Porstmouth, Hoofstones, Noah Dale & Bridestones – 07/10/26 – Leader Alex
12 Ramblers gathered in Portsmouth on what had been a rainy morning so far, however, the rain had stopped and the weather began to improve as we headed across the railway line to begin our ascent. This was uneventful if sometimes pathless and steep, and followed the Burnley Way and county boundary up Pudsey Clough.
Before reaching the Long Causway we broke for elevenses along a farm track. A short road walk then led to the path ascending Hoofstones Height, aka Black Hameldon, past the Wolf Stones and on to the Hoofstones and the associated trig point. In Lancashire this one, with magnificent views.
Then began the descent along Noah Dale. The path though distinct was rather overgrown, which hid some of the irregularities and holes. Ian had commented that on the walk last week several had fallen. I think this was beaten this week, with the assistance of a couple of boggy sections, although luckily no injuries were sustained due to the soft landing. Some commented that it was like ramblers skittles. If so, I’m claiming a prize for leading this walk!
We were probably a bit relieved to leave the otherwise lovely Noah Dale, onto the straightforward track of Dukes Cut and head past the air traffic control beacon to our lunch spot by the Bridestones trig point in Yorkshire. The views again were magnificent.
Descending from here was far less tricky and meandering along various tracks and paths we reached the hamlet of Shore, Steve D reminded us of a walk he had led to the ruined chapel here and thought it was being renovated now. Although it was relatively close by we opted to leave it for another walk and carried on past a dinosaur looking over a fence.
On the recce I had descended almost to the bottom of the clough hereabouts before reascending to cross the shoulder of land to the finish. Once bitten and all that, it made sense to endure another shortish climb in crossing higher up, before contouring round on rather faint paths to our finish point.
When we were stood on Hoofstones Height I mentioned a crash site nearby of a U.S Liberator bomber in February 1945. Theres a link here: https://aircrashsites.
Total ascent around 2050 feet.
Distance between 10 and 10.5 miles.
Moving average 2.2 mph.
Thanks to Steve D for photos.
All who attended including the various backmarkers.
Leader and Write up Alex
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Continuously running slideshow below – you can see it full screen by clicking in top left of picture
Splendid pics and write up.