Fly Tipping

As I got nearer to the M62 mast I could see a new addition to the car park there; a portacabin Cafe. It even had a portaloo. A man carrying a large rucksack made his way over to it; obviously a southbound Pennine Way walker.

I've always found this area a bit grim. The M62 is quite noisy and seems a bizarre intrusion to the surrounding moorland. The worst thing though is the litter. On either side of the motorway detritus just seeps away from the road onto the moor. The area around the mast has always been bad. For quite a time there was a burnt out Range Rover here, but that finally got removed. Today I came across some fly tipping that was surprisingly close to the mast. It contained quite a few tyres, several full bin liners and even a kid's sledge. I was curious as to why they hadn't dumped it nearer the road since this spot was still visible from the road. Just a bit further on I came across a broken gate. A nearby fence had a couple of signs attached to them: one asked not to start fires and the other said not to fly tip. Reading the fly tipping notice, it said the council had set up CCTV to monitor the area. Maybe this spot had been chosen because it was out of view of the cameras.

M62 Burnout

I walked through the broken gate and followed the path along the top of the hillside than runs westwards and parallel to the M62. The path had deteriorated a lot since the last time I'd walked it a couple of years ago. It was a lot muddier and it was clear that some vehicles had been down here. Looking downhill I could see a burnt out car in the culvert that runs below the M62. I could see that there was a muddy track leading down from the M62 to the culvert. It looked like they'd got down using that. It was clear that some cars had crossed the culvert and then made their way up the hillside to the track that I was on. A little further on I came across a burnt out 4x4 on its roof. This one looked quite recent. Presumably the perpetrators must do this stuff in groups; otherwise it'd be a long walk back to Manchester.

A little further on, I could see that somebody had put concrete blocks across the track to stop any vehicles progressing. About 50 metres beyond the concrete blocks I could see that vehicles had been driven up on to the embankment to get around the concrete blocks.

My intention had been to follow this track and head down to Ogden Reservoir. I'd walked this before and it provides a pleasant walk alongside Ogden, Kitcliffe and Piethorne reservoirs. At Turf Hill I came across a point where vehicles had been driven across a broken stone wall, and then up and down the hillside causing deep, muddy scars. How depressing. I'd had enough of the this Mad Max rubbish and decided to give Ogden and Kitcliffe reservoirs a miss and head off directly to Piethorne Reservoir. Ten minutes later, the M62 clatter receded and a super view of Piethorne Reservoir appeared in the valley below. Normal service resumed.

Cow Challenge

It was a relief to get back to some decent scenery. The path intersected the Norman Hill and Piethorne reservoirs, and then headed uphill to the A672. Coming down the path, I met four Huskies taking their owner for a walk. Fortunately they were all on a lead since they looked hungry and weren't giving me a friendly snarl. On the way to Readycon Dean Reservoir a large number of cows were mingling near to the access gate to the path. They'd got several youngsters with them and weren't that happy when I opened the gate. In fact, they looked so unhappy that I decided to bypass them by following a fence uphill and then crossing a stile to get back on to my intended path. As I crossed the stile, another walker came through the gate. He had a dog with him which made the cattle start trotting in my direction. I commenced my cow-avoidance, Benny Hill walk and managed to outmanoeuvre them.

Dowry Reservoir

I took lunch sat near to a wall above Dowry Reservoir. The wall must have been 7 or 8 foot tall in places, and exceptionally well made. It seemed odd to make a wall so high; maybe the builders had some budget to use up. There was a small bridge over the end of the reservoir. The wind was now so strong, the metal railings on the bridge were making a sound like Andean Panpipes. Not much of a tune, but impressive none the less.

I followed the Pennine Bridleway and then headed off on the Oldham Way up to Castleshaw Moor. I met five people coming the other way but the wind was now too strong to attempt conversation. The path headed across the moor until it reached the Pennine Way and my path back to Standedge.

A couple with about a dozen dogs strolled by along Millstone Edge. Subsequently I noticed a couple of dollops of dog crap on the path that hadn't been there this morning.

Much of this walk is over scenic, remote moorland. It is a shame that the section near the M62 has become so littered and scarred by joy riders. It is still worth doing this walk, even just for the curiosity value.