We had a reasonably slow start today, wandering down to the Co-op for breakfast materials and eating while we waited for everybody else to get up. Bryan and Ros were going to stay behind in Hebden Bridge and wait to get picked up by Paul and Aurelia so after saying goodbye to them, we headed off up the towpath. It was just as lovely a walk in the morning, until we started the trail and it led straight up a steep hill. In fairness, it was through beautiful forest-y surroundings though and we had gorgeous views over the valley below – and across to Stoodley Pike again! 

Reaching the top of the hill, the path led across fields and then between stone walls down towards a river. It was very overgrown with ferns and grasses, and quite hard to see where we were putting our feet, so it was lucky the others didn’t come with their sore knees! There was a little river with a lovely sitting spot and a stone bridge that we crossed and then headed up another steep hill. From this point it was steady walking across grassland and heather for quite a while, passing what looked like an abandoned school building and sheep nibbling on patches of hay that had been deposited in the longer grass. Approaching a reservoir, we turned north and followed the path down to another river crossing, where we stopped to eat lunch as we were just past the 10km halfway point. We were sitting on a grassy patch in a lovely little intersection of two rivers, surrounded by ferns and greenery and enjoying the sunshine!

After finishing our lunch, we crossed the other river and then followed it north for a while, surrounded by fields full of very noisy sheep. They clearly weren’t fans of us walking by! Crossing a road, the trail began to wind upwards again, bridging a huge dam and passing three reservoirs in a row. Luckily this was the last (albeit biggest) hill for the day, as my knee was beginning get a bit sore as we ascended. From the hill it was a steady downhill past ‘Top Withens’, the house that supposedly inspired Wuthering Heights, and down to Ponden Reservoir. From the reservoir we made our way up the road to a pub called The Silent Inn, where we got a celebratory shandy and were joined soon after by Paul and Bryan.

After a beer at the pub, we hopped in the car and were shuttled back to the Airbnb in Haworth where we’d be staying for the next three nights. It was a cute three-storey attached townhouse with a very strange basement – described as a ‘work from home space’ but definitely with more of a dungeon-like vibe. Peter and I had a shower and got changed, before we all wandered down the hill and met up with Micky and Simon, who are joining the group for the weekend. We’d chosen a pub that looked good and didn’t involve too much walking, but it was very busy! Micky and Bryan ordered drinks for everyone and we ended up with some strange (not in a nice way) beers before settling on some wine for the evening. Eventually after shuffling under some heaters as it cooled down, we were moved inside and were frustrated to find that it was actually quite noisy and unpleasant inside. Nevertheless, we had some nice food for dinner – I had a fantastic steak, and it was nice to catch up with everyone. Once we’d all finished our food, we headed back to the Airbnb and had a few beers there as we continued to chat. When Micky and Simon headed back to their pub room, Peter and I set up our sofa bed and then went to bed.