Adventures in wet boots

Decided on a shortish Cullingworth trog today since it was a bright afternoon, parking in the middle of a housing estate and heading out of the village and off down Hallas Lane, a rutted road which becomes a bridleway where the houses end. I followed the lane down a set of steps to Hallas Bridge, there was plenty of water in Goit Stock Beck.  After taking a pic of the converted mill I crossed the footbridge and followed the path downstream into Goit Stock Wood.

Got a couple of shots of the falls on the way down, before traipsing through the wood towards the caravan park. All a bit bare at the moment but still pleasant in the sunshine.

I passed through the edge of the park and up a lane between cottages, before following a slightly sticky path past an old (slightly wonky) mill chimney, then across the fields towards Cow House Bridge. On reaching the Cullingworth-Harden road I followed it uphill a little way before heading up a lovely sunken bridleway towards Catstones Moor.

After a short break I turned left along the path before heading over a stile and up towards the old quarry workings on Catstones Hill. I had fun wandering among the outcrops and old workings, others had obviously been before me judging from the signatures in the rocks. Some good views over Wilsden and the skylines above the Worth and Harden valleys from up there, after lingering a bit I set off back downhill across Keighley Road and through more muddy fields towards Sugden House.

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I got a bit stuck at Sugden House trying to find the onward path to link up with a walled track across the valley, entailing a hop over some barbed wire and a bit of a detour. Now short of time, I hurried up the track and across the top of a steep wooded slope before jogging along farm tracks back into Cullingworth.

Goitstock and Catstones walk

Tags: Hikes

Well, I didn’t get any sun, but (after a year of getting around to it) I did finally climb Sharp Haw, a pointy little summit on Flasby Fell a couple of miles outside Skipton. I set off up a bridleway from a lane near Stirton, bearing right up a muddy grass stripe through the bracken and reeds up the side of the fell. There were some nice close range views of neighbouring Thorpe Fell and some fine craggy bits on the western edge of the hill, but the weather was too murky to see much further afield.

After a way I reached a side path which left the bridleway to follow the ridge to the top of Sharp Haw (357m/1143 feet). A quick breather at a convenient bench later I was cantering downhill towards the col, heading towards Rough Haw (339m/1084 feet), which was too inviting to just pass by. So I scrambled up the bank between the rocks and up to the cairn, before following the edge along and bouncing back down the fellside to find the bridleway again.

The ground was soggy in places on the descent towards Flasby, entailing a fair bit of muddy slithering before reaching a farm track heading into the village between rolling pastures. A left turn up another farm track took me to Septeria Gill, then up a winding track into Crag Wood.

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I followed the forestry road right through the plantation, rising steadily up the fell side again below the crags, the views over Airedale would have been good if the visibility was better. This stretch was rather melancholy as much of the lower slopes had been felled, giving the place a bleak aspect. After a couple of miles the track led down the side of Flasby Fell and back to the bridleway, where I retraced my steps the rest of the way back to the car. It was a fairly varied and enjoyable six or seven miles, shame about the miserable weather.

Tags: Hikes

Got out for a couple of hours this morning for a shortish (about 5 miles) winter hike as a start on the exercise routine. I set off from Marsh above Oxenhope along Lee Lane towards a still icy Leeshaw reservoir. The lane passed the dam after about half a mile, before degenerating into a land rover track/bridleway as it began to climb. I paused for a breather where the route became Stairs Lane, an old packhorse trail, before continuing the climb to the watershed.

At this height there was still a fair bit of ice on the track, requiring a bit of dancing around, and the weather was pretty grim and windy towards the top. Plenty of moody landscape to enjoy though.  

I pressed on and finally reached the top of the pass, which was buried in snowdrifts. I wasn’t sure if continuing over the moor was a good idea, but the way was pretty obvious so I decided to go for it. I found a trod suggesting a good line between the boggy bits and the snowdrifts parallel with a ruined stone wall, and roughly followed it across the top of Wadsworth Moor with a fair bit of tussock hopping and some wading through deep snow until the boundary stone above Oxenhope Stoop Hill came into view, before the mist closed in.

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I took the sloppy path down the hill towards Drop Farm, which was holding a lot of water making for a wet, muddy and slippery descent into the clough. The solitude was worth the crap weather and the sludge underfoot - I didn’t see a soul until after a steady climb I finally reached Moorside Lane at Penistone Hill, and walked back downhill to the car. A hard walk but not without its rewards.

Tags: Hikes