Dovestone Reservoir and my quacking friends.
Chuck, above Dovestone Reservoir, with what we were told looks like a "Red Indian" head.
Bernard told us about the walk around Dovestone Reservoir. And we knew about a pub in Uppermill from Kev, a fireman we met at Digley Reservoir. Out of Holmfirth on the Geenfield road, over moors that remind us of the North Yorkshire Dales. Bernard said to feel the road wobble; built on bracken over bogs. Suddenly, there's a huge drop on the right, and a beautiful dark blue reservoir with fir trees on the far bank.
We follow Bernard's directions to the car park and start our hike through a gaggle of mallards, then past the sailing club and a memorial grove - trees planted in memory of loved ones and to replace a wood removed long ago.
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Dovestone Reservoir and my quacking friends. |
Chuck, above Dovestone Reservoir, with what we were told looks like a "Red Indian" head. |
There seems to be a bit of a controversy as to whether Dovestone is in Lancastershire, as we were told on the walk, or in Yorkshire, as we were told at the Tourist Information Center. So I've combined the red rose of Lancs with the white rose of Yorks to make this page pink.
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Of course, there were sheep along the path. |
At the top of Dovestone, we decided to continue around Yeoman Hey Reservoir, which was empty, having supplied power to the National Grid. We meet a serious hiker who tells us the human and geological history of the area. And tells us that he's hiking to the pub the fireman gave us directions to. He heads off around Greenfield Reservoir; we head back around our two.
The spillway between Dovestone and Yeoman Hey Reservoirs. Isn't this beautiful?. |
Getting artistic. That white building on the left is the sailing club. |
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On the steps, all that's left, of the manor house that gave way to Dovestone Reservoir. |
We timed things well. By the time we finished the 6 mile hike, the parking lot was overflowing. And we headed off through Greenfield (of the Greenfield Road) and Lower Arthurs, to Uppermill. Some place names seem obvious. But Lower Arthurs?
Uppermill was also crowded. Or maybe it's just that there's so little parking available. We visit the TIC and see where the canal boats have to wait for the appropriate day to go downstream, through the Standedge Tunnel to Tunnel End and Marsden. We get directions to the pub we want to visit. But the walk sure seems longer - and steeper - than advertised. So we walk back down to the car and drive. A smart move: this is another wonderful West Yorkshire pub. We meet our hiker, and several dogs.
Then, as this is The Church Inn, we walk around the church next door. And I explore another wonderful English cemetary. I just love the way they get overgrown with trees and flowers. It seems so appropriate for everything to really go back to nature.To get home, we sort of followed the Huddersfield Canal to Marsden. We stopped to walk along the towpath away from Tunnel End, past some deep locks, and into town and back. And then over the moors and back to Holmfirth.
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