Description
(S/E) Leave the Trans Pennine car park (3), turn left out of the car park and walk up the road.
(1) At the road junction, turn right for the sailing club/res and follow this road to the sailing club entrance past the car park (2) at SE152020, Windleden Lane, at the end of Windscar reservoir dam wall. Carry on straight after car park (2) where you will find a small wooden gate to the left just in outside the sailing club entrance.
(2) Follow the path/sheep track around the sailing club fence until going slightly inland to cross the first inlet before the end of the club compound - there are stone "fords" across the streams.
Stay on the moors side of the wire fence until you come to a gate before reaching Dearden Clough. This gate is chained and leaves the option of climbing over. If you can't, turn left and follow the fence line up the hill to a very high stile which allows you to get over the fence and then descend back to the gate on the other side. T
Stay close to the water's edge to cross the clough then climb up towards the trees that are the Dearden Foot plantation - again staying on the moors side of the fencing.
(3) This is the end of the open country/sheep path walking because, from the north west of the plantation, there is a moors/shooting track that leads up to an even better maintained moors track at SE141028. Take the right hand fork here and follow the track to the farm near Wetshaw Edge. As you approach it there are signs warning you to keep out, so go around the north of the farm buildings and pick up the track heading north.
(4) After passing through a gap in the next wall follow the track to the left then pick up the path/track that is indicated by wooden posts and leads in a loop around Snailsden Edge. The trig point is just to the north of the track. After approaching Holme Moss transmitter for some time the path then turns north and east then descends towards Snailsden reservoir.
(5) From the reservoir follow the track north and eastwards to the road then go west on Linshaws Road. After just over half a mile go right on the track that is marked as the Kirklees Way and follow it as it goes right again past the farm named Elysium. Shortly before the woods start there is a path off on the right (not marked as such but) which is the Holme Valley Circular Walk. Follow this past the ruined farm at Hades (look out for the stone writing) and carry on back up to Linshaws Road.
(6) Go a little left, cross over and follow the track down to Harden Clough so that you then come along the south of the reservoir. Cross over the Harden reservoir dam wall in order to get onto the Dunford Road which heads back to Winscar Reservoir. After a quarter of a mile a road off on the right leads down to a car park (1) and then the road leads on to the gated road over the reservoir dam wall.
(7) My choice for getting down to the lower Dunford car park (3) was to walk east from the start of the dam wall across Broad Hill Bank, which gives good views down the Don valley, then come back on Brook Hill Lane(S/E).