Nine of us turned up for today’s ride.
After taking suitable sustenance at the car park café we set off along the recently opened viaduct cycle route which takes us high over West Vale and on to the former site of the Holywell Green Station. This is now an industrial estate, the home of Orange Cycles.
From here we started the first climb of the day. Up Jagger Green Lane, reaching the bridleway through Jagger Green Dean and Holy Well Brook across the valley to Stainland.
In Stainland we turned right through the village and picked up Coldswell Hill, down to Dog Lane and the cobbled bridleway up Pitt Hill Lane to the Hamlet of Krumlin. Being only her second time out since her accident in September Irene decided to leave us at this point.
From Krumlin we started on the bridleways which would lead us over the hill and drop us into Rishworth. First along Causeway from Krumlin to Saddleworth Road, a quick left and right dog leg into Gosling Lane. This is a pleasant track until you pass the properties, then after you pass through the gate it becomes a Rough Stuff paradise.
We literally went slip sliding along the side of a muddy field for maybe five hundred yards. Then the satnav said we went through the gate on our right. This was more muddy field which dropped steeply down the hill side, bringing us into a nice lady's back garden!! We apparently had missed the turning to our right. Fortunately she directed us out of her garden, down the drive to rejoin the bridleway which had now become a lane. The lady’s instructions were to pass the row of cottage and turn right to join a concrete road. Sounds simple, but there were two concrete roads going off in different directions!!
Fortunately there was a chap digging out a drain who put us right although we appeared to go through somebody else’s back garden before ending in the valley and lunch.
After being fed and watered we had the exciting task of retracing out bike tracks for a couple of hundred yards back up the hill. Then taking another bridleway off to our right. ( I keep saying I am not going to use it again as it is a very hard push up large slippery stone setts, but it is so useful for getting out of the valley) up to Cliff Lane which runs along the hill side.
Today we had the added fun of getting past a recently fallen tree, then further on John decided to test the temperature of the water as he crossed the ford. From here it is a relatively easy climb up what was the last bridleway of the day to Ringstone Reservoir . We took a show of hands at Ringstone and decided that the best route was the three miles downhill back to West Vale.
In mileage terms a short ride but good company and weather made it very enjoyable.
John Hitchen.
Pictures of the ride can be viewed on Flickr here:
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