Mickleden

After crossing the Little Don River, the path headed upwards on to the moors. Initially the moors are criss-crossed by derelict stone walls that are reminder of land management of a previous time.  There were expansive views across the moors in all directions. Looking behind I could see the wind turbines at Royd Moor. It looked sunny over there. I got the feeling that the day might turn out where everywhere else seems to be getting sun apart from the spot you are stood in.

At the start of Mickleden Edge there is an old sign (dated1925). 'Station' in Hazlehead Station has been painted out since it has long since disappeared. At this point I headed off on the 'Langsett And Penistone' path.  For many years this path was very stony, but it has recently been improved. Even so, my boots soon clogged up with mud. The moors around here look like a crocheted quilt with the intermittent burning of the heather that is carried out. 

North America

The path brought me to the North America plantation. It takes its name from the North America farm that was used here as target practice during the second world war...presumably after the occupants had left. As you might expect, there's only a few ruins of the establishment now.

The plantation itself is being restructured with coniferous trees being felled and rewilding occurring. Oak, hazel, blackthorn, alder, willow and rowan are being planted in their place. These will provide habitats for a variety of birds.  The project has been underway for quite a while; it will be good to see the results.

Thickwoods

The route followed the track around the southern end of Langsett Reservoir until Thickwoods wood was reached.  The wood did indeed have a lot of trees in it, but I've known thicker ones, to be honest. The woodland path followed the stone wall along the bank of the reservoir. When the stone wall stopped, I took the path that went gradually up the hillside. The gusty wind caused an occasional, ominous creak in the woods. I wondered if any casualties from Storm Arwen might finally drop. I increased my pace.

Langsett

The route continued  over the Langsett dam. The unrestricted views showed the large size of the reservoir. In fact, in terms of capacity, it is the largest serving the Sheffield district. As I was admiring the view, my hat blew off and nearly disappeared on to the dam's embankment. I took the wooded path that runs along the north bank. This is a popular path and was busy with Sunday walkers. The views are constrained by the trees, and so occasionally I'd nip down to the reservoir wall to get a better view.

The A616 was still as busy when I got back, although by some miracle I managed to arrive at a suitable gap in the traffic to traverse it straight away. It had been a short, but good work with woodland, moorland and reservoir trail walking.