Another day
of rain and shine, though more rain than shine earlier on. Izzy and I went for an early run along the canal and got soaked, so I managed to bagsy
the afternoon dog walk, when the rain was supposed to have gone away.
This morning Mick Chatham was leading a walk up to
Blackstone Edge for the Walk and Ride Festival. The first time I went up there it was sitting in a cloud
and everything was white, except for the nearest stones which loomed out at us, black
and threatening. Having not been there before, we weren’t quite sure what the ‘edge’
bit consisted of and were a bit anxious that we might discover it in the process of falling off. It was atmospheric and very
beautiful. I think the walkers had a great time today, judging by this picture of Rebecca Yorke.
This afternoon Bet and I didn’t go quite so far from home. The rain had stopped and I thought I’d like to
look at the Hebden from a different angle. We went down to the train
station and then along Moor Top Road, up above the railway line and into fields,
past well-dressed horses and a wonderfully remote post box up a cobbled farm
track.
Walking up to Old Chamber we could look down on Hebden
Bridge basking in the valley in the afternoon sunshine. It feels like you’re
getting up high quite quickly when you go up this side of the valley. Maybe it’s
because you’re looking down on the town and it looks so far away. Also, as you
walk along towards the junction with Horsehold Road, Stoodley Pike looms
suddenly into view and it looks really near.
Something up there smells really nice. Whenever I go up
there I get a whiff of it , and I have to stop and look. It's very elusive, you can only smell it in a few places. I'd like identify it, but I’ve never succeeded. It’s like chamomile or sweet hay.
Johnny says it might be some sort of moss or liverwort, but whatever it is, it
smells gorgeous. Though if you linger for to long in the same spot it starts to
fade, as is the nature of smells.
We walked down through the hamlet of Horsehold which is lost in time, with chickens walking in the road, sheep
in the gardens and eggs for sale on the doorsteps.The cobbled road down, and the sign forWeasel Hall. I love coming down this way. It’s so steep it makes you laugh, and
when Hebden comes into view it seems like it’s almost directly underneath you. The valley chimneys burst into sight and add to the effect of throwing you
back a hundred years. As long as you don’t look the other way and see the traffic
on the A646.
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