Stoodley Pike has stood sentry over Calderdale since its erection just over 200 years ago to commemorate the surrender of Paris to the Allies prior to the Battle of Waterloo. The monument collapsed in 1854 due to an earlier lightning strike that had cracked the walls but was reconstructed two years later. Its stone has been blackened over the years like many buildings in the South Pennines and the balcony - which you can ascend to - echoes Victorian town hall architecture.
Equally interesting but less prominent is the cotton mill water tower in Lumbutts. Housed within are a water tank and three wheels arranged one on top of the other which account for the 98ft height and castle-like appearance. The tower was built in 1796 and production ceased in 1926 when other parts of the mill were demolished. Today the tower and the adjacent house are private.
Water for the tower was supplied from four purpose-built reservoirs including Gaddings Dam, your next destination. It's a stiff ascent to the Dam. On a warm day reward yourself with a rest and swim at what's claimed to be the highest beach in England. In truth it's just a sandy corner but is large enough to take scores of towels! The reservoir was going to be drained and closed in 2001 but local people clubbed together to save and repair it for their leisure use.
Use your map to divert to the west of the Dam to Basin Stone, a bulbous, weathered outcrop of millstone grit which once provided a clandestine pulpit for itinerant Wesleyan preachers and speakers at meetings of Chartists and other socialist groups.
1. From the car park turn left and follow Tarmac lane to Withens Clough reservoir. Pass The Pastures farmhouse. As the lane bears sharp left turn right through handgate following footpath signed to Stoodley Pike. At a gap in collapsed wall don't pass through but walk up beside wire fence then bear right at a yellow post, heading for another similar post. The path becomes walled. Pass through a handgate then bear left and slightly up hill towards a another yellow post. Go through handgate and proceed with plantation on your right. Pass through gate then, at next fingerpost, turn left signed to Stoodley Pike. Pass through a handgate up to the monument.
2. Walk along the escarpment following the cairns. At Withens Gate, just after a standing stone turn right to start descent into the valley following a paved path which bears sharp left and becomes the Calderdale Way. Towards the bottom pass through a gate and along a walled path into Lumbutts. Turn left at the road (forking right to Top Brink Inn if required) for half a mile.
3. Opposite the Shepherd's Rest pub turn left then after 10m at a yellow post turn right onto a grassy path to a metal gate. Don't pass through but bear left and steeply uphill with wall on your right. Where wall ends maintain the same direction across rough grassland. At a faint path turn left heading for the left end of the dam embankment.
4. Follow the embankment past the beach and keep ahead. Just after passing over a culvert and as the path bears sharp left around the head of a clough strike out across the grassland (no path), keeping stream on your right. After 200m bear left onto what's marked on the map as a footpath but is indiscernible. Head towards the left shoulder of Coldwell Hill with its rounded summit and boulders.
5. Pick up the path which leads around the hill towards Stoodley Pike. Bear slightly right to a yellow waymarker denoting the Pennine Way. Very soon fork to the right of Cyril Webster's seat and away from the stone setts. Descend to a wall corner to the west of the large ruins of the Red Dykes farmhouse. At a crossing of paths marked by standing stones turn right through a fieldgate. Follow track down to the western end of the reservoir at which bear left along its northern shore back to the car park.
Eat here
Top Brink Inn, Lumbutts. Highly recommended. Bright and airy interior and broad, interesting menu. Try the lamb kebab which is very different to what you might get from a takeaway! Outside seating available. topbrink.com
Shepherd's Rest Country Inn, Lumbutts. Recently refurbished and under new ownership with fine views over Calderdale. Pies and burgers are a speciality. The Shepherd's Hut, Bar and Grill for beer garden customers is due to open this summer. shepherdsrestinn.co.uk
Compass points
Start/finish: Postcode HX5 5TD, grid ref SD 987232.
Time/distance: 4-5 hours/12km.
Accessibility: Some rough, pathless walking after Gaddings Dam. Good sense of direction and ideally GPS app required. Route likely to be soggy after rain.
Maps: OS Explorer OL21 South Pennines and OS Landranger 103 Blackburn & Burnley.
Parking: Withens Clough Reservoir car park. Note that parking for a direct ascent to Gaddings Dam from Lumbutts is extremely limited.
Map link: bit.ly/StoodleyPike.
