Tod walk 12 : Tottering past the town hall in Todmorden

This is the town hall in Todmorden. There's a lot more to it than this, but after 11 miles of ups and downs and more ups and downs, I was ready to take my boots off!

According to the Calderdale Council website, it's a grade one listed building, straddles the river Calder and was once in both Yorkshire and Lancashire.

It was designed by John Gibson of Westminster and completed on April 3rd 1875, after a rather stop start construction process interrupted by, amongst other things, the American Civil War (because of the cotton famine it caused).

The detail in the carvings is rather lovely!

I thoroughly enjoyed this walk with it's varied environments and far distant views. We've done canal and farmland, woods and moorland; up on the tops and descents into the valleys. We even managed to see a bit of gritstone.

 Thanks for coming along to share it.

Tod walk 11 : track, path and ginnel

Downhill all the way (except for the steps up to the car) and, after almost 11 miles, I have to say that I was quite pleased.

We wandered down a typical sandy farm track,

and a walled lane

past another weaver's cottage

and this typical northern pathway.

In Derbyshire, this a jitty. Up here in Yorkshire (and Lancashire) it is known as a ginnel.

What would you call it?

Tod walk 10 : Tod-tiki

I've been especially busy for the past week with much taxi-ing of offspring to climbing crags. Finally, I have a few spare minutes to continue with the final stages of our Tod walk.

A little way below the Bride Stones, we were surprised to spot this rather unusual stile post. I knew nothing about this art form, so I had a search on Google and discovered that it is known as Tiki, meaning a wood or stone carving in humanoid form.

There are several sources for the word Tiki. In Maori mythology, he was the first man; on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, he guards the entrance to the underworld; while at Mangaia, he is a woman, the first to die

I rather liked the little fellow. He has such a grumpy face :)

Tod walk 9 : The Bride Stone and the Groom

Eventually, the top of the hill came into view and we saw the jagged line of the Bride Stone crags.

This is gritstone and, inevitably, there were people climbing. I didn't see any ropes though, just lots of bouldering mats. When I checked with Mark afterwards, he told me that the crags are well known for bouldering because there are a lot of highball problems (routes which are not quite high enough for trad climbing, but are at the top end of what would be recognised as bouldering. - I've never enquired about the origin of the name 'highball' :p )

I love the little peep holes through grit.

The views were marvellous.

Snack stop on top!

The trig point is beginning to crumble a little.

This weathered bit of grit is the rock after which the whole crag is named. Once this was part of a pair of standing stones; the bride stone and the groom stone. In the past, wedding ceremonies happened here. Unfortunately, the top heavy groom stone has toppled from his base and the bride stone is left standing alone.

The groom stone is on the right here, lying behind his base.

Of course, there were the inevitable quips about drunken grooms :)

Tod walk 8 : Earthmill to Coal Clough

These things seem to be popping up all over the place nowadays

Individual wind turbines, erected to supply environmentally friendly power to a specific building or business.

On a rather larger scale, the 24 Vestas WD34 wind turbines spread out along the moor by Long Causeway are Coal Clough, one of the oldest onshore wind farms to have been built in Britain (1992). Each tower is 98 feet high, plus has a blade length of  55 feet with which it generates up to 24,000 MW-h of electricity per year, enough to supply power to around 6,000 homes in neighbouring Burnley.

We first spotted this farm after our long ascent of Back o'th' Edge and thereafter, it repeatedly came into view as we twisted and turned along the route of our walk.

When I say 'larger scale' I am speaking relatively though. This wind farm is owned by Scottish Power and, in December 2009 they submitted an application to repower Coal Clough. The proposal is to replace the existing 24 turbines with just 8 new ones. However, what is sacrificed in numbers is made up for in size. Each of the 8 new turbines will have a total height of 361 feet; more than three times the total height of the current ones!

Opinion about wind turbines is split, but whatever your personal point of view, it would seem they are here to stay. 

Tod walk 7 : Black sheep

The path continued to twist and turn its way through the woodland until suddenly, we were out into open fields.

The windmilling tails would suggest that these two lambs were enjoying their mid afternoon snack!

We were fascinated by the markings; night black fleece with the white blaze being more horse-like than sheep!

I had no idea what they might be, so I Googled and found a photo which led me to this:

The Balwen sheep has a base color of black, brown, or dark grey. It has a white blaze on the face, four distinct white feet, and a half to two-thirds white tail. All males must have horns. Horns are not allowed on females. The Balwen Welsh Mountain Sheep is a small, very hardy breed. They are easy to manage, having very few health problems associated with many of the larger breeds.    Link 

Apparently, they come from the Tywi Valley and the Welsh word Balwen means 'white blaze (which rather makes sense).

I hope they survived this weeks snow!

In 1947, the breed was nearly wiped out. Only one ram remained! No wonder I've not come across them before.

Tod walk 6 : Gateway @ Knots Road

The beginning of the longest climb of our walk, saw us following Knots Road to this well defined footpath, which passed through the gate and took a very gentle route up the hillside.

(At least, it was gentle at first!)

Tod walk 5 : The pick and mix of Cornholme

This is Cornholme and we are looking down on it from our lunch stop; tuna mayo sarnies. Very tasty :)

The area of trees in the top left of the photo has the rather attractive name of Obadiah Wood. The main road  is the A646 from Halifax to Burnley, and Todmorden is a mere two miles along it to the right (south-east). We've taken the scenic route :)

The railway line bisecting the village is the same one that crossed over the Rochdale Canal at Skew bridge, right back at the beginning of our walk. Turn left for Lancashire!

The old stone terraces are splattered with colour in the sunshine, personal touches which add that extra bit of character to an already interesting street. The vivid pink back door is especially noticeable! Google maps tell me that this is Brighton Street.

The windows in the smaller building give away it's original purpose. This was a weavers cottage; an occupation requiring the maximum possible light. The loom shop would be on the upper floor with the living space below.

It's sometimes difficult to tell with these diesel multiple units (DMUs), but this train is Yorkshire bound and will probably be in Todmorden within 3 or 4 minutes. Our journey will be somewhat longer as we descend to the valley bottom, cross the railway bridge hidden just round the corner and then climb once more, up towards the Bridestones.

Today, I'm linking to Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Jenny Matlock, where the letter of the day is T for Todmorden walk.

Tod walk 4 : Up Back o'th' Edge

We skirted the bottom of Gorpley Reservoir dam wall and headed off up a lane past this rather impressive tree house.

Then, after yet another drop to road level, we began our second climb of the day, along Back o'th' Edge  track towards Higher Woodfield Farm on the shoulder of the hill.

These impressive Highland cattle watched our passing with vague interest.

At least, I think they were both watching. It's hard to be sure under all of that hair!

This Small Tortoiseshell butterfly paused on the path to soak up a little sun. Once replenished, he continued on his way.

The Small Tortoiseshell is one of the most common species seen in the UK and, given a spell of warm weather, it can be seen at any time of the year, even mid-winter. More normally, they awake from hibernation near the end of March, after which they can be seen in a wide range of habitats, particularly favouring places where there are nettles.

Unfortunately, the species has declined in recent years, but it is unclear why this is happening.

Once up the track, the view opened out.. Wind farms are becoming increasingly common on our upland areas and their huge blades can often be seen rotating almost hypnotically. Today, though, these ones were completely motionless as there was hardly a breath of wind.

I'll return to this topic in a later post!

Meanwhile, we walked on past some newly renovated farm buildings towards this ruin at Roundfield Farm. Sad to think that this derelict farm house was once a family home. Look carefully and you can still see the brick built fireplace in the upper room.

But the ponies seemed quite content to call it home.

Tod walk 3 : Gawping at Gorpley Clough

Once over the top, we crossed this small crack in the hillside, traversed through Stones Woods and then dropped down towards the road again.

The staircase down to road level wasn't the widest I've ever seen :)

Across the road, we entered the bottom of Gorpley Clough.

 'Clough' is dialect, commonly used in the northern UK, and refers to a narrow gorge or ravine. The woods along Gorpley Clough qualify as ancient woodland, the site having been continuously wooded since before 1600.

In conjunction with Natural England and the Forestry Commission, Yorkshire Water is working to restore these woodlands to their original character. Predominant in this management, is the gradual removal of non-native tree species and the planting of oaks and other indigenous trees. Alongside the replanting will be the creation of deadwood habitats and the reintroduction of some native wildlife to the area, in order to recreate the varied ecosystem.

This small brook flows through the clough, its source being Gorpley Reservoir which is situated at the head of the ravine.

Waterfalls are formed where the brook flows over the more resistant sandstone, the softer mudstone having been eroded away.

The footpaths and bridges have also been improved to allow access to visitors via a defined route.

Calderdale Council has designated this area of woodland as a Local Nature Reserve and it is good to know that such a pretty place is protected.

Tod walk 2 : Industrial leftovers

When construction on the 32 mile long Rochdale Canal first began in 1794, many workers came into the area from across Lancashire. These navvies were housed in shanty huts and lodging houses along the canal, including here at Gauxholme.

We were fascinated by the shape of the upper room in this house. It must have been interesting trying to walk around under that ceiling!

At the top end of Gauxholme Highest lock is this old stone warehouse. Built in 1798 as part of the Gauxholme Wharf complex, it looks to have been converted into a business premises. The arched opening on the lower floor of the end of the building was where the narrow boats would draw up to load and unload.

The canal climbs in earnest from this point, navigating a series of locks to reach its highest point at 600 feet above sea level, topping the Pennines to create a first canal transport link across the chain of hills (1804); beating both the Huddersfield to the south (1811) and the much longer Leeds and Liverpool to the north (1816). In total, the building of the Rochdale Canal required 92 locks, but it provided a quick and easy means for the transportation of coal and stone to Manchester in the west or to the port of Hull (via Leeds) to the east. 

We also must go upwards from here, but not along the canal. This is the point at which we leave the water, crossing it via the Bacup Road and immediately climbing the steep hillside.

Towards the top of the hill we came across more evidence of the industrial heritage of this part of the Pennines; a lead smelting chimney. The lead would be smelted in a furnace-like oven with a fireplace at one end and a chimney at the other. The ore would be let down into hoppers behind the fire. The draught then blew the flames over the ore, smelting it to separate out the lead. All that now remains is the blackened chimney,  leaning slightly as though to emphasise the hard work of the past.

Talking of hard work, we aren't quite at the top of our first hill yet. Onwards and upwards :)

Tod walk 1 : Along the Rochdale Canal

Todmorden is a small market town. Although only seventeen miles from Manchester, boasting an Oldham postcode and with sports teams which play in the Lancashire league, Todmorden is actually just in West Yorkshire. However, that wasn't always the case. Historically, the Lancs/Yorks border ran right through the middle of the town, effectively putting half in each county. It was the 1888 reshuffle which re-united the town into the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Also running through the centre of Todmorden is the Rochdale Canal, site of this rather unusual guillotine style lock gate.

The further end of the pound is more traditional, with the black and white swing gates.

Just above lock 19, is this huge retaining wall which holds up the embankment of the railway line. It is said to have taken around four million bricks to complete!

It is inset with drains, though it doesn't look as though much water has passed through here lately.

Typical arched stone bridges allowed the crossing of roads and footpaths.

 And eventually we reached Skew Bridge; it's fine stonework looming eerily out of the remnants of the early morning fog. 

Here, the Manchester to Leeds railway line enters the town, headed for Todmorden station.

For us, the Rochdale Canal was the beginning of a day walk which would take us away from Todmorden, through wooded valleys, over farmland and up onto the moors. It was a gentle start, climbing up from lock 19 past Wadsworth Mill Lock No 20, Shade Lock No 21, Gauxholme Lowest Lock No 22, Gauxholme Middle No 23 and finally Gauxholme Highest No 24 and our departure point.  

Only ten and a half more miles to go :)

PS: I've discovered a little more about the guillotine gate at lock 19.

When the canal was first opened, lock 19 had two mitre gates, such as are common at locks. However, in the 1920s, the road bridge over the canal was widened, shortening the lock pound. The mitre gate at the lower end of the pound was replaced with the guillotine in order to allow full length boats to continue to use the canal. The guillotine does not take up swinging room in the pound and nor is space needed for the balance beams.

With the advent of the railways, the canal became less used and in 1937, the last boat made the Pennine crossing. In 1952, the canal was closed except for a small section between Castlefield and Piccadilly in Manchester and, eventually, even this fell into disrepair. However, in 1974, enthusiasts restored the nine locks through Manchester city centre and the Rochdale Canal Society was formed. Gradually, sections of the canal were rebuilt or restored and re-opened.  The Todmorden section was tackled in 1982, but the guillotine gate was replaced by a typical mitre gate. This meant that the maximum length of boat which could travel on the canal was 60 feet; not an issue as the canal was still closed at either end and no boats bigger than this were moving on the re-opened section. However, the building of the Tuel Lane deep lock in 1996 gave boats access to the Rochdale from the rest of the inland waterway system and in 1997, a new guillotine gate was installed at the lower end of lock 19, once again opening the Rochdale Canal to full length boats.

http://www.myrochdalecanal.org.uk/todmorden/the-guillotine-lock/