On a clear day you can see Stoodley Pike from here, but not this morning as it was quite misty..
I think this path is part of the Calder valley way. The ground round here is mostly wet and boggy so the council is always having to maintain it with flagstones to stop people sinking in the mud..
One of the few features up here is the so called Basin Stone..
On top are a series of small 'basins' formed by erosion of harder rocks on the softer grit stone..
Up here there are some small reservoirs and you can see the old lock gates now completely removed, but you can make out the slots where the lock gates sat.
Here the path joins the Pennine way and I take my hat off to any body who has completed it..I can't imagine it is much fun.
If you were thinking of coming up here in your car I would think again.
Round about here Stoodley Pike comes into view.The tower was built to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo in 1815. The tower didn't last long and sank into the mud forty years later,so they built a second one and that stayed up.
There are many names carved into the tower and this one is by a 'Miss B Conway in July 1930' I wonder what happened to her..
There are steps up inside the tower but it is pitch black so take a head torch (we didn't).. Here is the entrance regaled with a ban the bomb graffiti.
From here the path trails down into the small village of Mankinholes..There is a youth hostel here as the area is popular with fell runners..I peeked through the window and it looks very tidy..
My mate fancies that he would like to live up here and even though it looks nice you wouldn't get me up here for a gold clock..
Dark satanic mills and all.
They're a philosophical lot round here
Mankinholes main street.........?????????
We finished off in the Top Brink pub where my mates had two pints of real ale and steak pie and chips.. I had a cup of coffee and no chips as I was still stuffed from Xmas dinner....
