Captain's Log

Crowden

It had been many years since I’d walked along Bleaklow’s northern edge. I thought it was about time to revisit it. For some reason I'd had the impression that it wasn’t visited very often. I wondered if that had changed since my last visit. I remembered that there were amazing views down into the Longdendale's valley from Bleaklow’s northern edge. I’ve climbed up to the edge using a direct at Wildboar Clough a few times. The last time I tried this, I had to fight my way through waist high ferns as well as tackle the steep slope. I decided to avoid that route today. From Crowden, I’d walk along Torside reservoir, before crossing to the south side over the dam. I’d then follow the Pennine Way southwards, following the dramatic Clough Edge. Before reaching Bleaklow’s summit, I’d head off-piste towards Wildboar Clough. Once on Bleaklow’s northern edge, I’d follow it eastwards to Near Black Clough where I’d descend back into the valley. I’d then follow the valley westwards using the Trans Pennine Trail and make my way back to Crowden. As a bonus, the route along Bleaklow’s northern edge would visit the aircraft wreck site of Wellington R1011 that crashed in 1943. 

There was only one other car in Crowden carpark when I arrived. It is best to get a place early since it soon fills up. I followed the permissive footpath along the side of Torside Reservoir. I drove along the nearby A628 last weekend and the reservoir looked empty. Due to the rain over the subsequent week, it looked almost half full now. I saw three Roe Deer near to woodland next to the reservoir. They looked at me nervously and then vanished into the vegetation. The path was very pleasant to walk along and gave good views over the reservoir to Bleaklow’s north edge. It was a shame that the morning was gloomy.  On my drive to Crowden, the sun had been out on the east side of the Pennines and I could see that it was also out in the west over Manchester. It seemed that it was just the Pennines that wanted to cling on to its grey cloak. There were some engineering works taking place on the Torside dam, but it wasn’t particularly clear what they were trying to achieve. Workers were busy sitting in a van. I crossed the B6105 and walked along the lane to Reaps. A Pennine Way fingerpost pointed upwards to Clough Edge. The hard work was about to begin. 

Wildboar Clough

It was a steep climb up Clough Edge. There was a great view up Torside Clough to keep my mind off the work. As I gained height, I also got a wonderful view down the valley towards Torside Reservoir and Woodhead Reservoir beyond. The drop into Torside Clough was steep, almost vertical in places. At last the path levelled out and I started making good progress. At the top of the clough, the Pennine Way dropped down and crossed the stream and then headed eastwards along Wildboar Grain. Despite the remoteness, the path was very good; it had been formed by thousands of Pennine Way and day walkers. At Far Moss, the Pennine Way reached an old wire fence and turned southwards towards  Bleaklow Head.  I branched off the path and started following the wire fence in a north westerly direction. The wire fence was my navigational handrail that would take me to Wildboar Clough. There wasn’t a track along the fence and I did have to make my way across undulating terrain, but it wasn’t too difficult. In poor visibility, following the fence would be a good way to ensure you reached Wildboar Clough, since the terrain was a vast plateau around here and it would be easy to lose your way. As Wildboar Clough deepened,  I followed a track that appeared on its east side. This eventually brought me to Bleaklow’s northern edge. There were superb views into Wildboar Clough. I could see the steep ridge I’d used to climb the clough on previous occasions. There were also excellent views of all the reservoirs along the valley. Across the valley I could see Crowden and where the Pennine Way continued northwards over the cliffs at Laddow Rocks. The edge of Bleaklow was catching the wind and I put my hood up. I set off eastwards along its edge. 

Bleaklow's Northern Edge

I followed a vague track along the edge. It was obvious that not many people walked along it. I did lose it a couple of times as it disappeared into the heather. It wasn’t much of a track, but it was much preferable than trying to make my own way through the heather. The remoteness of Bleaklow seemed at odds with civilisation’s activities on the busy A628  way below. Every so often, new rock formations would come into view along the edge and present a dramatic foreground to the superb views. The track diverted into the plateau briefly to traverse Shining Clough. At Stable Clough I came across a stone road that ascended from the valley below. The area around the clough was Tweed Trouser Brigade territory with plenty of bunkers for those that want to shoot wildlife. I crossed the stream near the top of the clough using one of the TTB small footbridges. Once the bunkers ran out on the clough's east side, the track vanished too. I remembered the lack of a track over Birchin Bank Moss frommy  previous traverses that I’d done. It was a case of just heading eastwards until I hit the path at Near Black Clough. It was rough terrain, but I managed to find spots where the heather and vegetation wasn’t too high. I spotted a cross over to my right. I figured it must be the location of the aircraft wreck for Wellington R1011. I made my way towards it. 

Wellington R1011 (SK 10546 98575) 

The cross was made out of steel and had been welded together. A small plaque was attached to the cross. A smaller wooden cross was nearby. There were no significant aircraft parts in the area, but there were some smaller bits that had been collected near to the cross.    

On January 29th 1943, Wellington R1011 started a training flight from Wymeswold in Leicestershire. The exercise would involve a return trip to Scotland and take 6 or 7 hours. It prepared crews for the longer bomber raids that would be required over Germany. The weather was poor and worsened as darkness fell. Out of the six Wellingtons taking part in the exercise, two of them would crash. R1538 came down at Longton near Stoke-on-Trent, killing two and injuring two others. R1011 started to descend because they thought they were near their airfield in Leicestershire. They slammed into Birchen Bank Moss. Pilot Flying Officer Lane, Sergeant Rouse and Pilot Officer Brown were all killed. The navigator, Pilot Officer Grisedale and Sergeant Miller survived the crash without serious injury.    

It was a fairly flat area where they crashed. I guess they must have been descending at quite a speed. I continued my eastward tramp to Near Black Clough.

Valley Walking

I intercepthed the Near Black Clough path near to where the woodland starts. It wasn’t a good path through the trees and on reflection it would have been better staying on the moor, even if this meant heather wading. The track doubled back and descended to the pretty stream that runs along the clough. A family with three hounds were near the water. The largest dog came up to me and started growling and baring its teeth. The owner called it and it reluctantly slunk back to him. As I walked by, the owner held the dog’s collar as it growled and tried to pounce at me.
‘It’s okay, his bark is worse than his bite,’ the owner said cheerfully. Presumably it had bitten somebody in the past. 

Near to where the Woodhead Tunnel exited the hillside, I started chatting to an elderly couple who were on electric mountain bikes. They looked to be in their early 70s. I thought they’d just be out for a short easy ride along the Trans Pennine Trail (TPT), but they were actually on a venture to complete a cycle route from Derby to Berwick-upon-Tweed. They’d actually completed most of the route and were now heading to Holmfirth on a 3 day campaign to fill the last remaining gap.   

I started walking along the TPT westwards. It offered good views up to Bleaklow’s northern edge and also across the Woodhead Reservoir. It was easy walking and I soon reached the reservoir's dam. I crossed it using the road along its top and climbed some steps to the A628. Fortunately, a pavement ran alongside the road and I followed this for about 200m or so, and then waited nervously for a gap in the traffic that allowed me to cross to the other side. I joined a footpath that went through fields and woodland back to Crowden.  

It had been nice to visit Bleaklow’s northern edge again. If anything, it looked like even less people had visited the area since my last visit. It seems quite odd since the views down into the Longdendale Valley are stunning. It was good to pay my respects at the Wellington R1011 and tick another one off my Dark Peak Aircraft Crash Sites Venture.