Into The Mist

After Fernilee's dam I started heading uphill past Madscar farm. Up and up, until the path eventually met the mist. And that was it for most of the rest of the day; fifty metre visibility. The path took me up to Windgather Rocks. They don't appear as much of a feature on the map, but were actually quite impressive in reality. They did gather the wind a bit too. It was getting a bit chilly. I took an opportunity of a break in the rocks to get on to Side End Lane. I walked along the lane towards Pym Chair. After a while I saw another walker on the other side of the stone wall at the side of the road. I might have been better not going on to the road at all. As soon as I thought that a gate appeared in the wall and I was able to get on to the path.

Pym Chair And Shining Tour

The path delivered me to Pym Chair. An information board told me that it was named after the impressive nearby rocks. I looked around but saw only mist. The board said that Pym might have been a preacher who gave sermons from the rocks. There again, it said he might have been named after a highwayman since this was a packhorse route. Basically, they didn't know. There's a rock formation on Kinder Scout called Pym's Chair. Seems quite a coincidence. More research required I think.

I good weather the path from Pym's Chair to Shining Tor must have dramatic views, given its height. In mist, the path is rather monotonous. For 45 minutes my only distraction was the different features on the slabbed path. A strong side wind brought drizzle with it too. It was quite a relief to get to the trig of Shining Tor. I've only ever been up this hill once before and I remember it having been identical conditions. One day I will get up here and it will be blue skies and sun.

Goyts Clough

As soon as I started dropping down, the wind stopped. I headed for Goyts Clough, a large valley that leads into the Errwood Reservoir. I chatted to a couple coming up. They told me they'd been up Pendle Hill the other day under similar misty conditions. I was glad to hear that I wasn't the only one having bad luck with weather on my walks.

Goyts Clough was actually quite busy with people. The tarmac road was a lot better than I thought it would be. I went across it to pick up a path on Goyts Moss. I looked around but couldn't find any path as indicated on the map. I made my way through the heather until I got through a row of grouse butts At least here there was a bit of a path and I followed it over to Wild Moor. As I dropped down the hill I saw a family with a youngster on the path below. I'd seen them in Goyts Clough and they'd contoured on a path around the hill. Evidently that is the quicker and better way of getting from Goyts Clough to Erwood Reservoir.

Erwood Reservoir

I made my way down to this path and followed it around to Erwood Reservoir. I was out of the mist now and there were good views across the reservoir. The tops of the surrounding hills were still in mist though. A motor boat came out from the Erwood Sailing Club, scaring a couple of cormorants that flew down the reservoir. A Canada Goose landed about a 100 metres from me and started honking repeatedly. Seemed odd to see only one on his own; I wondered whether he had got lost. As I got back to Erwood Dam the sun tried to make an appearance again. Once more it was defeated.

I'd not really had a good day for the walk, with most of it completed in mist. From the bits that I did see, the Goyt Valley must be a spectacular area in good weather.