Mary Towneley Loop Day 1
Thankfully we were not riding the Loop on the Tuesday, the hottest day of the year so far. Nevertheless, Wednesday brought sunshine and the promise of the same all day.
We assembled the troops in bags of time at the YHA and even had time to pre-order a bit of lunch at Waterfoot - a wildly ambitious target I now realise!
The first part of the Loop takes you on a high contour above Todmorden before tumbling down the cobbles to the aptly named Bottomley on the Rochdale Canal. From the bottom to the top with a strength sapping push up the other side of the valley past the air shafts of the Summit tunnel which sadly proved too much for Irene. We all needed a rest at the top before setting off towards Summit, losing all that height in a good long descent and then up along one of the most enjoyable sections of the loop rolling and contouring through the moorlands towards Watergrove reservoir and then on a high plateau with views of Rochdale, Oldham and Manchester in the distance, thence onto Healey Dell. Hopes of lunch at Waterfoot receded completely by now and we were more than happy to accept anything on offer at the Healey Dell kiosk and a most obliging owner who stayed open for us. Sol, Geoff and Judith took the easy way back while we ploughed on.
What happens next will always be seared on the memory of the first timer - the long long haul up Rooley Moor Road - the Cotton Famine Road - rising to 1500 feet. Gravel giving way to cobbles which in turn give way to causey sets, such a feature of the Pennines. Eventually flattening out we contoured through Cragg Quarry, eschewing the delights of the MTB red and black trails then plummeted again down to Waterfoot - how apt Pennine place names are!
Here we were reunited with John and Irene - the only members of our party to actually have lunch in Waterfoot, but then they were in their van - and Irene kindly took Louis and Paul back to Mankinholes in the van, while Reid took to the road, their day’s endeavours finished! The revitalised John now led us in sprightly fashion through the remainder of the day’s ride first up to Lumb then on to a gate infested bit of bridleway above the Burnley Road. We developed a very slick technique, I led to the gate, gave it to the next rider and carried on to the next and the next… It was only when Cary kindly pointed out that this way everyone was getting a bit of a rest apart from me that I “bonked” quite spectacularly. Thankfully some energy bars and gels get me back in the saddle plus the promise of a pint, well it is complex carbohydrate after all, when we reached Holme Chapel. Before then we had one more climb to the memorial stone to Mary Towneley whose boundless persistence led to the creation of this wonderful section of the Pennine Bridleway, before it was downhill all the way to Holme Chapel and that eagerly awaited pint.
Our day ended with a rush down the road A646 to Todmorden then the slow grind back up the hill to Mankinholes in time for a quick shower and change then a bit of “tea” at the Top Brink Inn.
Mary Towneley Loop Day 2:
The exertions of day one proved a bit too much for some and we were a slightly depleted party that assembled ready for the off in much more clement weather - and some of them - no names Geoff and Judith - were already planning their alternative ride! So back up the main road to Holme Chapel where we met up with Roger and John and took to the hills again through the strange lunar landscape of Sheddon Clough caused by listen mining then on to Cant Clough and Hurstwood reservoirs before starting up the long ascent of Gorple Road an ancient packhorse route cresting at the spectacular Gorple Stones with tremendous views all around. Thereafter a slightly technical, as they say, descent to Widdop reservoir for a picnic lunch on the reservoir wall.
A bit of road took us to Lower Gorple reservoir and another Pennine climb from Reaps Coppy to Reaps Level and then the strangely named Reaps Bottom which seemed to be at the top! Down then along Edge Lane to May’s Emporium or “Alladin’s Cave” at Colden where you can get steaming pint mugs of well deserved tea and cake and anything else you could think of. Here we met again with Geoff and Judith and had a little discussion about the merits or otherwise of following the Pennine Bridleway when there was a perfectly serviceable and fast road down to the valley below. Since this is the Mary Towneley Loop ride, the route is the route and so we set off down to the beautifully maintained show gardens of Landform Gardens and thus began our punishment while Geoff and Judith rode off merrily down the lane. There followed a series of tough and, in retrospect, pointless climbs, usually but not always involving pushing the bikes, before we could begin our descent to the Calder Valley down some of the most thrilling (scary!) descents on the route. Discretion and fatigue mean several of us walked sections we might otherwise have ridden before we all reconvened in the valley bottom taking a breath before our final ascent up through Callis Wood up to London Road beneath Stoodley Pike and a final enjoyable decent, with just a landslip to detain us, back to Mankinholes.
Thanks everyone who came on all or parts of the ride for great company and two superb days of cycling in the Pennine countryside.
Rob Newton
You can watch an animation of the route for day 1 here:
Roger's Photos and Videos can be viewed on Flickr here: