The South Pennines: The Other Way...

I live in the lee of the South Pennines and it’s my backyard.  The area has masses of things going for it, including stark moorland, gritstone edges, steep valleys, plentiful broadleaved woodlands, ruined mills, picturesque canals, literary fame, hilltops monuments and undulating packhorse trails.  You will have heard about Haworth and the Bronte Sisters, and whilst I wouldn’t discourage you from walking in the footsteps of Heathcliff and Cathy there are less heralded highlights that might be of more interest.

Rochdale Canal

The South Pennines is an area of high ground linking the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales.  It is traversed by The Pennine Way and a circular route from the many of the valleys up to the famous National Trail would make a grand day walk.  But in my humble there’s a more recent addition to the National Trail list deserving of greater recognition and being far more interesting – The Pennine Bridleway - http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/PennineBridleway/.   The Bridleway was official opened as a full route just last year – 2011 – and is about 130 miles in length including 2 loops around Settle and Rossendale.

The charm of the Bridleway is that it follows some very ancient packhorse routes that unlike its more famous big brother links lots of local communities in the lower reach of the hills.  This makes access to the route and circular walk planning easier and more varied.  Good transport links enables lengthy stretches of the Bridleway to be covered in a single day.

 

Pennine Bridleway

The packhorse routes provides great character to the Bridleway, well it does for me.  I adore the way these ancient routes of yesteryear contour the side of the hill.  Beyond that the idea that these routes came about as a result of gouging toll keepers in the valleys gives them a certain entrepreneurial mystic.  In addition, I like to allow the imagination to run riot and envisage the thousands of animals from sheep to geese that trotted or waddled the route, little did they know every step took them closer to market and their eventually doom.

From a photographic aspect the often walled and rutted pavement of the Bridleway provides fabulous leading lines for landscape photography.  The numerous ruined farmsteads and watermills that the packhorse trail served are also atmospheric subjects that the camera loves.



The Bridleway is a perfect leading line

Leading lines is a composition technique in photography.  Simply it is a subject in the photography that draws the eye toward the main focal point of the shot.  It can be a wall, river, footpath, road or even a shaft of light.

So get hold of the OL21 South Pennine map, the Pennine Bridleway is on there - look a little west of the Pennine Way – and plan a wonder.  Or better still get involved in the forthcoming South Pennine Walk and Ride Festival - http://www.walkandridefestival.co.uk/.  The Festival starts on 8^th September and runs for 2 weeks with events throughout the region.

Footsteps is running 2 photographic walks as part of the Festival.  On the 8^th a 6-mile walk takes in the Pennine Bridleway from Whitworth - http://tinyurl.com/Bridleway-Walk and on the 22nd a varied trek again of 6 miles visits a fabulous old packhorse route and returns along the Rochdale Canal - http://tinyurl.com/PackhorseCanalWalk.   Why not pop along pick up some great tips and maybe even be a feature in future blogs.