3. The Settle-Carlisle Way (1993)

Length : 150 miles

Started : 30 August 1992

Completed : 4 June 1993

Companions : None

Guide : Settle-Carlisle Country - Colin Speakman and John Morrison (Leading Edge P &P , 1990)

You will have spotted that there's quite a time lag to account for since the last walk's "official" completion in 1980. Those of you who've been walking awhile will also know that the period missing is precisely that in which the number of LDMP's, both official and unofficial, mushroomed, plenty of them on my doorstep too, so what on earth was I doing ?

Well, here's the back story. Certainly back in 1980, Michael and I didn't wish to rest on our laurels after the towpath walk. We began planning the next one almost straightaway and our choice was The Dales Way. This would be done as a whole walk during the Wakes fortnight (Wimbledon fortnight for those not in the north west). I bought the guidebook (also by Colin Speakman incidentally) that Easter and we soon had a plan worked out but it came to grief when the bunk barn at Cam Houses couldn't accommodate us on the right day. As an alternative I suggested going to the Lake District and walking some of the mountains in Wainwright's "The Eastern Fells" instead. We did that with another lad and enjoyed it so much we wanted to go there again so that became the big project for 1981 and The Dales Way was forgotten.

At the end of the second Lakes holiday in July 1981 (just after my O levels) I bought a copy of "The Cumbria Way" in Windermere and we may have tentatively discussed it as a project but it was not to be. Michael started work the following Monday and our friendship (and therefore the Travelling Society) quickly unravelled after that. Looking back I think that process had started earlier in the year and the prospect of the Lakes holiday had held things together. It's not really the place to analyse in further detail. Michael announced he was resigning from the Travelling Society (and how much easier to say that than I don't want to be friends with you anymore) at a meeting on Nov 14 1981.

I knew that was the end of the Travelling Society there and then but we'd picked up some younger lads and my sister along the way and they were for continuing so for another six months we carried on in a limited way even talking about launching our own LMDP the Lake to Lake Way (Hollingworth to Bassenthwaite) but by June 1982 further petty arguments caused the club to shut up shop for good.

Happily once I'd left school one of those younger lads , Sean, effected a reconciliation between me and Michael to the extent that we arranged a weekend in the Lakes to walk up Scafell Pike. The week before, Michael hurt his ankle at work which my mother always believed he faked, having had second thoughts about the trip. I decided to go alone and that was when I decided to do all the Wainwrights - partly to prove my worth to Michael if my mother happened to be right. That became my premier walking project from that point (at the time of writing I'm still making slow progress on it ) and LMDP's went on the back burner.

In October 1983 I went to Leeds University and should have been able to find some new companions for walking projects. I joined the Hostellling and Hiking Club in the first year but never actually went on any event. This was partly because I had a new passion, watching Rochdale FC on a Saturday and it was more convenient to stay over and walk with the Civic Trust on the sunday when the HHC held their events. In truth also I was intimidated by the size of the Club and thought my chances of having a big influence in it were small. Even though I was now back in touch with him Michael's desertion cast a long shadow and confidence in my ability to form new friendships was low.

After university I returned home and eventually found work nearby. In the summer of 1987 I did some long walks on my own but they were self-contained not linked to LDMPs. Later that year I started playing football with Sean and his mates and that alternated with the Civic Trust walks on sundays. However I was starting to buy LDMP guides in this period so the idea wasn't totally dead; it was just that the Civic Trust's tried and tested format couldn't accommodate it.

However it was the Civic Trust that ultimately led to this entry in an indirect fashion. At our AGM in April 1988 a local bookseller approached me about doing a book on walks around Littleborough. Myself and four other members worked on this project and it was finally published in May 1991. To promote it I offered to do a slideshow and talk for the local historical society and was booked in for January 1992. I enjoyed the experience and got another booking for a local ladies club but I thought the subject had limited appeal and I needed another talk if I was going to get on the circuit.

And that's what led me to load my camera and set off for Leeds in September. The Settle-Carlisle Way was perfect for purpose ; it had spectacular scenery, a running theme with much historical interest and name recognition from the attempt to close the railway in the eighties.

The Way begins with a long towpath walk along the Leeds-Liverpool canal as far as Gargrave. Given the underlying purpose I really dawdled this stretch frequently wandering off route to visit and snap things nearby. Although only 30 miles I did it in five stages right through the autumn of 1992. Beyond Kildwick,  I started to get a bit bored of the canal and would nominate the approach to Skipton as the worst bit of the whole route. On the next stage I was due to walk over to Settle but got so wet on a really lousy day that I quit at Gargrave deciding to resume in the new year.

I re-commenced the walk in the early spring of 1993 using the leave days I always had stored up by the end of March. The Way instantly improved as it left behind the canal and followed a green lane over to Settle. From Settle onwards I could make full use of the trains so what I normally did was drive over to Keighley and buy a return to the station at the end of the walk from there. The next few stages ending at Horton-in-Ribblesdale, Ribblehead, Garsdale Head (where the doors didn't open and the driver had to reverse to let me off) and Kirkby Stephen were just glorious, scenery and weather in perfect combination. I normally ended up on the same train coming back and twice, driving back through Mytholmroyd on a Thursday (not sure now why I chose Thursdays to have off) I picked up the same hitch-hiking girl and gave her a lift up Cragg Vale. I must confess the following week when I wasn't walking, I drove the same route again looking for her but to no avail, lesson being that you must seize the moment when it arrives.

Things became a little more difficult from Kirkby Stephen as the window in which to walk between trains shrunk the further north I got. Kirkby Stephen to Appleby was a long 15 miles with one or two navigation problems and I was pretty shattered by the end of that day. The next stage started with a disaster when my car broke down less than a mile from home - it was on its last wheels and should have been replaced by this time. The RAC got me going again but I had missed the train at Keighley and they were two-hourly. The full 13 miles to Langwathby were no longer feasible so I had to call it a day at Long Marton.

That used up the last of my leave so it was back to sundays. The first available sunday I set off despite a terrible weather forecast and conditions were just awful as I set off from Long Marton. Almost immediately a woman in a passing car stopped to offer me a lift. I explained what I was doing and politely declined . She was very concerned for my welfare and I had some difficulty getting away. Shortly after this I came to a point where a wobbly wooden stile through some barbed wire would have dropped me into a narrow riverside pasture full of cattle that looked knee deep in fresh manure. Already wet I balked at this. The surrounding fence was very new and unclimbable at any other point so I got the map out and there was a bridleway across the Eden a little further up. This turned out to be OK for horses but the ford was far too deep for walkers so after contemplating the stile again decided I would have to use the A66 instead as far as Kirkby Thore. This was an unpleasant trudge and then a car stopped . It was the same woman wondering if I had changed my mind ! I have to put on record that while the Eden Valley section didn't quite compare with the Dales in scenic terms all the people I met there were extremely nice and helpful. No wonder Bill Bryson chose to settle there. Having finally shaken her off,  the rest of the walk was uneventful though very wet. Back on the train I realised I had left my flask on a bench outside the Sportsman Inn in Langwathby . I rang the pub when I got home to see if anyone had handed it in and the guy who answered told me to hold on and he'd see if it was still there. That turned out to be the case and I was able to pick it up at the start of the next stage in a fortnight.

This penultimate stage to Armathwaite was a scorching day in May which I had to do at a fair pace to get back for a pub quiz fixture. The only thing worthy of comment was that I was served a cold pot of coffee at the Lacy's Caves tea rooms that I should really have complained about. The final stage into Carlisle was done on a Friday so that the city shops and cafes would still be open when I arrived. Armathwaite is a tiny place and from there it's a continuous path through the riverside woodland for eight miles until Wetheral. Being summer it was buzzing with insects amid the new growth. Absolutely beautiful but after a while it became eerie and oppressive:  the only people I saw on the whole length being farm workers on the other side of the river about half way along. I was glad to get back to civilisation at Wetheral. From there it was mostly a road walk to the outskirts of Carlisle where the Way follows the river behind the football ground, the only hazards being the surly fishermen and their equally unfriendly dogs on the riverbank.

I bought some tea in Carlisle feeling pleased with myself but also a bit deflated. Finishing an LMDP on your own is a slightly depressing experience amid the complete indifference of those around you particularly in an urban centre like Carlisle. Never mind , I was back in the saddle and the next one would begin almost straight away.

2. The Rochdale Canal towpath (1980/1995)

Length : 33 miles


Started : 13 October 1979


Finished : 26 January 1980 / 27 May 1995


Companions : (in full ?) Michael Smithson ( in part) Stephen Meehan, Ian Wilding, Barry Foster, Jenny Ransome, Reinhard (surname unknown)


Guide : None

This one is the joker in the pack. As you can see from the title there is some uncertainty as to where it should be placed chronologically , the reasons for which should become clear from what follows. But there is also a doubt as to whether it should be included at all which I will address straight away.

The reason there is no official status for this walk and no guide is quite simply that for a considerable part of its length the towpath is not a public right of way as shown on the definitive maps for the areas through which it passes. There are no notices, gates, wardens etc to delineate the non-public parts and indeed for 20+ years one long stretch in Manchester City Council’s domain was designated a linear park. It just means that in the legal sense this could never be counted an LMDP. The reality on the ground is that there is a continuous 33 mile long footpath with no one to challenge your use of it. That’s what makes it eligible in my book.

The towpath was identified by Michael Smithson and myself as the next “LMDP” to tackle after The Calderdale Way (the two intersect briefly at Todmorden). It was the only option we had there being nothing other than The Pennine Way around at the time and it was even nearer, at one point literally a stone’s throw from my house.

In fact we started it before The Calderdale Way was even completed. We were due to undertake Stage Four on XX October 1979 after a couple of weekends off due to Michael’s Sea Cadets commitments but a wet morning meant I was able to persuade Michael we should take the bad weather option of a trip to Manchester instead. The day began with a shock when going for the train, that being 14, I was liable to pay full fare so we took the bus instead. After an enjoyable morning and early afternoon exploring the museums the weather had brightened up so we rounded the day off with a short stroll along the initial city centre stretch of the canal from Castlefield (which took some finding) to Dale Street basin. In 1979 that was the only navigable section, a crucial (and apparently very expensive) part of the Cheshire Ring. I do recall finding the environs of Princess Street rather sinister in those pre-makeover days and the tunnel under Piccadilly downright scary but we went unmolested and it was a satisfyng round-off to an enjoyable day.

Stage Two happened the following week due to Stephen feeling he'd missed out on a good day out so we were off to Manchester again despite the improved weather. Having repeated everything from the previous week for his benefit I then proposed we did a bit more of the towpath knowing that we'd never be far off one of the bus routes for Rochdale. As may be guessed from the previous post Stephen wasn't 100% enthusiastic about this idea but he was in a minority so off we went.

Now comes the moment that accounts for the dating "controversy" . As we entered Dale Street car park we were summoned back by the security guard who refused to allow three teenagers to walk through the cars. When I asked how we were to get to "the canal" he gave us an alternative route by road. We soon came to a canal and after about a mile or two's walking along it we agreed to ask a man about the bus. After some confusion the truth dawned; we were actually on the Ashton Canal . Fortunately the canals follow a reasonably parallel course through East Manchester so he was able to direct us to the right canal and 15 minutes later we were back on track. Somehow Michael and I managed to get Stephen to agree to carry on for a bit and he was reasonably engaged by the linear park section through to Failsworth. We decided to go for the bus at Foxdenton and that is where Stephen's participation ended although he was certainly invited to the subsequent stages.

Michael and I decided with 14-year-old logic that those miles on the Ashton Canal "counted" as it wasn't our fault we'd been misdirected by a jobsworth, a typical injustice heaped upon us by the adult world and we'd actually done a longer walk than necessary. We didn't have to go back and do the section we'd missed.

One consequence of this particular "trip" was Michael asserting his right to choose the next one - a system that then stayed in place for the remaining lifetime of the Travelling Society. So the next week it was back to The Calderdale Way as told in the previous post. For various reasons Stage Three, Foxdenton to Littleborough, didn't take place until the Christmas holidays -Friday 28th December I think. It was a bitterly cold day with a coating of ice on the canal for most of the way and a treacherous footing in places. Canal walking wasn't really Michael's bag but he did enjoy the rural section around Slattocks and the chips we bought when the canal passed through the centre of Rochdale. So much so that he chose the next stage Littleborough to Hebden Bridge when his turn next came round, our first walk of the decade (5th Jan 1980).

This was familiar territory and much more scenically attractive than the previous Stages. The only problems were the occasional spots where the canal drains across the towpath and the stone blocks to be used as stepping stones were sometimes a scary distance apart. But we got across and completed the walk in record time.

There was no real reason why we couldn't have done the final stage Hebden Bridge to Sowerby Bridge the following week but instead I chose a short nature trail near Middleton which I'd already done. Perhaps it was an attempt to go for the middle ground between Michael and Stephen who never chose a walk and in fact it turned out to be the only trip Stephen ever went on that wasn't his choice under the rota system. More likely it was cold calculation on my part that if I didn't choose to finish the canal walk Michael would on his next turn and that would mean at least a five week respite before another of his "compass course" adventures which I'd come to dread. I know that doesn't reflect very well on me but I have long since accepted the blame for the demise of our friendship and you've just been given an insight into what went wrong.

Anyhow Michael did choose the final stage when his turn came round, a walk only marred by my new boots starting to rub against the back of my heels so I was more than usually pleased when we completed this one. We never, to my recollection , discussed going back to that missed section in Manchester and I don't want to de-recognise Michael's achievement particularly as he won't feature as a companion again so that is why this one remains as number 2.

I eventually did complete the full route over 15 years later when I was organising events for the Christian Social Group in Manchester. The plan was to do the 16.5 mile section between Castlefield and what I should at that stage call my parents' house (though I was still living there) in Littleborough where I (but really my mum) would put on a buffet. Members were free to do the full walk or join at intermediate points (my ETA estimates for these proved wildly optimistic). This meant I would complete the route incidentally; it certainly wasn't the main motive which was to repay some of the hospitality I'd enjoyed in other members' houses. Four brave members turned up to do the full walk (the party more than doubled at Castleton) and we still had problems at Dale Street car park. We weren't challenged at the barrier but the far exit was blocked by a ten metre security fence for some remedial works on the canal. Rejecting Barry's lunatic suggestion that we climb over we retreated to the road but this time I made damn sure we got on the right canal. Any joy at this belated completion was soon over-shadowed by my father falling ill that evening the start point for a process of deterioration that led to his death little more than two years later.

Now of course the whole canal is open for navigation (the linear park being consigned to history as the canal was re-filled) and new development at various points has changed the look of the route considerably. But it is still a route of two halves: urban Lancashire to Littleborough (though with nice stretches at Slattocks and Clegg Hall) then rural Yorkshire into Sowerby Bridge. Needless to say it is very easy walking throughout. Although featuring another canal the next LMDP would be quite different.

1. The Calderdale Way (1979)

Length : 50 miles

Started : 8 Sept 1979

Finished : 31 Oct 1979

Companions (in full) Michael Smithson; (in part) Stephen Meehan

Guide; The Calderdale Way (West Yorkshire MCC) 1978

I suppose this was always likely to be the first given that I lived just a mile or so outside the Calderdale boundary. The Pennine Way was even nearer but that was an unattainable goal to a 14 year old. This one was feasible despite the messy public transport options at the far end. The route was launched in 1978 with a guidebook produced by West Yorkshire County Council costing 45p and I probably purchased it that Christmas. Compared with the noisy death (and pseudo-resurrection) of the GLC the old metropolitan county councils succumbed quietly and are little remembered so it's worth noting that the two in my neck of the woods West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester were both pretty strong on the environment and launched some worthwhile projects such as this one.

The spur was a chance meeting on a summer walk but first a bit of context. By 1975, due to basic incompatibilities in interests and what I now realise were my mother's struggles with the menoopause, family holidays had come to a halt. In 1977 after two years of compensation by day trips I was encouraged to sign up to the school youth hostelling holiday. I had never done any walking before so I joined Littleborough Civic Trust that January because they organised ( and still do) fortnightly walks on a Sunday and as we already knew someone in the group that was an ideal training ground. Soon after - 6th March 1977- they organised a modest train trip to Hebden Bridge which incorporated a slide show at the tourist information centre. This opened my eyes to the fact that there was a lot worth seeing close to home and at 12 I was old enough to explore it without my parents.

From that day on a walk, bus or train trip became the default Saturday morning activity for me and my small circle of mates. In April 1979 we were augmented by another lad joining the Civic Trust to walk ( Michael Smithson) but he'd only been on one trip before they were disrupted by bad weather and holiday commitments and as he went to a different school we lost touch. Then on the first day of the 1979 summer holidays I went for a walk with a neighbour along the Pennine Way to Stoodley Pike and we met Michael camping en route. That re-established him in our group (soon to be formally, and in hindsight unwisely, christened the Travelling Society) and by the end of the holidays we had decided to walk The Calderdale Way.

The Way itself is a 50 mile circular starting and finishing at Clay House, West Vale, a suburb of Halifax. It generally sticks to the high ground although avoiding the wild trackless moorland in the south western corner of the borough. We went with the guidebook, heading west on our first section from Clay House to Ripponden (5.5 miles). Getting to West Vale entailed two buses but there were no problems from then on the waymarking and directions both being excellent on a very attractive stretch taking in Norland Moor.

We were more ambitious for the second stage the following week, tackling the toughest stretch from Ripponden to Todmorden (11 miles). This time we were 3, Stephen Meehan joining us, and his transistor livened up the early stages on a glorious sunny day. I heard "Video Killed the Radio Star" for the first time that day although the only other song I remember is ,strangely enough ,Barry Manilow's "Copacabana". After lunch he found Michael's pace difficult (he was more of a tourist while Michael was a keen hiker, me being somewhere in the middle) and became quite fractious on the climb up to Withen's Gate. He cheered up on the home strait into Todmorden but I'd seen the first signs of fissure in a friendship that would barely survive into the 80s.

The next week for Stage 3 Todmorden to Heptonstall (8.5 miles) it was just me and Michael again. This was another good stretch although we had our first navigational wobble near Todmorden Edge Farm. I was a bit apprehensive about a reputedly aggressive dog near Hippins Farm but there was no sign of it that day.

Michael and I resumed with Stage Four (Heptonstall to Brockholes 9 miles ) on 27 October . This stage saw the crossing over to the less attractive eastern half of the borough. It went OK , Michael obligingly asking the farmer at Saltonstall to take his barking dog inside before I passed through the farmyard (which of course entailed braving the dog himself). We were also, for no obvious reason, given a packet of custard creams by a nice old lady as we waited for the bus home at Halifax Bus Station .

That was the start of half term and we were going to finish the walk on consecutive days during the week. The lion's share (Brockholes to Brighouse 11 miles) was done on the Tuesday. Surprisingly Stephen opted back in at this point despite the unpromising weather. Things had moved on in the intervening weeks and his primary interest now was the Mod Revival and its music and fashion. Nothing inherently wrong with that but he was now a difficult companion, petulant and deliberately needling at times.

It didn't help that we hadn't brought enough food between us and there was a long stretch before the first shop at Norwood Green. Still, he turned up for the finale the following day (Brighouse to Clay House 4.5 miles) despite a moan about the amount of bus travelling involved which was absolutely unavoidable. Despite that ,a drenching and an embarrassing wrong turn on the final anti-climactic road section which prolonged the walk by at least a mile we were all happy to get to the finishing line and enjoyed a stop off at Piece Hall, Halifax before returning home where the Calderdale Way badge could take its place on my rucksack.

I think I'd have to nominate this one as my favourite for all the nostalgia bound up with it. Those last two sections were effectively the last walks with Stephen and Michael and I were also spent as a walking partnership by the end of 1981. Objectively it is a good walk with plenty of scenic contrast and excellent transport links.

Intro

This blog lists and describes all the long and medium distance trails I have completed whether solo or with others. For the sake of clarity I am classing any published walk of over 20 miles as a long or medium distance trail and will use LMDP as an abbreviation from now on. There will be a flurry of posts on the ones I've already done and then of course the pace will slow considerably but I hope there will be some comments to keep this blog lively.