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The Pennine Way | |
| Introduction Edale Crowden Globe Farm Slack Top Ponden Thornton Malham Horton Hawes Tan Hill |
 Ponden Reservoir and Buckley Farm |
Bowes Middleton Langdon Beck Dufton Garrigill Alston Greenhead Twice Brewed Bellingham Bryness Uswayford |
I walked back to Colden on an overcast morning and rejoined the Pennine Way as it climbed up onto Heptonstall Moor. I was in no hurry since I hoped to divert to the Pack Horse Inn for an early lunch. The path lead clearly through the grassy moor to meet the track down to the houses at Gorple Lower Reservoir.
At the houses, I followed the slabbed causey path down to the junction of the Reeps and Graining Waters. This is a very pretty and quiet spot with a couple of old stone gateposts contrasting with the modern footbridges. A great place for a morning break. The climb up to the road was easy along a walled track. Once on the road I detoured down to the inn but arrived much too early for opening time. However it gave me the chance to refill my waterbottle from an outdoor tap.
Back on the PW, I trotted up a concrete road past the lower Walsham Dean Reservoir and up to the middle reservoir. This was a good place for lunch, especially since a line of rhododendron bushes gave shelter from a brisk breeze. A couple of the walkers from Globe Farm caught up to me to share the shelter. Here you have to remember not to follow the track (though it eventually comes back to the PW) but return to the dam to follow a path between the reservoir and a spillway.
The reservoir was left after crossing a small walled bridge for a path leading uphill through heather. Here I met a couple of workers who were extending the stone causey path laid in 1989. The path was excellent and lead quickly to the saddle between Round Hill and Dick Delf Hill. If you are a fan of Emily Brontë's 'Wuthering Heights', the ruins of Top Withins (alleged to be the setting of the novel but a better candidate is the now-demolished High Sunderland Hall at Halifax) may disappoint you - it is not much more than 4 walls "conserved" in concrete. The surrounding countryside is still as wonderfully bleak as when they inspired her novels.
A well-worn trail lead down from the ruins. I passed a few Japanese tourists and passed a couple of signposts with directions in Japanese - a measure of the popularity of the Brontes in Japan. Past Upper Heights farmhouse (have a look for the face carved above its door and the 1761 date-mark), I followed the PW down to Buckley Green and my stop for the night. This was right on the PW - I even saw a couple of fellow trampers pass my windows. There is little accommodation around the reservoir and at the height of the season you may have to detour to Haworth (3.5 kilometres away). Haworth is of course the home of the tragic literary family of the Brontës (Emily and Charlotte). The PW walker may be more interested in the Haworth Youth Hostel.
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