Woodhead Tunnel

Our route headed off on to the moors and joined a stone track that followed the line of the Woodhead Tunnels. The tunnels are up to 600 feet deep and were opened in 1845. They closed to trains in 1981 but are still used to carry power cables across the Pennines for the National Grid.  Every so often there is a renewed call for the tunnels to be reopened to rail traffic. Personally, I'm quite happy for them to remain shut. Rail traffic on either side of the Woodhead Pass would remove some of the sense of remoteness about this area. Apart from that, they reckon the rail line through the Hope Valley has enough capacity to cope with any rail growth.

We came across a couple of concrete pillars next to the stone track. These were used by the tunnel surveyors. There is also another pillar on Broad Hill Bank, back at Winscar Reservoir. At the summit of the stone track, it was possible to see the large cylinder of a tunnel ventilation shaft protruding from the moors. Just beyond that was another surveying pillar.

The stone track headed downhill at this point in the direction of the ventilation shaft. We diverted off on a vague track in the direction of Wike Head. Our boots were soon soggy from the boggy moor, a testament to the wet summer we'd endured. There was a wire fence at Wike Head and this would provide an excellent navigational handrail over Dead Edge End to Britland Edge Hill. We started following it in a westwards direction.

Dead Edge End To Britland Edge Hill

There was a trig point at Dead Edge End. We hopped over the wire fence to the other side and wandered slightly to the edge to get an excellent view of the west side of the Woodhead Valley. We continued following the soggy moor alongside the wire fence. The vague track disappeared into tussocks of grass and heather.  As the northern heading Withens Edge  sweeps around to the west, it is possible to take a more direct route across the clough to pick up the western edge. Although it is a shorter distance, it does mean ascending and descending into the clough and the terrain isn't any easier. We  stuck to the longer, but flatter edge path along the fence. It wound its way around to Britland Edge Hill. There was no cairn or trig to mark its summit. There is a good view from the edge down into the Woodhead valley. I looked back towards Dead Edge End and could just see the silhouette of the trig on the top. I couldn't see any other walkers. In fact, during the many times that I've walked along this stretch of moor, I've never come across any other walkers. I think the sogginess probably puts people off.

We continued following the fence towards the imposing Holme Moss mast. We wouldn't be following it far though since we'd have to head off northwards to visit the aircraft crash site of Liberator B-24H-20.

Liberator B-24H-20 42-94841 

We left our friendly fence and headed off in a northwest direction over trackless moor. I used the gps to find the wreckage of the World War II bomber,  Liberator B-24H-20 since the heather prevented us seeing it from a distance. The wreckage was contained in a bare patch of moor. A metal plaque showed an engraving of a Liberator bomber and also a list of its crew. There were 10 people on board and only Curtis Anderson was a survivor from the crash.

On October the 9th 1944, the crew were carrying out a test flight of the repaired B24. They were on their way to the Scottish Borders when the weather worsened and the navigator suggested they should return to their base at Northampton. Some people in the village of Holme heard the bomber flying overhead, followed by a bang. The bomber had hit the top of Twizle Head Moss and created a trench a hundred yards long, before bursting into flames. Anderson was flung clear of the wreckage and when he regained consciousness he had to use wet peat to stop his body and hair burning. He was inflicted with first, second and third degree burns as well as a broken pelvis. Another crew member, Frank Cser was also flung clear, but he died of his injuries before morning.

If they'd been flying 50 metres higher, they might have cleared top of the moors. With a more sombre mood in out team, we continued northwards to the path that skirts along Twizle Head Moss' edge.

Snailsden Pike End

We stopped for lunch on the edge of Twizle Head Moss whilst admiring  a wonderful view down the valley, over Holme to Holmefirth. The wind was so cold that we hat to put our anoraks on. So much for a summer.  After lunch we continued along the edge and over Herbage Hill to the head of Ramsden Clough. The view opened up as we made our way around the edge with the vertical crags of Ramsden Rocks on the other side of the valley. I could see a track heading down the bottom of the valley. I made a note to explore that one day. 

At the head of Ruddle Clough we plodded eastwards across the moor, passing some Tweed Trouser Brigade bunkers, and then trudged uphill on a track to Snailsden Pike End. From past visits, and given the damp conditions we'd experienced so far today, I was expecting it to be a bit of a wet mattress up here. Thankfully it wasn't too bad and we soon made our way across to the trig point.  We continued eastwards and dropped down on to the stone road from the nearby farm. Given that it was a Bank Holiday, I was expecting a few boats to be out on Winscar Reservoir, but there only seemed to be one small motor boat. 

We had our lunch at Wetshaw with the carpark just a few hundred metres across the northern finger of the reservoir. If there had been a bridge, we could've been back to the car in under 10 minutes. Instead, we had to follow the stone road up to Harden Reservoir, cross the dam and then follow Dunford Road back to the carpark. This longer route had its benefits though since it had good views over the reservoir.

It had been a fine day for walking with some amazing views. It was good to pay our respects to the airmen who died on Twizle Head Moss.