Deborah's Journal - Arctic Circle Charity Challenge: Hadfield to Winscar Reservoir

The aim of today's walk was a) to stay out of the black messy stuff and b) come rain or shine stay out for about 8 hours. My 9 year old nephew, Joseph, was also going to be doing a 12 mile fund raising bike ride to Woodhead Tunnel with his cub & scout group, so I wanted to set off along the Longdendale to hopefully see him at some point.

The weather wasn't the greatest, although mild it drizzled with rain on and off and the hill tops were virtually invisible due to the mist. Fortunately it picked up later in the day so shouldn't have spoiled their cycle challenge. Half an hour after setting off I came across a very mud splattered Joseph and his scout group who were taking a "pit stop".

Joseph (first on the left) with Fellow Cubs

Not a great morning for taking photographs.
This is St James' Church, Longdendale - the mist has come down to the base of the hill !

The information board at Woodhead Tunnel - Joseph's cycling destination

The Woodhead Tunnel (Western Portal)

The Woodhead tunnel was started in 1839 to connect Manchester and Sheffield. At the time of opening in 1845 it was the world's longest railway tunnel at 4,840 m. The eastern portal is at Dunford Bridge.

At the Woodhead tunnel I decided to carry on to Dunford Bridge, this would mean I could do a fairly decent walk whilst staying on reasonably low ground (keeps the hubby happy - I have to promise not to go off on the hills on my own when its foggy).

Salter's Brook with Lady Shaw Bridge to the right (the remains of Salter's Brook Inn beyond the stone wall)

The information board tells us that the Salter's Brook House was an Inn from 1795 and would have provided refreshments and a resting place for the men and their packhorses as well as a meeting place for the local Shepherd's Society.