Autumn in Almondsbury

Dawn invited me and LTD over to Almondsbury, an apparently fairly well-to-do bit of Huddersfield where she is house-sitting for a pal whilst the pal is away in foreign parts having a jolly. LTD thought this was a good idea, so we went, and, whilst there enjoyed some tentative adventures Up The Pennines and there follows a series of pictures each with a short exposition concerning whatever is going on in the pics….  The opening pic (above) is Marsden’s memorial to the fallen in the Second World War of the 2/7th battalion of the Duke of Wellington’s regiment. It’s simplicity and it’s position on Pule Hill are it’s strength, I feel.  My two grandads were in the same regiment but different battalions – 1/6th and 2/6th Craven in World War One. Happily, they survived the war (otherwise there’s be no Pieblog would there…?)

We began with a stroll over to Castle Hill and back, calling at the excellent butcher’s shop in Almondsbury for sausages. The fact that the first pic contains a horse has no relevance. Castle Hill is a famiss Huddersfield landmark and can be seen from all over Huddersfield and several other towns plus parts of the M62 just before running into the back of a B&Q delivery waggon. (Keeping the attention focussed on the traffic and not the distant view is a key skill on the M62)

Next we move on to Rishworth Moor. Rishworth Moor is it’s Sunday name. It’s real name is Dog Hill. The M62 is used to get to the start which is the road out of Ripponden. It was foggy. A sign on the M62 said “Fog” which is how we knew. We followed LTD’s nose to the trig point on the top, then wandered about a bit, covering all of five miles before retiring to consider the Almondsbury sausages.

This pic shows how a motorway can completely disappear in some Pennine fog

This shows a dog at the summit of Dog Hill. (The dog is the one with the red harness on)

And this shows that whilst a motorway can just go in a puff of mist, a reservoir can just as easily appear as if from nowhere. This one has notices banning swimming due to the fact that Cold Water Kills (and is useless for making tea) and that a local stone shed is alarmed, although what it is bothered about is left unsaid. Probably just an anxiety attack I shouldn’t wonder.

Next day we foray as far as Marsden for the ascent of Pule Hill. According to my log (which I keep in the shed with the coal), I climbed Pule Hill whilst asleep in 1989. At night. I couldn’t remember any of this, so a return match was arranged.  Afterwards we went to the entrance to the Standedge Tunnel to look at the hole, and then to Marsden co-op for milk, cream for the pudding and a swede called Sven for the swede and carrot mash.

This shows LTD making his way over to a rail tunnel air shaft on Pule Hil to wee on it.

And here is the Standedge Tunnel entrance with some glowing eyes coming out for the frightening of Marsden villagers. Well it is halloween after all. After this, Dawn and LTD waited in the car whilst I risked losing bits of important genitalia on a barbed wire entanglement near the summit of Meltham Cop.  There was no need for this as there’s an easy way around. Happily all parts are still attached and not dangling on the fence like a molecatcher’s haul.

Foul weather forced an abandonment of a plan to visit Crowden but a slight lifting of heavy cloud on the next afternoon allowed us a seven mile .. er….afternoon ramble to Farnley Moor via Farnley Tyas. Farnley moor’s main excitement lies in the electric fence on the top and a dog which looked remarkably like LTD, apart from different colouring and so on… Pic is Castle Hill again, from the woods on the way to Farnley Tyas.

Our final outing was to the White House on the Pennine Way (closed today) for the bagging of Blake Moor. Blake Moor looms not, but skulks behind the reservoirs. It was very misty with no view of anything at all  and the mist eventually turned to drizzle. My advice is to follow the fence and wear a waterproof coat.

We got a bit wet.

Dawn and LTD by the trig (not the summit) of Blake Moor

Misty, see? And wet.

Me and LTD are now back at Castle Pieskull.

Thanks to Dawn for the invite and to Sue for permission for me and LTD to sully her door. We enjoyed it and it was really nice to re-acquaint myself with the Huddersfield Ring Road.