MONDAY 4th JUNE 2018
MONDAY LONG WALK ( A section of the Link Route to the Pennine Way)
EDENFIELD TO SHAWFORTH
Cowpe Low Reservoir
This walk, to complete the first section of the West Pennine Way (WPW) Link Route, was first started earlier in the year but bad weather forced the walkers to abandon this section at Edenfield, having walked from Bull Hill.
The resumption of the walk was started on a much better morning with no snow forecasted. We started from Edenfield Parish Church and made our way along East Street onto Gincroft Lane turning right onto Sand Beds Lane and contining along the embankment at the side of Cowpe Lowe. Here we stopped to admire the view overlooking Cowpe Low Reservoir and the High Level Tank, which was completely empty.
From here we made our way along Rooley Moor Road towards Britannia Quarry, which is still operational and on through Lee Quarry which stopped production in the mid 1950’s but evidence of the activities can still be seen in what remains of the old stone polishing mill. Several mountain bike trails where developed in 2008 and are very popular with both walkers and cyclists.
Lee Quarry Polishing Mill
Once through Lee Quarry we headed for Jam Hill where we enjoyed our lunch before dropping down into Shawforth.
Cloughfold from Tramway
Our return section of the walk involved catching the 464 bus to Cloughfold, getting off the bus at High End Lane which took us to the start of the disused Cloughfold-Ding Tramway. This was the most extensive tramway in the region running from Cloughfold Scrubbing Mill to Brow Edge Quarry and was constructed in 1867 remaining in operational until 1920 and we can testify that it was very steep.
Remains of Cloughfold Scrubbing Mill
From the top of the tramway we made our way past the disused Brow Edge Quarry and around the side of Cowpe Low onto Sand Beds Lane were we retraced our steps to Edenfield having covered and enjoyable 12 miles