After a good nights sleep on the moor in the tent Steve and I woke to a calm morning. It was overcast and a tad cool for a July morning but at least it was dry which is always a blessing while striking camp. There is nothing worse that packing your home and stowing it on your back when it is wet. After tidying up the site we headed down to the Worth Valley. We came to the Worth valley road near where Dean Clough terminated into the River Worth. Nearby there was a smallholding and next to a gate to a paddock a sign read "Notice to all walkers: George, Fifi and Pepper are Kuni-Kuni pigs. They are very friendly and may follow you. A tickle under the chin or a biscuit would make their day!". I looked all over the paddock. No sign of the pigs, it was probably too early for them to be playing out.

We continued from the road on the Pennine Way past the inflow of Ponden Reservoir. The lack of water showed how dry a spring it had been, following on from a relatively dry winter. Indeed, until yesterdays showers, which did amount to very much at all we had not seen rain since I had crossed the England and Scotland border ten days earlier. Still, even now, Steve had his in favour poncho on. Just in case.

We climbed from the Worth valley to Ponden Hall which is famous for reputedly being the inspiration for Thrushcross Grange, the home of the Linton family in Wuthering Heights, a classic book by Emily Bronte. Ponden Hall is also fabled to have associated with a character family in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, another classic book, this one by Emily Bronte's sister Anne. The Bronte Sisters still weigh heavily in the legend of this area and it is widely believed they regularly visited Ponden Hall as children to play with the Heaton families children who lived at Ponden Hall during that time. From Ponden Hall we climbed further to eventually reach the wide open spaces of Stanbury Moor.

One of the first things I noticed on Stanbury Moor were the signposts. They have a peculiarity of being bi-lingual signs written in English and in Japanese. The Bronte sisters are very popular in Japan and the majority of Japanese visitors to England have a visit to Haworth, the Bronte Waterfalls and to the reputed site of Top Withens on their touring itinerary. Steve and I now had a ruin of a building in sight and directly on our path. We approached Withins. As we did so Sheep stood on walls neighbouring the ruins as if acting as tourist guides. I knew better, having been here before and having experienced a sheep sniffing around in my backpack when I was not looking. Tourists are easy prey for the sheep at the site of Top Withens.

We walked across Stanbury Moor to Withins with the sky in a typical grey mood. I cloud envisage the self same weather providing the perfect conditions for what Emily Bronte had in her mind's eye when creating the story. A plaque placed by the Bronte Society and fixed to the wall of the ruin offers both doubt and reassurance in equal measures to the Bronte pilgrims who make the effort to walk across the moor and visit the site. It reads "While claiming the original buildings bear no resemblance to the house Emily Bronte described it adds that the situation may have been in her mind when she wrote of the moorland setting of the heights". Whether it has that famous literary lineage or not one thing is for sure. Withins stands alone on a desolate moor and whoever lived here would have had to be a hardy type.

We continued our crossing of the South Pennine uplands by leaving Stanbury Moor and Withins behind and by climbing to Dick Delf Hill at around 450 metres high and the uppermost part of this stage of the walk. Just beyond the crest of our walk and while descending to the series of Walshaw Dean Reservoirs we came across a poignant place. A plaque had been cemented to a large gritstone standing next to the path. It was inscribed 'E Wilkinson, A rambler, died August 31st 1964, aged 35'. How sad. I was moved to stand in respect for a minute and while I did I wondered if he had died at or near this spot. Whether or not he had certainly been taken too soon. Continuing on we tracked down to the reservoirs and watched a group of around 30 Canada Geese sailing across the middle reservoir. We then passed the dam and walked along the side of the lower reservoir before crossing its dam.

From the dam of Walshaw Dean Lower Reservoir we followed Alcomden Water downstream towards where it joined with Graining Water to form Hebden Water. When doing so we temporarily left the Pennine Way which we would rejoin when on the climb from Calderdale to Stoodley Pike tomorrow. For now we could descend the moor into more temperate climate. And by magic as we lost height the clouds disappeared. Every step lower seemed to unveil more blue sky. It was most timely and particularly gorgeous as the sun created a dappled tapestry of colour in the woodland we had reached.

We followed Hebden Water downstream towards the Calderdale valley. Sometimes we walked on a path closely edging the waterside and sometimes we climbed to woodland while listening to the stream of water gushing through narrowed gorges below. We passed the site of Hardcastle Crags which I have previously found to be a frustrating exploration as the gritstone outcrops are thickly shrouded by vegetation. Most of the time we were on the east side of Hebden Water but occasionally we crossed to the west bank. Well built wooden footbridges saw us across.

After about an hour of walking, gamboling and sightseeing on our sun kissed walk down the line of Hebden Water we came to Gibson Mill. Built around 1800 Gibson Mill was one of the first mills of the Industrial Revolution. The mill was driven by a water wheel and produced cotton cloth up until 1890. Later on in its history the mill was used for leisure purposes and in the 1900's these included dining saloons, a dance hall, a roller-skating rink, refreshment kiosks and boating activities on the mill pond. Now the mill is managed by the National Trust who are sympathetically restoring the mill and preserving its history while catering for modern needs too. It is set in lovely surroundings, that is for sure. From Gibson Mill, where we saw school groups enjoying an adventuring day out, Steve and I continued along Hebden Water and through Hebden Dale Wood to reach New Bridge near to Midgehole.

After Midgehole we had an abrupt and lung taxing climb through Lee Wood to reach a road which we followed south to where it intersected with the Hebden Bridge to Heptonstall road. This junction marked the point where we left the road to follow a steep cobbled lane down towards Hebden Bridge. There was a side rail on the left hand side of the descent and we needed to steady ourselves on it once in a while. The lane was steep and the cobbles slippery. With care and due diligence though we both got down into Hebden Bridge safely. Suddenly from a day of relatively quiet walking we were immersed in crowds. There were plenty of people walking the streets and resting by the stone bridge in the center of town. Not only people caught my attention. A Jackdaw hopped past me as I sat on a seat by the river. I think it was after a snack but I did not have one to hand. Still it inquired so I made the effort to find a biscuit in my bag which it appreciated.

It was just approaching three o'clock in the afternoon. Our extra miles yesterday and early start on this morning had got us to Hebden Bridge in good time. All along we had intended to pick up supplies in Hebden Bridge and camp on the far side moor. But two factors made us decide to seek accommodation in Hebden Bridge. First, the time which allowed us to find somewhere to stay if possible while still having the fallback of sticking to the camping plan. Secondly we were meeting my brother Dave and a few friends in the morning who planned to walk the next stage with us. One of us would have had to drop back down into town to meet them if we camped out of town. So, we decided to seek accommodation which we did successfully.

We found accommodation before 4.00pm and so retired to our room for a couple of hours rest before going out on the town for a few beers. All well and good and after a little snooze we washed and dressed to go out. In the bar downstairs from our room we had a drink. It was around 7.00pm. As we enjoyed the drinks the sky darkened very quickly and the most severe of summer storms hit. It did not last more than 15 minutes but it was torrential. "Wow, that would have washed the tents away" Steve claimed. I had to agree with him. Sometimes the luck is with you. And with that thought in mind and after a few enjoyable drinks in Hebden Bridge we retired for a good nights sleep. Scattered around the room were dried out clothes, bedding and tents. Roll on tomorrow.