Mankinholes YH Walk. Day 3.

Hello. Are your legs aching, are your feet hurting, have you any blisters? Nope? Then good, you can walk a little further with me. After another breakfast of beans on toast with pasta left over from the night before, I was ready to set off on my third day. I checked out of the hostel putting my bags in the car, and off I went again. This time it's the orange mark on the map, so I can check the mileage later. 

Here is the Calderdale Way, lovely stone footpath to walk on, heading towards Cragg Vale. It's sunny but a bit chilly, not as windy as yesterday. 

Crossing the Pennine Way at Withens Gate.

I can't get enough of these wonderful views. Somewhere down there is the hostel.

Withens Clough Reservoir comes into view, now the wind is getting up a bit, after that climb. There is a path all the way around it, but I am only going to pass by on the north side of it. 

Isn't it marvelous that all this water will be cleaned and at some point will come through the pipework into thousands of homes and businesses. We should all be mindful about the processes that take place to give us drinking water, it's a very precious commodity and if we didn't have the infrastructure in place we would all be going to the rivers and collecting it in buckets.

I love the way the dam holds it all in, a wonderful piece of engineering.

As I left the reservoir down the track I came across a couple of workmen with a machine, digging up an underground pipe, to replace it with a new one. They had to move to one side to let a van pass, and while they waited a few minutes for the van to come back I had a bit of a natter with them. Me being the nosy one I wanted to know what they were doing. They were full of banter, especially the one sat in the digger machine. I don't think I have ever met an unfriendly Yorkshire person yet. He said he would guess what I did before I retired. Ha ha, he got it wrong of course, he said I used to be a teacher. It's funny that, because other people have guessed the same in the past. They must think because I am not afraid to talk to anyone I must have the balls to stand up in front of a room full of kids. Of course then the trucking stories come out, I said I used to carry machines like his on the back of a low loader, ha ha.

I digress, onward along the Calderdale Way. This is a big house I saw as I came to the end of the track at Cragg Vale and onto the road. Looks rather grand, doesn't it.

Next to it is this gate house. I would love to live here.

I went up the road a little way to get a couple of photo's looking down on the church and surrounding houses. It's a very small village and the houses are spread about a bit. 

The fast flowing river is down in the valley running alongside the main road above it. I took the path to the river walk, which at times was elevated to give views looking up and down. Someone's back yard, what a mess.

This walk is part of the Heritage Trail, there are several places where the water has been channeled to meet the demands of the mills that used to be here. Lots of evidence of brickworks still standing. Note the tree trunks growing through the brick wall.

The path starts to climb up above the river, and at one stage it gets quite narrow with a steep slope. Best not to look down to the right, yikes!

Phew, back down to the bottom again. Sunlight making the water sparkle, lovely.

I left the river walk at Clough Foot Bridge to get onto the road. I've still a bit more to do and time is getting on.

On arriving at Mytholmroyd I had in mind a path to the left which would take me back to the hostel. I took the first road turning on the left, which eventually petered out into a farm track. From then on it was wide tracks easy to follow. As I mentioned before there are hundreds of paths to choose from, and as time was important I stuck to well defined tracks so I wouldn't get lost. A beautiful place to sit for a bite to eat.

From then on it was easy, Kilnshaw Lane and onto the Pennine Way took me back to Mankinholes. Almost there and I remembered I hadn't done a selfie. How lucky it was that I caught up with three chaps just as we got to this bench. One of them kindly did the honours and pressed the shutter for me. 

You will note that I am wearing a skirt, I have decided that this attire is better for walking in than trousers, which make my legs hot and sweaty. Underneath I have a pair of shorts just in case the skirt blows up around my face. Trousers are alright when it is really cold, but once the legs get moving it's nice to have a bit of breeze around them. 

I arrived back at the car at 3.30pm, and after some scoff, I set off back at 4pm. Traffic was a bit heavy through Halifax and again on the M62, so I arrived home at 6.15pm.

So, with the nine miles I did on the last day, this took the total to 28 miles, and a lot of ascents. What did the three days cost? £14 for two nights at Mankinholes Youth Hostel, plus my petrol there and back, that's all. I took all my own food and didn't need to buy anything. I didn't even have an ice cream, it was too cold. There is an eatery a few minutes walk across fields from the hostel, the menu looks a bit pricey but nice if you want to treat yourself. I don't eat out because I am a slow eater, and don't want people watching me while I take ages to chomp through a meal. Self catering suits me fine.

As you know I write about my Youth Hosteling trips because they fit in with my simple and frugal life on a pension. But did you know there is another organisation which also offers cheap accommodation? The Independent Hostels have a lot of places to stay in the UK, and worth a look. Some of them are ex YHA buildings which have been bought and taken over as independent hostels. They offer much the same facilities and are similarly priced. I have been to a couple of them in the past. Have a look if you are planning a trip. Independent Hostel Guide.

Right, that's me done, I'm going to enjoy the rest of my Sunday, I hope you are too. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.