Walk Description

This walk starts from the White House on the A58 between Littleborough and Ripponden.  Before the M62 was built, the A58 was one of the main crossing points in the South Pennines and is often closed during bad winters.

I left the car in the car park just below the White House and set southwards along the Pennine Way.  This is a very easy section of the walk that follows the edge of the Broad Head Drains across the side of  Blackstone Edge Fold.  Unfortunately, easy though this path is, this is where I damaged the cartilage in my left knee about a mont after this walk and had to be carried back to the ambulance waiting near the A58.  Today when I reached the 'Roman Road' I left the drain and began to climb towards the Aiggin Stone.  The Aiggin Stone is an ancient marker stone at the top of the Roman Road, just before it begins its descent to Ripponden.  


I crossed the fence and headed across the peaty moor towards Blackstone Edge.  It was easy walking today.  The weather had been very dry and there was no need for the large steppings stones as there was no sign of the thick black squelchy peat bog that forms after heavy rain.  It wasn't long before I reached the large stones that form the millstone stone edge of Blackstone Edge.  The trig point is not quite on the top of the Edge but even so I couldn't manage the extremely short 'scramble' up the rock to the trig.  A few feet south of the trig point is the large millstone grit boulder known as Robin Hood's Bed.  I stopped here for a little while and had a quick bite to eat whilst I enjoyed the view.  There are a number of paths leaving the summit but eventually they all join up and reform as the Pennnine Way.  This next section of the moor used to be extremely wet and there has been a lot work undertaken to improve the path.  It would be an extremely disheartening section of the Pennine Way in bad weather.  However today, the weather was kind and I quickly reached the footbridge over the M62 motorway.  This is a slender elegant structure that spans the six lane motorway, but at 65 feet high gives me a very unsettled feeling when I try to cross it.  So today I decided not to make the short excursion to the other side.  Whilst I was here the warning lights started to flash on the gantry above the motorway and the traffic slowly ground to a halt. 

I now left the Pennine Way and took the permissive footpath down towards Green Withens Reservoir.  This reservoir was built in the 1890s for Wakefield City Council.  It covers 52 acreas and can hold 310 million gallons of water.  After seeing the colour of the liquids leaching out of the peat into the drains, I was glad that this reservoir did not supply me with water. I followed the drain toward Green Withens Reservoir,  Just before I reached the reservoir I spotted a couple of dunlins feeding at the other side of the drain.  they didn't take any notice of me and I managed to get a couple of photographs of them. Although the sun was shining there was a bit of a breeze so I found a sheltered spot near the edge of the reservoir for lunch.  I could clearly see my next objective, Dog Hill.  I last visited Dog Hill in 2003 and although it should have been the middle of summer, I got caught in a vey heavy hail storm, which thankfully didn't last too long.  Today I followed yet another drain for about 1km along the permissive path that leads to Blackwood Edge.  The path then left the drain and headed steeply up the hillside towards the Whinny Nick.  

I left the footpath amd made my own way across the moor to the trig on Dog Hill.  From here I had a good view across the local moors to Stoodley Pike and the distant Lad Law.  After another bite to eat I made my own way down the back of Dog HIll and across White Lisles towards the Cat Stones.  Last time I had been here, the ground had been very wet.  Thankfully the recent good weather meant that the ground was fairly dry and I managed to avoid the worst of the bog.  I then made my way down to Cat Moss and another permissive path which I followed to Warm Withens Hill.  I now decided that instead of following the path all the way around Warm Withins Hill until it met up with the Rishworth Drain, I would head down Spa Hill to Rag Spapling Clough, cross the stream and pickup the footpath along the Old Pack Horse Road.  Thankfully the ground was fairly dry and I made it safely across the stream.  Although the Old Pack Horse Road was clearly marked on the map, this section was not always very easy to follow on the ground and I did my best to follow the faint path back up to the Rishworth Drain.  It was now a very easy walk back to the A58 and the White House.  Just before I reached the main road, I saw something glistening in the dry peat.  I managed to get my camera out and take picture of an endangered ground beetle (Carabus nitens).  I was a wonderful iridescent green and red colour. 


It had been a glorious day for walking and the walk took just under 5 hours.  I had had plenty of time for exploring the area and watching the wild life and best of a short 15 minute drive home.

 




 

Route & Planning

Details and Route Map

Photo Opportunities

Walk Profile

The route map shown here should not be used as a replacement for the appropriate map(s). Before attempting the walk you should check the suitability of this route in relation to your capabilities and experience.