The bus arrived on time at 06:38am and the £1.80 single fare took me to Chorley bus station. At the railway station I was due to catch the 07:01 train to Manchester Victoria but for the second time in a week the train arrived late. There was no information available on the display screen because they were all out of action. The odd thing is that train information was showing on the bus station. The train was almost 10mins late meaning that my connection in Manchester was in jeopardy. A further annoyance was when reaching Adlington the train was stopped for over 5mins while the driver and another worker sauntered along the platform to look at the fuel tank which then announced was leaking. We continued but by the time we reached Victoria I had very little time spare. I needed the Leeds train which I could see was due to leave from platform one at 8am, and it was 07:58. Running to the ticket barrier I asked the woman checking the tickets where platform one was. She pointed vaguely in the distance and said 'over there'. I ran as fast as I could but could find no further platforms so came back to find the platform 1 sign hidden behind an iron column and watched as the Leeds train pulled out of the station. She could have pointed to the actual train when I asked but that was too much trouble and would have involved her in having to think. I returned to the barrier to point out that the platform number wasn't visible but she was unconcerned. I suppose the intelligence level is so low the railways find it difficult to get anyone who is helpful and intelligent.

The next train was due in 20mins but it arrived on time and left 10mins late. I wonder how the train network can function at all with this level of incompetence. I left the station at 8:30am and reached Littleborough at 8:50. (SD 938 163) This is where I'd finished a section of the Pennine Way in August this year and also where I'm planning to continue it south. There was high pressure hanging over the northern UK but it didn't mean sunshine just very overcast with little wind and slight drizzle. I left the station by the underpass and crossed the road to join the Rochdale canal for a while. It was pleasant walking along the towpath but I soon had to leave it for the road to Blackstone Edge. I was reversing the route off the hill the last time I was here but this time as I climbed I could only see a low bank of cloud. I reached the stone sets which form the old packhorse route towards Sowerby Bridge and are annoyingly called a Roman Road.

The Rochdale Canal

The Aiggin Stone.

Anyone with a shred of historical knowledge knows it is not Roman. It was a steady climb and quite warm in the still conditions. The climb ended at the Aiggin Stone which was a medieval way marker. It is shown on its side in Wainwright’s guide book but has now been re-erected by Littleborough and District Lions. I turned right along a reasonable path into thick mist. It was annoying not being able to see the views from the Blackstone Edge traverse and also see the rock formations along the way.

The Ordnance Survey column by the summit is perched on a large boulder. As I continued I left the boulders behind and headed out across fairly desolate peat bog. There were enough stretches of 'made' path to make the going tolerable and not the ordeal it used to be. The mist began to thin and I could see ahead.

Trig point on Blackstone Edge

Pennine Way crossing the M62

I was approaching the M62 trans-Pennine motorway and I was almost on it before I could see it. I crossed it at the famous footbridge which spans the deep cutting that takes the motorway through. I passed the Bleakedgate Moor radio mast and on to the A672 road and Lancashire Yorkshire county boundary stone.

Across the road I headed out onto another path but soon came to a strange sight. A man, young woman and camera man with large video camera on a very large tripod. I asked them if they were making a film but the young lady said something about training for a trip to the Sahara next week. It all seemed quite odd so I continued. I came to a marker stone showing the Oldham Way and Pennine Way and then across a misty escarpment to Marsden Moor and Standedge.

Filming on the moors

Standedge cutting on the A62

I had veiled views of the reservoirs below through the mist then emerged at the A62 and the Standedge cutting which dates from around 1838 when the road was improved. The 1:25K Ordnance Survey maps change in this area. Annoyingly there is no overlap making it rather difficult to plan the route in advance. Fortunately the path is clear on the ground. Over the road is a car park and a signposted track heading up on to the moor. On the summit were nice views and a useful information board which describes the features visible and information about the turnpikes. A long way down, beneath my feet, are the Standedge tunnels carrying the Huddersfield Narrow Canal dating from 1811 and railway tunnels, the 1894 tunnel still carrying trains. A stone marker showed where the path leaves the track and heads over the hill to Black Moss Reservoir.

The reservoir is very aptly named and the water is almost black, opaque and has the appearance of farmyard slurry. As I descended to the reservoir I saw a lone walker approaching from the Black Moss path. He stopped at the reservoir and we chatted briefly. His asked if I had a map. The reason for his query was that he had the map south of Standedge and as he was heading north he was about to walk of it. His objective was Todmorden to the north and didn’t have a map for that stretch of the Pennine Way. That seems a serious planning oversight to me. Fortunately I’d printed off the maps I’d need in 4, A3 sheets. I’d just walked off sheet 1 which covered most of the route he needed. I was now on sheet 2 so gave him the map he needed and we both continued on our ways. I was in the general area I’d planned to camp for the night so began the task of trying to find some decent water. All the streams I’d seen so far of dark water and rocks stained red. On Black Moss I found a flat spot for the tent and a stream with less than the usual red stains but still far from clear. I had to make do and give the water a good boil.