It was a very calm night but not particularly quiet. Edge Lane, the road past the farm, is a dead end but services quite a few properties so cars were coming and going. Even the early morning was noisy. It was still dark when I put some water on for a brew at 5am but I hadn’t been up long before the first cars were about. I was packed up and on my way by 6:35am and it was nice to be able to leave my rubbish in a bin outside May’s shop. I usually have to carry it all with me.

More company on the trail.

Reaps Cross

I headed NW along Edge Lane shortly after first light. The tarmac ended at a property called Egypt and then I was on a moorland track. I left it for a footpath to Reaps Cross which has been restored. The cross base would be original but the stone column was in too good a condition to be original. It stood quite high. I kept going in the approximate direction the map showed but there was no sign of a path on the ground. It was rough going for over a mile until I saw the first path marker post. I followed them to Noah Dale Water where there was an old breached dam. The path then took a direct line to Hoof Stones Height and the path was reasonable and easy to follow. At the summit is a trig point and fairly good views.

There was a thin veil of high cloud which was settled and kept the sunshine away but it made for good walking conditions. The map doesn’t show a path down to the Long Causeway road but one was signposted near the trig point. It was faint but I followed it for a while before it dwindled to nothing. There were some nice rocky outcrops to improve the views. After a laborious descent of deep rushes and squelchy bog I reached the road. I wanted to follow the path down Pudsey Clough but the map showed a long diversion to get to it. I decided to brave the intervening continuation of deep reeds and swamp to go the direct route.

Derelict industry at Pudsey.

Reaching the A646 under the railway.

I reached the line of the old road at Stiperden House Farm which was quite interesting as most of it had been washed away due to neglect but some of the old stone buttresses were visible. I picked up the descent path down the valley and followed as best I could but some stretches were very indistinct. At Nant Wood I came to a track and the way was much easier to follow. The views down in to the valley were impressive but depressing as the old mills and chimneys could be seen in an advanced state of decay. A sign of past prosperity long gone. I reached the main road at Cornholme and turned right for a while. I hadn’t had much for breakfast and was beginning to feel peckish.

I was glad to come across a small shop selling chocolate bars and sandwiches. I had a very early lunch sat on the bench by the bus stop before following the track up Heald Moor. The map calls it the Burnley Way but the way markers are indistinct and anyone without a map would be struggling. Eventually I came to a high level track which took me to Thieveley Pike trig point. Below I could see the pub at Deerplay Moor. I followed the track down to it and crossed over to follow a track called Long Dike. It was not easy to follow as sections were indistinct and too bogy to get through. I had to climb over the fence on a few occasions to avoid getting my feet wet. The next mile or so was a mix of paths and after reaching the summit at a trig point I descended by various paths to Waggoner Tunstead Farm building. I was now back in to a built up area and followed the road down to the main Bacup Rawtenstall road.

Slab wall near Hugh Mill.

Across the valley was the line of the old disused railway and the map showed a bridleway following it. A minor road called Brandwood headed up to the old railway line but it was impenetrable overgrown scrub so there was no chance of following it. Further up was a lane that took me up to the Hugh Mill area. The first part was a track then a green footpath down to the road. I turned right for a short way before turning off left up a steep track up the hillside towards Cowpe Lowe. I was now on the Rossendale Way and continued along it through old quarry workings. Overgrown spoil heaps were everywhere but now it was deserted. Unfortunately not completely deserted as ahead was another group of pointless new windmills that blight the landscape and don’t even produce enough energy to cover the cost of their construction. I followed the track to the site of the old property of Fo Edge, the former home of the poet Edwin Waugh (1817-90) which had been lovingly demolished by the local council in his memory! Further along the path was Waugh’s Well, a stone structure around the spring. The water was as clear as the spring I’d used at May’s yesterday so I decided to make this my camp for the night.

Waugh's Well.

The Poet Edwin Waugh and one of his grandsons

Sunset and wind turbines.

As I cooked my evening meal I heard the noise of 2 mountain motor-bikes. They stopped at the well. After a short time they began shouting. Then they shouted at my tent. I emerged and asked what they wanted. Realising they’d got more than they bargained for the cowards rode off into the sunset.