A peaceful night, fell asleep listening to an owl hooting away. Awake early, at 5am. Cafe locations on the route, and opening times, mean that we don't want to set off until 8 o'clock.
In the end, after a cup of fresh coffee, we are packed and away just before 8. It's a cold morning. I am wearing every layer that I have brought.
From Bugsworth Basin to New Mills there is a very flat route that follows the lock-free Peak Forest Canal.
That is not however the route of the Pennine Cycleway. We climb sharply, and are rewarded with fine views of the surrounding country. In fact, there are several climbs and steep descents before we arrive in New Mills.
The route passes The Clockwork Cafe. We are early and soak up the warming rays of the sun for a few minutes until opening time
How might we get out of New Mills? Up a long steep hill, obvs
Looking towards Bleaklow, to which we are slowly making our way
Looking the other way: Manchester in the sunshine
We drop down to Hadfield, through the villages of Chisworth and Charlesworth
It is here that I have the first puncture of the trip, and doubtless not the last
I was expecting to pick up today's disused railway here, the old Manchester to Sheffield line that is now the Longendale trail. But we have to travel a bit further, with the usual climbs and descents, before we are allowed the gentle uphill gradient of the old railway
Looking across to the Holme Moss road. This would be the direct route over the pennines to Holmfirth. We will be taking an indirect route over the tops
The end of the line for us
Now it's a steep haul up broken gravel to gain the old cross-moorland route. We have to push our bikes
Once on the moorland it's a delight, with wide open views, a surprising lack of wind, and the haunting call of the curlew accompanying our journey
We stop for a rest, to brew coffee, and dry off the tent
And then we are in to glorious Yorkshire. Emily Moor mast and the tower on Castle Hill framing a panoramic view
The drop down to Holmfirth is fast and exciting, on smooth and empty lanes. The bakery is selling off the remains of today's savoury pastries for £1 per item, so we buy sausage rolls and pies which we eat on a vaguely sunny bench
I have done the climb up to Meltham many times before when training for the Fred Whitton. But I was younger then, and unencumbered by luggage. I am not looking forward to this. But today's route is different, climbing out of the steep sided valley through the quiet lanes of Upperthong. It's just as steep, and goes on for longer.
The quality of the scenery does ease the pain
After Meltham make our way to Slaithwaite,
and the worst climb of the day up towards Scammonden reservoir. Not only is it steep, but it is also long, on narrow roads filled with heavy traffic
Then it's mostly downhill to Sowerby Bridge, and along the Calder valley to Mytholmroyd, where we call in to see my son Stephen and his partner, Ruthanna
After tea and chat we go to their local Indian restaurant for a curry
Stephen has also been my local scout, and has found us a nearby wild camping site, to which we retire and put up our tent by the light of our bike lights
Great to see you yesterday and hope you made a good start today.
ReplyDelete