Monday 11 February 2013

The Oldham Way - Stage 1

Over the weekend I started my first project of the year, which I'm very excited about. I'm fortunate to live just 1 mile from a route called The Oldham Way, which is a 40-mile footpath encircling the Borough of Oldham.

The landscape of the route varies from moorland to canal. It's official starting point is at Dove Stone Reservoir near Greenfield, which is just over 2 miles from where I live. It then continues over Saddleworth Moor to Diggle and Castleshaw Moor to Denshaw. It then skirts the north of Shaw and Royton to meet the Rochdale Canal at Chadderton Hall Park. It follows the canal south through Chadderton to Failsworth, after which it joins the Medlock Valley to Daisy Nook and Park Bridge before climbing over Hartshead Pike to Quick and then back to Dove Stone.....

.....and yes, you've guessed it, I'm going to run it.

I want to run the full 40-mile route in one go, but first I need to break it up into stages and get to know the route whilst building up my fitness again for the year.




On Sunday 11th February I set out to tackle Stage 1 - Dove Stone to Diglea - 8 miles, but first I had to run to the start!






This is where I join The Oldham Way - approx 1 mile from my house:



It's then over the road and onto a path leading up!



The path itself is quite rocky to begin with...


Then it opens up a bit into a muddy farm track. The photo below does not do the incline justice!


Nearing the top, the view to the left gives a taste of things to come....


On arrival at the top, it's a T-junction, and the soon to be familiar yellow arrow of The Oldham Way points left...


Looking back down the hill...


My hands were freezing now. The rain was soaking my thin gloves and the -3C wind was turning my fingers inside them a bit chilly. But it's alright, cos the rain was soon to turn to snow!


Having ran down the above lane a bit, there's a right turn, which is a single track through the brush, along the side of the hill. If you look through the two posts in the picture below you can see the path as it snakes along....



And another country lane later it's the official start of Stage 1 of The Oldham Way (up until this point it's actually been the tail end of Stage 7 if you're interested!).

So, imagine one of those inflatable start lines in the picture below if you can!


A quick check of my watch. 2.38 miles in and ready to start the 8 mile Stage...yeah OK, I've been a bit slow  up to this point I know, but I have been taking pictures!!



The path to Dove Stone that marks the start of The Oldham Way....


There's a really nice climb that follows the above. It involves dancing your way up a rocky path with water coming down in the opposite direction and plenty of grass, rocks and mud thrown in for good measure. Thoroughly enjoyable. I was having too much fun to stop and take photos. Well, except for this one below as Dove Stone reservoir becomes visible for the first time...


Then it's through some pine trees....



.... and then through a break in the trees, Dove Stone is visible again....


Onwards and upwards...


Looking down to Dove Stone reservoir again. The route eventually follows the far right side of the water and accross at the far side where I take another photo looking back...


But first we run deeper into The Pennines themselves....


Time for some mud...


and a bit more snow on the ground...

In the photo below you can see the path ahead as it winds around the hillside and then comes back accross the other side...



This bit was fun...






 Here it is, a few miles later I arrive at the far side of the reservoir and look back. The route having run along the top of the two blocks of trees on the far side of the water...




Quick check of the watch arriving a Binn Green car park...


Then it's accross the road and further into the hillsl...







It then starts to get a bit muddy....



Alright, very muddy....

And a bit wet..



Getting a bit snowy, I'm now heading for a local land mark called 'Pots and Pans', which is a war memorial on the top of a hill. You can just see it in the distance...



As I make my way up, I look around at the view....


Who lives in a house like this? I wish it was me, although I appreciate it needs a bit of work...


Pots and Pans up ahead....


The weather is now definitely deteriorating, just as I get to the highest most secluded part of my run...






Nearly there....


At last....


The view from the top is worth the climb


This is where I was now headed and I'd never ran this way before

I love this stone marker


The wind up here was vicious and the snow really deep in parts








At this point I didn't know where the path was, I'd lost it. I had a map and I knew roughly where I needed to go. In simple terms, having ran deeper into the hills from Pots and Pans, after a while I knew I needed to hang a left and head down hill and find a gully that led to a place called Pobgreen. I really enjoyed running down through the snow and miraculously I did eventually find something that I would describe as a gully.

Furthermore, much to my surprise I eventually found a few farm houses and a man (yes an actual person) who confirmed that I was indeed in Pobgreen. From there, I eventually stumbled upon the familiar markings of The Oldham Way, but I stopped taking photos for the last bit of the route as it took me all my time to work out the way and I'd been out for more than 3 hours now.


I eventually arrived at the end of Stage 1 feeling very happy and got into my car which I'd left in the car park of The Diggle Hotel....



I'm going to do it again next weekend to try and get used to the last bit of the route, but this time I'll run the 4 or 5 miles home (via the canal) from the above establishment to make it a longer run.


I can't wait!