Pennine Bridleway - Sough to Hebden Bridge (★★★★★)

Today is the second of two days spent walking the Pennine Bridleway, and having walked from Settle to Sough (near Colne) on the previous day, today I am walking from Sough to Hebden Bridge.

With this in mind I am making my way across Burnley, via the M2 and M5 Mainliner buses - and for those doing walks around Burnley, the M4 and M5 (half-hourly) buses seem to be the most useful connections into the countryside.

Of these the M5 is the most useful bus today, as that heads over to Barnoldswick, but the M4 was another option to use to split up this walk, and we will meet up with that bus about five miles into this walk.

But in any case, it is a fairly long trip out from Burnley by bus until we arrived back in Sough - and then from here we return to the route of the Pennine Bridleway, and follow it as it takes us up into the fields above Sough.

This first section of the trail is rather fiddly - and here it doesn't help that the Pendle Way overlaps our route on the map - but here we pass through fields, and say hello to a few cows.

We eventually make it round to some more substantial lanes, as we start to take on a fairly hefty climb up onto the ridge above.

Making our way through the fields

Until we reach more substantial tracks

And it's a pretty big climb (now looking back)

The climb is a long one, but not very steep, and we do eventually make it up onto the ridge - and then follow a track round to meet up with a road (which we cross), before making our way round the edge of a farm with a lot of horses.

The view by the horses

From here we have yet another section of ascent, before we start to hit the peak of the ridge - where we turn round the corner, and then climb once more till we are just below a peak on this ridge (at this peak follow what looks like the path, not the route of the path on the map, as the route has been updated on the ground but not by Ordinance Survey).

On towards the next bit of climb

Now on a ridge

Heading along this ridge

By this point we have already ticked off just under 1,000 feet of ascent - and we hold onto that ascent for a bit whilst we walk along the ridge, before we drop down into a farm below.

Here we quickly meet up with the road - and also see two M4 buses head past (one in each direction) - and this is that alternate point at which it is possible to start or end a walk (making use of these frequent and reliable buses).

After crossing the road, we gradually start to drop down, until we meet up with a road, and we follow this (on our own path in the field alongside) as we gradually gain that height back again.

Moving away from the road, we pass through the fields, and once again take on a diversion reflected by the signs but not by the map, and then drop down into Wycoller village.

This is pretty village - and ordinarily this would be a good place to stop and have a rest by the ruins of an old house - but today there is a large group of school kids out for a walk, and with them streaming through this village, it no longer feels quite such a tranquil stopping point.

My feeling here is that this village is probably seen at it's best in winter (when these ruins would feel very atmospheric) - and the bulk of these ruins come in the form of Wycoller Hall.

This hall was built at the very end of the 16th century (replacing an older, less grand, house). But in the 19th century parts of the building were dismantled (and the stone sold off to raise funds) - and later in the 19th century, the house was considered to expensive to maintain, and left to fall into disrepair.

These days the hall is owned by the council, and its grounds are run as a conservation area. 

The once grand dining hall of Wycoller Hall

But despite it's poor state, the hall does have one major claim to fame, as the inspiration for Ferndean Manor - the smaller home that Mr Rochester moved into at the end of Jane Eyre (after the grander Thornfield Hall had burnt down).

As I move on, I'm now walking against a tide of school kids, until I eventually break free as our path splits off from the Bronte Way that the kids are at this point following - and here we are following a track that is starting to climb up into the hills.

Heading back into the hills

Before long, we turn to generally head west instead of east, and this takes us back to not just the route of the Bronte Way, but also back into the path of those school kids.

Passing over Turnhole Clough

It's not quite what I want on a walk like this, but the kids here aren't too bad (hurrah for Lancashire).

I'm getting some genuine hello's from a group of kids who must all be around twelve - and as I pick up the middle of the pack, a few take the time to talk to me, and advise me not to consider going up the hill, as it's a very big and tiring one.

The clough running off the hill

Looking back as we head up into the hills

Our new landscape

Found a big enough gap in the kids to get a photo looking forwards

But as it is, we are not going over the top of the hill - for we are instead going to be heading around it via quite a big loop - and that is fortunate, because it is indeed a big hill, at a similar height to Pendle Hill (or Hill Hill Hill for those who read my previous writeup).

Eventually we pass this hill (and the path which the kids are still heading down), and as we press on this means that everything goes quite again - as we are once again cast as lonely figures, walking across an otherwise empty landscape (aside from the millions of sheep).

Our now empty path

Looking back

Again looking back but from further on

This is a great stretch of country to walk through - as we walk below the ridge of Boulsworth Hill - but this stretch of walking does eventually come to an end, as we drop down towards Thursden, and cross over Thursden Brook - before then climbing back up on the far side.

On the way to Thursden

Climbing back up on the far side

We now have another climb ahead of us - as we make our way up onto Extwistle Moor - after which we dip down to cross over Swinden Water, before then making our way back up the ridge on the opposite side.

Dropping down to cross Swinden Water

Looking back at our path

Having made it over this stream, we continue on along the track until we reach a T-junction - and here we turn left, and once again face a slow climb up onto higher ground.

On another slow climb

Once over the top of this next ridge, we come to Black Moor, and are soon find ourselves looking down upon Gorple Upper Reservoir.

Looking at Gorple Upper Reservoir

Looking back across Black Moor

And again looking across to the reservoir

These fairly small reservoirs are reasonably old - this one opened in 1934 - and were built to boost the water supplies to the towns in the area.

And leaving this one behind, it is not long before we reach the next along this trail - at Widdop Reservoir - with numerous reservoirs dotted across this landscape (with most being small - but a few being quite large).

Widdop Reservoir comes into view

These smaller reservoirs are generally the prettiest, as they sit quite neatly into the landscape, and Widdop Reservoir dates back to 1878 - making it one of England's older reservoirs.

Whilst we passed above the last reservoir, on this occasion the path heads down to walk alongside the reservoir, and then the dam - and here I also end up (quite neatly) herding some sheep back into their field, as I make my way across the dam.

Dropping down to the reservoir

Walking alongside the reservoir

Looking out across the reservoir from the dam

Soon we meet up with the road - and here we find some of those pesky 4x4 drivers, who despite being out in the middle of nowhere, are still in a very urgent hurry to reach their destination (despite the sheep in the road).

But we are not on this road for long before we turn off and use a permissive path to cut round towards Gorple Lower Reservoir - and here we walk along the dam, before cutting past some house to meet up with the Pennine Way.

Gorple Lower Reservoir

We have walked this stretch before, whilst walking the Pennine Way from Hebden Bridge to Gargrave - but before long that trail diverts off to the left, whilst our trail takes a more direct route over the ridge.

By this point we have cleared over 3,000 feet of ascent - and with the last drinks supply point having been back at the start in Burnley, another ridge isn't particularly welcome - but I'm doing a lot better than the sheep, who dozzily look up at me as I walk right past them (while I do my best to show that I come in peace).

Having made it over the ridge, we start hitting the far end of Hebden Bridge (in the form of the clusters of small villages, that spread out across this area of countryside).

And passing a house where there is someone out doing work in their garden, I take the opportunity to ask them to fill up my bottle with some water - and this they happily do, giving me a good supply of drink again.

And in all honesty, this is a massive help - even though it's "only" twenty-five degrees, there has been a lot of climbing across the day, and getting additional supplies in this part of the world really is quite difficult.

There is a slight irony here, as I have made my way past multiple reservoirs today, but unfortunately I can't just dip my water bottle into those reservoirs to fill them up.

As we continue on, we now find ourselves in very different countryside, full of green rolling fields - but the undulations of the terrain remain - and there will still be a fairly amount of climbing to come.

An early glimpse of Stoodley Pike in the far distance

View from slightly further along the trail

After a short trip along the toads, we cut down and up a valley- before walking along the far side of our old ridge to Jack Bridge - where we drop down on a road, and then cut along a track to some houses.

As we head along here I spot someone out picking some sort of fruit or berries, and looking around to see what they are picking, I see a patch of raspberries - which are quite a welcome discovery.

With a fair few of these consumed, we head on - and then turn right to start to head up another ridge - and this path has two separate patches of raspberries - and so here we barely notice the climb amid the hunt for more raspberries.

View as we head up the ridge

By the time we hit the top of this ridge, we are finally done with climbs for the day - and all we have left is a fairly steep descent down to meet up with the Rochdale Canal, and then a walk along this canal into Hebden Bridge.

But before the bulk of this descent starts, we have to head across a few more fields, and down a few more tracks - before we are greeted by a stone brick lined slope that marks the start of our trip down the ridge, whilst also giving a great view out towards Stoodley Pike.

Heading down the ridge (with Stoodley Pike on the farthest ridge)

Soon this path heads into the trees - and here the descent kicks up a notch, as we take on the winding, and fairly steep, path down through these trees - and on past the former site of Jumble Hole and Cowbridge Mills.

Jumble Hole Mill back in the day, Source: Jack Uttley

A boy looking out over the mills to Stoodley Pike, Source: Jack Uttley

Cowbridge Mill

Today not much remains of these buildings, but it is clear why they sought to build mills here, with the stream still running well despite the dry weather.

On my way past the stream

Once beyond these old buildings the track soon starts to level out, and after a short while we arrive at the side of a road.

It is an option to take the bus from here to the station (running I think every 30 minutes), but I have enough time and energy for the walk along the the Rochdale Canal, and it proves to be a fairly quite walk, with mostly cyclists out and about.

Since I've done this walk a few times on this site, I won't give much of a writeup - but it's not long before I'm turning off to head to the station - and meeting up with my train home.

One of the chimney stacks at Hebden Bridge

Total Distance: 25.5 miles (23.8 miles on the Pennine Bridleway)

Total Ascent: 3,891 feet (3,829 feet on the Pennine Bridleway)

Enjoyment Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5

It's a challenging, but very good walk - the climbing is pretty relentless, but it's well worth the effort.

Click for a writeup of the prior stretch of the Pennine Bridleway from Settle to Sough.

Click for a walk along the Rochdale Canal from Littleborough to Halifax (passing through Hebden Bridge).

Click for a connecting walk along the Pennine Way from Marsden to Hebden Bridge and Hebden Bridge to Gargrave.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 103 OS Landranger map - while there is also a Pennine Bridleway guidebook which includes OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked.