Monday February 5th

 Marsden, March Haigh and Standedge

It was a very breezy day, and we didn't want to go too far. We decided to go to Marsden and to see what transpired. We set off on our usual way out of Marsden but once we arrived at the farms at The Dean and Hatter Lee, common sense prevailed for one member of the party. The other decided to see what could be done, and continued up towards the March Haigh Reservoir. Tractors and diggers were very busy building a solid track between the farms and the reservoir's dam. The reservoir itself had been drained!

March Haigh (non) Reservoir

Half way across the dam, a few inscribed blocks were visible. It's possible that these indicated the water level in yards, with lower numbers visible to the left in the picture below.

Possible depth indicators from the top of the dam

Meanwhile, the sensible one retired to Katie's Homemade Kitchen as The Arcade had closed. Katie's Kitchen was an authentic Marsden café- full of locals enjoying cooked breakfasts, but no dogs enjoying the occasional pork scratching. Cups of coffee were enjoyed, and then a trip was made to the excellent Fresh and Fruity grocers, where a lovely cauliflower was bought- this reappeared as Moroccan spiced cauliflower soup the next day (and very good it was, too).

On reaching the trig point at the top of Millstone Edge at Standage, the member of the party with less common sense stopped for lunch, sheltering behind a boulder just below the edge itself. The view wasn't particularly impressive.

The trig point and "view" at Millstone Edge

A quick location check by phone established that we'd meet up again in around an hour, and the descent to Marsden started. What little common sense remained suggested that the ascent of Pule Hill wouldn't be a great idea.

National Trust boundary and Pule Hill in the background

Skirting Pule Hill meant that the sign for the wonderfully named Hades Farm was passed, and a picture was sent to the sensible member of the party as an indication of the wanderer's location.

Hades Farm, with sheep pictures

There are a few ways back down from the Hades Farm track, and it seems fairly random which one is taken. In this case, it was the one with more road to follow (common sense certainly wasn't prevailing today!). The one-hour estimate was, unusually enough, pretty accurate and we met outside the Fresh and Fruity greengrocer.

Just over 9 miles with 380m ascent.


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