Day 61 Hot, hot, hot

Today we had an early breakfast and had set out by 8.40 only to have to go back to collect my walking poles which I had left behind. First time for everything, I suppose.

We set off along the reservoir (James from the B and B had told us the first three hours were the worst, he’d also told us of an alternative path that skipped a steep climb) before the path turned uphill. Unfortunately, having never forgotten my walking poles until this morning I forgot them again after stopping to tighten my shoelaces. As a result we found ourselves behind a large group of walkers. It felt rather like being behind slow traffic on a narrow road with no opportunity to overtake. After a while they moved aside with cries of “Speedy walkers coming through”, which put quite a lot of pressure on us to stride briskly up the hill in an attempt to maintain that fiction. Fiction on my part-Karen is a very speedy walker. And certainly not a hot, sweaty, breathless and red-faced one.

The weather was pretty hot, and being on a bare hillside, there was no shade. I got hotter and hotter, and then started to shiver. Not a good sign. At the next stream we crossed I took off my shirt and gingerly dunked it in the peaty water. It did feel good, particularly as we turned the corner into a slight breeze.

There were a lot of walkers about today, though I’m happy to report that none were visible when I took off my shirt. We passed several groups-mostly coming in the opposite direction from the road. Yes, another A-road, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The first couple of hours were uphill but after that the path flattened out. There were more flagstones but the route didn’t seem as monotonous as yesterday. We passed Black Hill and before too long the land fell away revealing views into the flatlands below. Flatlands? Where had the Pennines gone? Round the corner, apparently.

The path carried on down for quite some time but on the whole, it wasn’t too bad. After a while we could see the A-road and the snack van, which a walker we met said had cold drinks. We pressed grimly on, down quite a long way to cross a river, before slowly climbing up a steep path to the snack van. (Snoopy’s snack van Thursday-Sunday 8-2.) We arrived about 1.30, and had a very welcome can of Coke (me) and lemonade (Karen). We had only done 8 miles but it felt a lot harder than yesterday.

Refreshed, we crossed the road, and headed towards a picture frame

From there the route was pretty much all downhill. We stopped for lunch on a concrete plinth, with views to the reservoir. Karen felt that this was a much better lunch spot than yesterday’s. We passed a reservoir, then crossed the dam at the second reservoir for our alternative path.

There were quite a few walkers on this path, and when we reached the weir we understood why. Because behind the weir was a waterfall

After this highlight, the path was dull, and it has to be said, boring. We couldn’t wait for it to be over. It was also very hot. Once again I took off my shirt and this time, dunked it until it was soaking wet. It was great until it dried out- all too quickly. We knew we were getting close to the point where we left the Pennine Way to turn off to Diggle where we are staying. A family came towards us, and the little boy had an ice pop. Karen asked where he’d got the ice pop, hoping she would find there was an ice cream van. There wasn’t, they had brought them from home. And then the dad offered us each one. They were still well frozen, and just what we needed to keep our spirits up.

We trudged on, reached the divergence of our path from the Pennine Way and followed a stony bridleway downhill for a mile. The way was punctuated by large air shafts built for the Standedge tunnels. The tunnels were first canal tunnels (longest tunnel in Britain-Huddersfield canal) and later railway tunnels were built. They are Diggle’s claim to fame.

It was good to arrive, shower and sit out in the garden (just behind where the photo was taken). We had walked 15 miles. Tomorrow is a rest day for me and the return to London for Karen.