Helmshore & The Grane, 3.05.26, leader David H

16 Ramblers turned up for my first walk lead back since November but not all in the same place. The walk was initially advertised as Helmshore Textile Museum car park which about half attended even though the Farmers Market was on. The other half saw the update of the start next to the allotments I arrived with Diana and Sheila and noticed a school boy error. –  no walking boots  !!!!  A quick phone call to Al and a much too fast drive home saw Al waiting at the bottom of the road with said boots and like an F1 team we parked exchanged and turned around in about 5.6 seconds   I still made it to the start on time and it was nice to see new faces to me anyway. Welcome Ellen – Jac and Rebecca.
Crossing the Holcome rd we walked along the Reservoir path and crossed Grane rd and walked up to Mary’s Wood.
A walk we have done many times.
I was going to call this the Hospital walk as I need a new hip – Sarah has 2 new ones Roger was getting then not getting a new knee and Roy back from surgery for his first walk in a while. 
Either way we took it easy following the ridge parallel to Grane Rd. The views were lovely and proved we lived in a gorgeous area. Not too far along we reached the Calf Hey Cafe where Coffee, cake, ice cream and hot pies were bought ( Not all mine) .  This meant we stayed a bit longer than usual but the toilets proved popular also.
Crossing the Grane Rd (tricky at any time) proved quiet and easy so we continued down the Top Reservoir and crossed the Dam climbing up to the tree at the opposite side.
We turned left here and followed a low level path past all 3 waters, until we came to a farm. Just prior to this Roy explained the reason there was a small ginnel type structure explaining that the stone used to be shuttled up and down here and a man stood at this spot to make sure it went smoothly.
At the farm we headed uphill over a terrible stile and climbed for a short while up a steep tight muddy track to the main lane. From here it was a simple matter of following the road back down to Holcombe Rd and the Textile Museum. Unfortunately it was just finishing so we made our way back to the cars.
An excellent walk of 5.6 miles with 750 ft of ascent.
Thanks to Diana for backmarking – Aly for the photographs and Ian and Sarah for not only helping me with the reccy but keeping me on track today.
It was good to be back.
Write up David H.

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