Stoodley Pike Monument and Wuthering Heights
Another day spent walking along the Pennine Way saw me doing a rather tedious section before reaching the literary-filled area around the town of Haworth. Climbing steeply out of Mankinholes brought me back onto the moor that I had left the previous evening before I made my way to the Stoodley Pike Monument. This pinnacle commemorates victory in the Napoleonic wars and has a viewing platform up a short, dark staircase. Unfortunately the views around the Calder Valley were not great as the day had started rather grey and misty (fortunately the weather gradually got better). Descending from there I crossed several fields and met up with a bloke who was also doing the Pennine Way, but it had not been going well for him. He had started a day before me but through poor navigation he had frequently got lost and was generally finding the Pennine Way a lot harder than he’d anticipated. After he’d marvelled at my ability to instantly point at our location on his map I directed him towards Hebdon Bridge railway station. It is a good idea for anyone to do the Pennine Way, but you do need to prepare in advance, and that includes making sure you know how to read a map. 
Continuing down a wooded track I dropped all the way down to the bottom of the lovely Calder Valley where a canal, a railway and a main road is crammed into the narrow valley. A steep walk past quaint little houses perched on the side of the hill along simply divine footpaths took me back out of the valley and onto farmers’ tracks. Part of the way up, beside the ruins and graveyard of Mount Olivet Baptist Chapel, I saw a sign that said ‘Pennine Way Official Route’ that way, ‘Wainwright Route’ this way. Without a moment’s hesitation I climbed the steep path of the Wainwright route onto a farmers’ track. Was it better than the new route? Probably not, so I’ll have to try the official route next time I do the Pennine Way. The onward route over the farmland on Pry Hill was rather dull with the only respite being the delectable wooded dell of Colden Water, which is a pleasant place to relax. This narrow, shallow valley has a little bit of a pasture in the middle but is surrounded by trees and was full of scent-filled flowers (probably balsam). It was simply divine.
Continuing down a wooded track I dropped all the way down to the bottom of the lovely Calder Valley where a canal, a railway and a main road is crammed into the narrow valley. A steep walk past quaint little houses perched on the side of the hill along simply divine footpaths took me back out of the valley and onto farmers’ tracks. Part of the way up, beside the ruins and graveyard of Mount Olivet Baptist Chapel, I saw a sign that said ‘Pennine Way Official Route’ that way, ‘Wainwright Route’ this way. Without a moment’s hesitation I climbed the steep path of the Wainwright route onto a farmers’ track. Was it better than the new route? Probably not, so I’ll have to try the official route next time I do the Pennine Way. The onward route over the farmland on Pry Hill was rather dull with the only respite being the delectable wooded dell of Colden Water, which is a pleasant place to relax. This narrow, shallow valley has a little bit of a pasture in the middle but is surrounded by trees and was full of scent-filled flowers (probably balsam). It was simply divine. 
Shortly after climbing out of the small valley I actually got lost. After all my comments about my fellow Pennine Way walker earlier who was constantly getting lost, I went the wrong way myself! Just before reaching the small development of Colden I turned right instead of left. The route I took through an orchard was very nice, but it wasn’t the Pennine Way so a short walk along the road through Colden was necessary to bring me back onto the Pennine Way. No need to panic. Continuing to climb the hill I eventually reached Heptonstall Moor where a long, dull moorland crossing ensued. I was really disappointed during my walk this week on the Pennine Way that the heather on the moors was no longer in flower as it would have made the moorland walks much more interesting. Last year at this time I walked across the North York Moors when the moors were covered in the purple flowered heather. At the far end of the moor I passed by Gorple Lower Reservoir, climbing into and out of the narrow valley that issues from the reservoir up to a series of more reservoirs. These were the Walshaw Reservoirs and frankly this bit was a bit dull except it was interesting to see how little water was in the reservoirs, except for the top one.
Eventually leaving these reservoirs behind I climbed out on the wiley, windy moors to the ruins of Top Withins, the setting of which was the inspiration for Wuthering Heights. Leaving the Pennine Way at this point I took a path beside the South Dean Beck to the Brontë waterfall, the significance of which escapes me, but I don’t think I saw it at its best as there wasn’t much water in it and the hillside was choked with bracken. Further progress along the track took me over Penistone Hill and eventually brought me into the tourist filled village of Haworth. A quick look around the various Railway Children film-locations in the area, from Oakworth Railway Station to the Three Chimneys house, brought an interesting end to the day. With steadily improving weather this was not a bad literary-filled day, even though the scenery was variable.
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