Today the Beagles were at Holme, quite a different day from when I was around here on Thursday on my own. Then Holme Moss had low grey cloud drooping over the top of it some of the time, with the mast poking through it, and it was the usual Pennine gloom. Today it has been bright and sunny and despite being a low temperature was not a day where you felt cold, even up Holme Moss, as there was hardly a breeze.
So a bit about Thursday since I drifted in the direction of Holme that day, starting at Bradhsaw.
Digley reservoir is seen through the gap in the wall. More of that later, As for the gap in the wall, there are many relatively small fields around in this part of the valley and it must have been a quite actively farmed area before the reservoirs were built. I was once told that when Digley was constructed all habitation in the catchment area was removed. I think the land is now owned by the Water Board and is used by local farmers for sheep and some cattle. The Water Board presumably have no interest in maintaining walls and the sheep have the run through many of the small fields, so the walls are just disintegrating.
It is a pity there isn't a decent equivalent to the chain gang here. It would be much more beneficial for all concerned for some of those incarcerated to be out here in all weathers, learning drystone walling, understanding a bit about nature and maybe earning a bob or too with healthy exercise, as there is enough decay out here to keep them going for a few generations. Maybe a bit of mole catching too as they seemed very busy tracking around some of the fields.
There are a few old walls still standing showing demolished buildings as well as a pair of fine stone gateposts near Bilberry reservoir, which is at the top end of Digley, where a big house must have stood looking down a once empty valley.
One old bit of building long derelict.
An old active trough on the lane. A bit of a nudge and it will all collapse down I think.
Leaving Bradshaw, you just cannot escape the wheelie bins that are everywhere these days. I must stop regarding them as an eyesore and think of them as an art form
And parking on the verge to visit Bradshaw can get you into trouble as it is mined by large rocks!
Worth taking notice of! A sad fact of life.
They even steal the walls,
On the way to Holme there is Digley reservoir
This is the elegant byewash. There was a time when it was possible, though perhaps not intended, to be able to go around the walkway and look down the hole in the centre of this magnificent construction, a sight now only available to seagulls and other birds.
The 'hole' protected today by cages and spikes.
From Digley embankment one can see the embankment of Bilberry reservoir. This reservoir, before Digley was built, caused the biggest dam burst disaster in British history in 1852, when the embankment broke due to sustained heavy rain and the inability to run water out of it to lower pressure on the dam wall.
Bilberry Dam burst disaster
It looks so small when you get up to it but the valley is as though cut with a knife, so it had a great deal of force when the dam burst. And if you look up at that hillside to the right, you can see the small old fields and walls of Bradshaw.
This is the Digley control tower. The stonework of the byewash and this tower show a real appreciation of good solid design in natural materials. Nothing half baked about these.
On the way to Holme village is a nice old trough with running water.
I have looked at the site of this lamp a few times and wonder why they didn't just switch it off altogether and save 100%
Coming into the village - I was looking back at the time I took this.
As far as I know, these terracotta chimney pots are 'Halifax Tulip Top Windguard' pots, with a few bits of crown broken here and there
This looks very much as though it once housed a commercial textile enterprise but I never saw anyone to ask who could tell me at the time I was passing. I managed to cut out the wheelie bin on the top pic but here they are resplendent again guarding the frontage.
This is the way to a front door.
Another nice functioning trough
A bit of stone erosion on a privy wall - and a bit of bin!
A back garden and Holme Moss mast distant
Holme on a dreary day looking at Holme Moss although the fog of cloud had lifted by then. The Beagles were on the moors behind today.
The Fleece where the Beagles met today. Fantastically good cuisine.
And the superb shop alongside where they sell all sorts including delicious bacon butties.
Beagles turning out at Holme Moss today
It is interesting how the vegetation changes so abruptly in a line at the bottom on both sides of this bit of valley - apart from this island in the middle.
Interesting eyes.
There are two bits of plane wreck up on the Moss, one of which I saw today. This is all that remains there of a Fairey Swordfish P4223 on the 25th January 1940
Fairey Swordfish
And this one I saw last year, but missed this time, of a Canadair Sabre jet which failed to make it in December 1954.
It was frosty at the time I took this, and like today the sun was very low so it was in deep shadow, as I was drifting away on my own to go home.
Sabre Mk2
The edge of the Moss casts a shadow as the sun is getting low and it is also rather hazy but below is the village of Holme, The Fleece being the white gable end beyond the sports field. Holmbridge is beyond with the red brick council houses they put up years ago in an area predominately stone. A friend once planted a garden hedge down there which has gone a bit wild and now it has a preservation order on it so they can't just cut off what they want without going through some official channels to get permission.
As I walked back I came across this white hare basking in the warmth of the last of the sunshine
Walking back along the edge of the Moss the views and light are spectacular
A wireless fence
Looking down to Holmfirth
From the car park at the top of Holme Moss looking towards Twizzle Head Moss
Enough rambling for today I think!
