow pointing out the firmest ground, making for a nice workout for the final stretch. I crossed a small partially frozen bog just before reaching the road, but my boots were more than up to the wet. As morning strolls go, this was a pretty damn good one. 

Tags: Hikes