Saturday 27th June 2015
An evening walk in the South Pennine moors
Distance: 13km; Ascent: 280m; Dry, mostly overcast with a fresh breeze; Solo
Somehow I'd not yet been out on an evening walk this spring or summer, so I decided to rectify that this evening. Blackstone Edge was somewhere I'd not been to for a while, and a quick look at a map suggested a possible circular route taking in Rishworth Moor too, so a plan was formed. So after a quick journey along the M62, I set off walking soon after 7:30pm and followed the track up to Green Withins Reservoir.
 |
| Green Withins Reservoir |
 |
| Drainage ditch near Green Withins Reservoir |
A path then led me alongside a drainage ditch, before beginning to ascend up through the bracken, heading for Blackwood Edge. As this wasn't where I wanted to be heading this evening, I soon left the path and headed across the moor to reach the
trigpoint on Dog Hill, the highest part of
Rishworth Moor (TuMP).
 |
| Trig point on Dog Hill |
The ground 50m or so to the east looked to be slightly higher so I headed over there to ensure I visited the highest point. There was a lot of cotton grass blowing around in the wind up here this evening!
 |
| Cotton Grass on Dog Hill |
I followed a faint path across the moorland, past Cat Stones and Warm Withins Hill to reach Rishworth Drain and another track. It was now decision time: I could either turn left along a reasonable track back to the car, or turn right and continue with my planned route up Blackstone Edge. The weather was reasonable, sunset was still half an hour away and I had two torches with me, so I opted to continue. Therefore I picked up the Old Packhorse Road, which was quite peaty in places. This lead me to the Aiggin Stone, where I joined the Pennine Way.
 |
| Aiggin Stone Information Sign |
 |
| The Aiggin Stone at Dusk |
 |
| Sunset at the Aiggin Stone |
After watching sunset from the Aiggin Stone, and using the nearby fenceposts as a support for my camera, I headed south up to the rocky outcrops of Blackstone Edge. Soon I reached the
trigpoint, which I'd last visited back in 2008 when I walked this bit of the Pennine Way.
 |
| Trig Point on Blackstone Edge |
I'd heard that the trigpoint wasn't actually on the highest point of the hill, so I headed south-east to reach the boulder that marked the summit of
Blackstone Edge (HuMP), which had an OS benchmark symbol carved into it.
 |
| Blackstone Edge Summit Boulder |
By now it was 10pm and the light was fading, so I donned my headtorch and headed south along the Pennine Way towards the traffic noise from the M62. I crossed the footbridge over the motorway and headed back along the A672 to reach my car shortly before 11pm after a pleasant moorland walk.
 |
| The M62 from the Pennine Way Footbridge |
