Captain's Log

Broomhead Hall

Driving to the start of today’s walk, I passed a parked flatbed lorry where workmen erected road signs that were warning of a skid risk on the newly gritted roads. To my shame, I have to confess that I drove past them slightly faster thant the suggested 20mph indicated on the signs. I was therefore surprised to find a few moments later, the lorry was behind me and within touching distance of my bumper. Obviously, they didn’t practise what they preached.

I’d  visited most of today’s route on previous walks. The trail along the Broomhead and More Hall Reservoirs is always worth revisiting though. After the reservoirs, I planned to make my way across to the packhorse bridge in Glen Howe park. I’d return to my starting point at Broomhead Hall using a high route above the reservoirs. The sun was out as I made my way through the large field surrounding Broomhead Hall. The owners have a wonderful view from their front windows, looking down the valley to Broomhead Reservoir and beyond. Sometimes you get a few cows in this field but it was empty of all livestock today. I joined Allas Lane and headed towards the reservoir. I’d brought my zoom lens and was hoping to catch some of the birds on the bird feeders near the reservoir. The few feeders that I spotted didn’t have any food in them and there were no birds. The area looked a bit neglected since the last time I was down here. I’d once met the Deepcar chap who refilled the feeders. Given the lack of bird food, I wondered if he was okay.

Broomhead And More Hall Reservoirs

I walked through the wooded area to the shore of the reservoir. The water was well down revealing sun baked mud in this normally shallow area. A Cormorant was sunbathing on some branches that had become stranded in the reservoir. Towards the intake of Edwen Beck I could see a Heron lurking in the bushes. It was well away from the water and so must have had its breakfast already. 

Creation of Broomhead Reservoir started in 1913 and it wasn’t completed until 1934. There were disputes over land ownership; the First World War got in the way too and then there were land slips during the construction that required about half a million cubic yards of soil to be removed. The remedial work is believed to have cost as much as the original construction. It is a fine looking reservoir though and I started walking along the trail on its northern side. The surrounding trees prevent a good view of the reservoir, but it is possible to drop down on to the shore at various places to get an open view. There was also a dramatic view back along the reservoir as I crossed its dam. I could see Broomhead Hall, up on the hillside at its far end. 

I continued following the valley eastwards and I joined the trail alongside the More Hall Reservoir. I started meeting a lot more people along the path. It is easier to park near More Hall and it consequently gets more visitors than the Broomhead Reservoir. I saw a few waterfowl on the reservoir, but nowhere near the same numbers that I’d normally see. It was a feature of the whole walk; bird numbers seemed to be significantly down from normal. Maybe I just hit the area on a bad day. As I approached More Hall dam, I diverted off onto a footpath that gently climbed up the hillside. This would take me across to the little village of Brightholmlee. 

Glen Howe

I went past a farm at Brightholmlee where huge support beams were preventing one of the walls of the building from collapsing onto the nearby road. It looked like a job and a half to sort that one out. Across the road were two large stone troughs with a date of 1886 marked on one of them. I walked along the road out of the village and then continued my journey on a southbound bridleway. 

Despite the warmth, the grass was still wet and my boots were soaked as I made my way down through a field to Glen Howe. The name conjures up a majestic Scotland valley to me, but in reality it is a pretty wooded clough that has been made into a park with trails. There is a wonderful packhorse bridge that crosses Tinker Brook in the bottom of the clough. The bridge has quite an unexpected history. It was originally built in 1734 in Edwen Valley, the location of the reservoirs I’d earlier walked along. When they started building the reservoirs, the packhorse bridge would have been lost under the water. Joseph Dixon, a local paper mill owner, provided funds for the bridge to be dismantled and re-erected in its current location. Joseph died before he saw the bridge completed, but his children ensured his wish was fulfilled. We are still benefitting from his forethought a hundred years later.

Spout House Hill

I followed a woodland trail and it took me uphill to a stone wall boundary. Field-hopping took me to the unusually large tarmac expanse of Benteholme Farm and then on towards Spout House Hill. The next section of the route, between Tinker Hill Farm and Fairhurst Farm, would have been quite hard to navigate without following the gpx map on my phone. If you aren’t using gps navigation, then Bud Lane (to the northeast) may be a better alternative. There was some signage to guide walkers through my chosen route, but not enough for clarity. The area was a mix of woodland with a web of trails and it wasn’t always obvious which one you should use. It was evident that the footpath was not greatly used; I got badly stung as I nettle waded through one particular spot. I was glad to reach the road on the other side of this section. There was a footpath going off into a field on the other side of the road. A ‘Beware of cows with calves’ signs was pinned to the stile going over the stone wall. There were also three notices (all saying the same thing) to call a number if the cows troubled you. I peered over the stile and found a couple of cows and their calves staring back at me. One of the cows grunted and stamped a hoof. Fortunately, I wouldn’t be taking that particular path. 

Instead I followed a route westwards along the contour of the hill. Initially I tramped along the road and then branched away onto a farm track. Beyond Raynor House I had to jump onto a grass verge as the local postie was practising his car rally skills on the narrow road. Although it was quite a pretty route, it wasn’t possible to get a view of the reservoirs because of the surrounding woodland. 

Return

I continued along the valley on a mixture of roads and woodland trails. My elevation gradually dropped until I reached the valley bottom near the west end of Broomhead Reservoir. I visited another bird feeder spot, but this area now looked rather neglected too. It was usually busy with birdlife and squirrels, but the place was silent today. On joining Allas Lane, I came across the lorry that drove so close to my car bumper this morning. The driver was sitting in the cabin, busy reading his newspaper and didn’t notice me as I passed. They’d just gritted this stretch of road and I found an old carcass of a barn owl near the verge. I’m sure it hadn’t been there when I’d walked along there this morning. Maybe they’d disturbed the carcass as part of the roadworks. The grass was still wet as I walked through the fields back towards Broomhead Hall. During all the times that I’ve walked around here, I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen anybody about the place, although I often see vehicles in the main yard. As I walked along the main drive, one of this year’s lamb was eating grass on the verge. It spotted me and without a second thought, and seemingly with little effort,  it jumped on to the top of the stone wall and back into the field. This was quite a high stone wall and was surprised to see a lamb jump so high. It ought to enter the sheep's equivalent of the Olympics high jump.

It had been quite an easy walk today on good trails. Glen Howe’s packhorse bridge didn’t seem that far from Broomhead Hall. It had been a great mixture of woodland trails and lakeside walking. .