Langfield and Withens Clough

It was a fabulous morning here in the Pennines yesterday so I went for a good long walk to stretch my legs and get onto the hills again. I think I'm getting lazy as now I'm doing most of my walking over in East Yorkshire (Easy Yorkshire?) where there are no hills, the old leg muscles are putting their feet up - metaphorically speaking of course. A few miles of up and down will get them woken up!

I went past Lee Dam which has been very quiet as the Little Grebes didn't try nesting there this year following their double wash-out last year. Also no Moorhen nest either and the two Canada Goose nests were destroyed by someone or something. Very sad. Willow Warblers have been numerous though and a Chiff Chaff has been about too. The usual Swallows were feeding over the water and their young were on the wires.

Up to Langfield past Horse Wood where, I'm sorry to say, there were no Grasshopper Warblers this year at all. I'll have to concentrate on what was successful this year as opposed to what failed or failed to turn up or I'll really feel downhearted!

Reed Buntings were out in good numbers and a Linnet was singing away in the new bracken but the bird I wanted to see was Stonechat as they have been hit really hard over the last few hard winters and their numbers are not recovering yet. I saw a single juvenile Stonechat preening on the top of a bracken stem but strangely there was no sight nor sound of the adult birds.

Climbing up the steep hill from Langfield onto the ridge that runs NE then East to Stoodley Pike there were many Meadow Pipits flying around carrying food and a few juvenile birds too. Mipits were my constatnt companion for the whole morning and they look to have had a very good year locally. Skylarks also make the day more enjoyable by their singing but I only heard 5 all morning. The path leads on to join the Pennine Way after half a mile and there splendid views over the valley and across to Stoodley Pike itself:

 

Pennine Way leading to Stoodley Pike

My destination wasn't this way though, I was heading North to Withens Clough reservoir to see if the Whinchat was still there:

Withens Clough res

On the way to the reservor I passed a couple of local landmarks, one recent and one that goes back several hundred years.

Just off the Pennine Way is a newly built short stone wall that has a seat overlooking the valley and the wall is a useful refuge from the strong winds and the rain that are common through most of the year. It was put there by a family to remember their father:

 

The Te Deum stone at Withens Gate is a relic of the past, this text is taken from the website Journal Of Antiquities. "This medieval marker or boundary stone stands close to a wall at Withens Gate, Langfield Moor, between Cragg Vale and Mankinholes on the Calderdale Way footpath above Todmorden. It has been referred to as a coffin stone, stoop stone, boundary marker and marker stone. The name Withens Cross has also be ascribed to it by some historians.
The stubby little stone is now only a few feet high – originally it was much taller but vandalism over the years has damaged it. But in 1956 it was restored to what we see today by The Hebden Bridge Local History Society. On it’s front side there is a thin incised Latin cross and below that two letters in Latin TD which are translated as being Te Deum Laudamus or ‘We praise Thee, O Lord’, whilst on the opposite face the letters BG TB which were perhaps carved in more recent times, indicating that the stone has been in use as a boundary marker.
Originally the stone was in use as a “coffin rest”. Coffins were carried along the old packhorse route across the Pennines between Cragg Vale, Mankinholes and Lumbutts, placed on top of the stone and prayers said for the deceased before the journey was continued to its final resting place. There are a number of similar stones in this area and eleswhere, some with quite intricate carved crosses and lettering – most probably dating from the 15th or 16th century."

The Te Deum stone

 Now Withens Clough was in sight and I could start losing altitude and also step out a bit as the path has been repaired recently and surfaced with small pieces of stone chippings. A Meadow Pipit was flushed from grass and juncus close by the path and looked suitably annoyed:

Mipit

Down to Withens Clough through the small palntation that holds Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Goldcrest and onto the path that runs around the reservoir. There has been a fair amount of shoreline showing over the past month or so and Little Ringed Plover have been sighted so I hoped to get a glimpse of one.

Only a few hundred yards further on there was a Common Sandpiper calling which is one of my favourite sounds on upland reservoirs through summer:

Common Sandpiper

The bird flew off after a while and landed on the shoreline, where two 2 birds flew past it, Little Ringed Plovers!:

Little Ringed Plovers

They landed at the Western end of the reservoir so I carried on along the path and soon I heard them flying past me over the water towards the Eastern end. A few minutes later the LRPs came along the shoreline towards me giving good views through the bins (but not through the camera lens unfortunately.

record shot of LRP

Off I went and left the path at the end of the reservoir to check the area for Whinchat, but there was no sign of them (not unexpected as no sightings have been recorded for a fortnight or so). Willow Warblers were singing in the clough as I made my way to the path that leads out of the valley and up the hill to the large conifer plantation Sunderland Pasture. My legs were well and truly awake now.

Small Heath butterflies were another almost constant sight through the morning as they seemed to be following the same route as myself:

Small Heath

Going up the path I spotted a Roe Deer up ahead and I ducked down behind the wall hoping it hadn't seen or sensed me. I was upwind so hopefully I could get closer and have a decent view.

Roe buck

A lovely sight indeed. It seemed quite unconcerned for a change, as Roe deer usually run off as soon as they see someone. It continued feeding and wandered off down the hill.

I was almost home, or at least I could see home from the top of the hill but not before I saw a Jay flying from the trees in the clough towards Sunderland Pasture plantation.

Back onto the Pennine Way for a short distance and then off down the hill and home in time for lunch. A simply marvelous morning :)