A LONG WAY TO HOPE CROSS

We've decided on something a bit more challenging today. For too long we've been playing safe, acutely aware of our lack of fitness and time constraints. So, enough of that, today we're making the most of it!

We squeeze into the full lay-by next to Yorkshire Bridge Inn and start off with our usual swapping session (including an old fashioned ginger beer plant). It starts to rain so we wait it out with a piece of Key Lime Pie and a drink of ginger beer. That sets us up nicely, then it's onward and onward.

We cross over the dam wall and look down it's chilly length. There's always a stiff breeze blowing here, but we suspect that there'll be little good weather today.

We turn right and set off at the side of the reservoir. We haven't gone too far before we reach the track we usually come back down on and make the decision to go up that way instead and do our walk in reverse. Well, it seems like a good idea!

We go up, through the gate at the top, and pause. Is it an age thing? We can't remember how we usually approach this point - and we've been here loads of times. The map is of minimal help, the paths on paper not quite matching those on the ground.

We strike off to the right and then veer left, eventually going through a metal gate. The first wisps of familiarity disappear as we realise we have never been here before. Never mind, it's going in the right direction, more or less.

The path is quite boggy in places, and brings us to an old derelict building. It has wonderful views, but poor access and needs a bit of work doing to bring it up to modern standards!

We head on upwards and come to the fence line beneath Win Hill. We may not be on the path we planned but we've arrived where we need to be.

From here it's a long walk following the line between moorland and forest. In places it is waterlogged, in others it is stony underfoot. 

The path undulates with some quite large dips and rises and we even get a glimmer of blue sky, but it doesn't last. The views from here, though, are superb.

Further along we have a number of options; go down, go on, go to the Roman road, go backwards and up Win Hill. The sheep scrutinize us as we quickly decide to keep going. We'll reach the Roman road soon enough, and our target is Hope Cross.

And after more walking than we recall (why are distances distorted when you do a route in reverse?) we see the cross standing aloof next to the path.

We only pause briefly to look at it before finding the path into the woods. At last we find something to sit on out of the wind to enjoy a late lunch. The Key Lime Pie and ginger beer certainly kept us going! Today's treat is scratched cinnamon swirl bun. Nice and chewy, but I would have liked more cinnamon.

Once we've done we head off again, it's too cold to linger. We're going steadily downhill now, and past the ridge and furrow land under the trees. They look very ethereal given the dark gloom of the woods here.

At the bottom we turn right through the muddy patch that was once the front yard of another derelict building. There's heavy moss growth on the old gateposts and a sense of nature reclaiming everything.

We walk through the trees, and the views open out again. It's downhill and a bit muddy, and we're surprised how far we still have to walk - this is usually behind us on the outbound stretch so it's not our usual view.

It's levellish ground though, and no challenge, especially as we still have plenty to talk about (nothing new there). But the sky is dull and we've had the best of the day. No pause when we get back to the cars, it's been a long walk and we can't hang around. But it's certainly been worth it.

WINTER WALK UNDER WINHILL

This is our pre-Christmas walk, from now life just becomes too hectic to allow us the indulgence of escaping for a day, so we intend to make the most of it.

Of course, the best laid plans and all that...I overlay (my alarm didn't go off, I'd set it for the wrong day!) so am half an hour late, but I'd managed to let PC know so at least she wasn't waiting in the the cold for me.

We park on the main A57 near the Yorkshire Bridge Inn after visiting the facilites at Heatherdene first. Our usual parking spot is full, there are a few walkers out today, but there is another pull-in a little further down. 

Then I discover that in my rush I have left my boots, and I am only wearing canvas sneakers. Fortunately PC is wearing stout walking shoes so she lets me borrow hers, or it would have been a very short walk!

We have Mollie today, but she isn't happy next to the road so we hurry up and head for the path over the end of the Ladybower reservoir. There's a keen wind blowing across the water which makes it feel even colder. At the end of the path is a large group of people, and as we approach we see that it is a party of youths with a leader. At least they are all dressed properly for the outdoors so it must be a well organised group.

Once we are off the reservoir path we turn right with our 'make it up as we go along' attitude. There is a straggling group of much older walkers coming towards us, they must have set out early to be on their way back already, even given that we are later than planned.

It is an easy stroll along the wide path at the side of the reservoir, not taxing on legs or route-finding. We reach a path that leads into the Wiseman Hey Clough plantation and think 'why not?', so head on upwards. 

It is a distinct path to begin with though it eventually deteriorates into a weed strewn, branch tangled mess. We press on, though, slowly climbing upwards. We know where we want to go (upwards) so despite the confusing array of paths, half-paths and sheep tracks we continue in pursuit of our goal.

We see a stone wall and head towards it, climbing steeply uphill,  only to see a distinct path a little higher up. We reach it and follow its dips and curves as it heads slowly (and easily) up the hillside. We disturb a trio of sheep, their backs purple sploged with the farmer's mark, from their shelter amongst the trees. Surely they are supposed to be on the moor.

Eventually the path emerges from the trees at a distinct corner that I immediately recognise. The only issue is that we are on the 'wrong side' of the high wire fence and their isn't an easy way across. Not to worry though, others have clearly been faced with the same dialemma as their is a faint but obvious path at this side of the fence, and I know that there is a stile or gate further up beneath Win Hill.

We press on upwards, and there are some superb, far reaching views from up here. It was certainly worth the effort.

We reach the gate, and find that we have options. No, we don't want to go up Win Hill today, not go back the way we came. We could go directly downhill, back to the reservoir but it seems too early for that (and probably too slippery, we know that path) so we go through the gate and turn left.

Surprisingly we haven't been on this short stretch of path before, which forms the base of the triangle with two other paths leading up to the summit of Win Hill. The path runs next to a small plantation which seems ideal for a place to stop. So we clamber over a broken wall and find a convenient fallen tree to sit on. 

Now it is time for lunch, and a celebratory mini bottle of vino that just happened to be in the car boot. Well, it is nearly Christmas. And still in the Christmas spirit our buns for the day are fresh cream mince pies. Definitely a worthwhile celebration, especially with the coffee to finish warming us up.

When we set off again we soon reach the familar, well used path that is the usual route up Win Hill, but we turn downhill instead. There is a broad path to the left almost immediately, and we take that rather than the steep and slippery route down Parkin Clough. This path is much easier, although there is a tree down over the path and we have to clamber over the end of it. Also we have to get out of the way of a cyclist who clearly doesn't know (or chooses to ignore) that he has no right of way on a footpath.

It is a pleasant stroll downhill, the trees shelter us from the worst of the wind and there isn't too much mud. We turn sharp right at The Springs through another gateway and are soon on the main track next to the reservoir. There is the tantalising smell of woodsmoke in the air where forestry workers are clearing away old timber.

Very quickly we reach the path over the reservoir again, and we discover an information board with a speaker to give a verbal history. Sadly the wind is too loud to hear the narrator properly although we do catch the odd word being carried away as we walk off.

In no time we are back at the cars having really enjoyed our walk. I return PC's boots to her, and it is time to go. We've been really lucky with the weather (it starts to rain within 10 minutes of me getting home) and we wonder what will greet us in the new year.

So, it is the end of another year's walking.

Merry Christmas to everyone out there, and a properous New Year.

WET AND WINDY WIN HILL

We're going for one of PC's favourites this week as it's her pre-birthday walk, so even though we've done it before we're doing it again - and choosing the harder route.

As usual we meet up in the layby near the Yorkshire Bridge Inn, giving ourselves plenty of time for the walk. With the cold, wet weather we aren't surprised to be the only ones out today, although for now the overnight deluge has ceased. And we have Mollie today too.

First of all we walk up towards the huge dam wall then take the footpath sharp left which zig-zags downwards through the trees to the road and the Yorkshire Bridge over the River Derwent. 

We pause for a moment to watch the fast flowing river, then walk up the road on the western bank. We come to an attractive water run-off beside some stone steps. These are the beginning of what will be a steep climb.

This first flight of steps gets the leg muscles warmed up and as we reach the disused railway line Mollie hurtles off to play with a couple of other dogs. Their owners offer dire warnings to us when they realise that we're continuing upwards rather than taking the level track. It's easy to see why.

Once Mollie has come back to us we embark on the climb up the side of Parkin Clough; a steep unrelenting slog up that reminds us of the Secret Stairs at the Pass of Cirith Ungol (Lord of the Rings fans will know exactly what we mean) and has us re-enacting scenes from the film ("Come on, Mr Frodo."  "I can't make it, Sam." etc etc). It's a good job there isn't anyone around to hear or see us!

Despite the steepness of the path, and the slippery stones, we do make relatively good time and aren't struggling as we did some years ago when we last came this way (and yes, we did the Sam and Frodo scenes then, too!) We may be getting older but we must be getting fitter by way of compensation.

A couple of women walkers pass us going down - we don't envy them making their way down the slippery path - then PC remarks how unusual it is for us to see women walkers out. She's right. It's very rare for us to see pairs of women (even rarer to see single women) out on the hills. It's usually men, or women with men, or mixed groups.

After pondering that for a while we press on upwards, and the path becomes less challenging once it has been crossed by the Ladybower to Aston footpath. It's still uphill, though, but we soon pass through a small gateway and onto the slope of Win Hill.

There are neatly laid steps here for erosion control. They do a good job protecting the path, but are less gentle on the knees. As we press on up the steps the full force of wind - which had only filtered down to us earlier - starts to make itself felt. We drag on another layer and plod on.

As we are struggling to find armholes that are flapping around in the gale a single walker (male) strides past us on his way to the top. He only has on a thin waterproof jacket and we both bet that he's feeling the cold. We're wearing about 5 layers each and we can still feel the chill.

The last time we were up Win Hill we had walked up from Hope, it had been snowing and the wind was howling. It was quite a feat of endurance back then, but today we only had the wind to contend with even though it was constantly buffeting us and trying to blow us off our feet.

We slipped over the top of the hill, ignoring the Trig Point, and found a hollow in which to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee (and a nip from the secret flask). We had a lovely view over the reservoirs and the long ridges beyond. It feels really good to think, yes, we've walked there, and there, and the views from that spot are wonderful.

We can also see the lone walker now running down a path below us, heading for the trees. We wonder if, perhaps, he is running to keep warm!

After our coffee we set off again and on our way down the western slope of the hill we see two more walkers coming towards us from the Hope Path. And they are two young women. So that's twice in a day that we've encountered women walkers. Excellent.

We find the narrow, indistinct path through the heather to our right and turn onto it. The peaty path is quite slippery and we manage to put up a grouse from its cosy spot, it rises clucking and chuckling with annoyance as its stubby wings propel it a couple of feet off the ground.

As we reach the bottom of the path we come to a fence, and a choice. Straight ahead is the path directly down to the reservoir, but we know from experience that this path can be muddy and slick at the best of times. Also, it will takes us back far too soon - we've made extremely good time and it isn't even lunch time.

So instead we turn left and take the path that skirts to the top of the wooded valley. We decide not to walk right next to the fence line but keep to the moor path which, whilst being less well-trod, is more direct, cutting out a sharp up-and-down that we're happy to avoid.

There are a couple of 'interesting' bits (PC's words, not mine) where we have to cross small streams, but the ground isn't as boggy nor the streams as deep as they could be.

It's quite a long way, on the map, to our turn-off path but we find that the reasonably level ground (if you discount the heather, stones, rocks and general moorland obstacles) makes for easy walking. We're contouring rather than climbing so we cover a lot of ground fairly quickly.

We turn right through a gate in the fence line which takes us back into the woods. There's plenty of grass beneath the trees here, the plantation isn't too dense, and we soon find ourselves a fallen tree on which to sit and enjoy lunch.

I did say it was PC's pre-birthday walk. So out comes the (small) bottle of wine for a toast. It's nicely chilled - naturally! - and we enjoy it in not-quite-cut-glass plastic cups. Doesn't affect the taste one bit.

We eat our sandwiches quickly, because we want to get to the puddings. Fresh cream and jam scones - PC confesses that she likes scones in all their many varieties - and these are good ones. Loads of cream and very stodgy. Yum. Mollie is allowed to lick out the carton they came in - makes a change from her dog biscuits. We follow the scones with coffee then, because it's birthday time, we each have a small tiramisu. By the time we've managed that we are well and truly full and feeling in need of a post-lunch nap to sleep off the excess calories.

But we can't have a snooze, so we pack up - rucksacks much lighter - and set off downhill. The light seems to be fading. It's a lot darker under the trees but maybe the clouds are gathering too, and of course dusk does fall much earlier at this time of year.

We walk down the rutted path and through the large gate at the bottom, turning left on the wide bridleway. Very easy walking now as we go steadily downhill until, at last, we reach the broad track which flanks the long arm of Ladybower. From here it's a straight, easy to follow if not quite level walk back along the length of the reservoir and around to the dam wall.

By the time we reach the dam the light is fading fast and the wind catches us anew as we leave the shelter of the trees. We don't think we've ever been out so close to dusk and we can see the lights of cars and houses clearly. As we walk across the dam path the wind is howling, and it is blowing through the hollow railings making an eerie, whistling sound - our very own wind orchestra!

It isn't far from here back to the cars, and by the time we have removed our gear and prepared to set off we have to use our headlights. It's been an excellent, long day and, for the time of year, a remarkably fine one too.