Todmorden to Mytholmroyd – The Long Way Round

This was quite a walk on a warm Easter Monday. It’s a fair trek up from Todmorden up to the tops, but it is spectacular when you get there. I walked up the tracks to Lumbutts Road, and then up over Hey Head Green. I thought of visiting Gaddings Dam, which I have wanted to for a while, but decided that my planned walk would be enough.

The path along the Pennine Way to Stoodley Pike monument is quite something, along the top of the Calder Valley with great views down to the valley floor and towns below. The monument is equally impressive standing 121 feet hight and was completed in 1856. As you can see in the gallery below the view is spectacular.

From here I walked down towards Withens Clough, the cooler air by the reservoir a welcome change from the hot sun.

From here I walked down into Cragg Vale. One aim of the walk was to visit the old paper mill. Sadly, this is on private land, precluding any real exploration, but it is certainly worth seeing. Cragg Vale was once full of mills, initially water powered, and then steam which of course was great for the mill-owners, but less so for the children who became the main labourers.

Some other interesting points on the walk through Cragg Vale down via Turvin Clough (or Cragg Brook) is the healing spring – which is quite malodourous indeed and a stretch of beck scattered with huge amounts of broken pottery.

I got back into Mytholmroyd, very thirsty, so found a pub, and also as I suspect quite salf depleted as I demolished quite a feast of olives and crisps on the train.

I’ll leave you with this stitched panorama of the Pennine Way.