HEPTONSTALL 7 Trigs 10thApril

[Trig]

A bunch of Calder Valley mid-packers are setting off to do the MAGNIFICENT 7 (28 mile moorland loop above Heptonstall) on Sunday 10th April.
Early start (probably 7am)
This route is not to be missed. This is the 3rd year running and possibly has the makings of a great race. The route is as wild as it gets round here;unmarked path and sheep trod, a high level expedition across 28 miles of open moor. The whole loop is effectively a single ridge so there are few big ascents. The route starts in Heptonstall, then takes in a watershed horseshoe north of the village, linking 7 trigs;
Standing Stone Hill
Bridestones
Hoofstones
Boulsworth Hill
Stoop/Alcombden Stones
High Brown Knoll
Sheepstones
Then back to Heptonstall for a pint in the White Lion
We will stick together and will be travelling at steady mid-pack pace
This is a very remote route and once committed there are very few bail out points.
If you can keep a decent pace over 28 miles this is proabably one of the best days out on the South Pennine moors.......anyone interested in joining us??????

[MOUNTAIN MAN]

Unfortunately I am doing the Calderdale Hike so cannot make it but might have a trek round it sometime. It looks like an extension to the Six Trigs starting from Hebden Bridge which Andrew Bibby published some time ago. I like the MAGNIFICENT 7 idea though - it has the makings of a classic!

[Splatcher]

Unfortunately I am doing the Calderdale Hike so cannot make it but might have a trek round it sometime.

Me too - sounds a great day out. Maybe later in the year MM?

[MOUNTAIN MAN]

Me too - sounds a great day out. Maybe later in the year MM?

Yes why not - it might even be a good one for winter !!

[shaunandrachel]

Yep-put me down for this one too chaps. Something to look forward to in winter.

[Trig]

there is talk of another outing the following weekend - same route - my Peaks training requires that I do both; so if you can't make 10th a similar group will be out again on 17th....we did in winter last 2 years but we were too busy organising HFR...hence the April date.
I have some piccies of last 2 years - will dig em out.
Andrew Bibby came along (most of the route is his orginal 6 trigs plan)

[Trig]

Unfortunately I am doing the Calderdale Hike so cannot make it but might have a trek round it sometime. It looks like an extension to the Six Trigs starting from Hebden Bridge which Andrew Bibby published some time ago. I like the MAGNIFICENT 7 idea though - it has the makings of a classic!

Andrew Bibby was our inspiration in the cult of the trig - since many of us live in Heptonstall we cheekily "improved" the route as it seemed wrong not to sneak in Standing Stone Hill trig (Heptonstall Moor) on the way up to Bridestones (the usual first in the loop).

In recognition of AB's genius in identifying the "classic route" I have pasted his words below.....read this then tell me you are nt getting your map and mudclaws out!
The Six Trigs challenge


In the days when map-making required long hard days in the field and skilled surveyors experienced in the science of triangulation, the Ordnance Survey needed its network of familiar four-foot-high concrete white pillars located on Britain's mountains and hills. Staff would struggle up the hills, erect their theodolites on the pillars and use them to calculate the exact angles to the places they were surveying.
Map-making has moved on, and now satellite technology greatly improved the speed and accuracy with which maps can be compiled and updated. But the network of trig points, some now losing their white paint, remains.
Concrete pillars on hilltops might originally have seemed ugly. Long familiarity, however, has turned trig points into old friends for most walkers, and they provide convenient objectives for walks. Link several trig points together, and they also create challenging day-long walks, worthy of the fittest outdoor enthusiast.
And so it is with the Six Trigs walk, provided here as a final offering for anyone who has undertaken all twelve of the walks in my South Pennines and the Bronte Moors book, or is ready for something (even) more demanding.
Look closely at the OS South Pennines map, and it becomes apparent that a horseshoe of high ground, most of it about 400-500m above sea level, stretches round in an arc north of Hebden Bridge . Inside this arc are enclosed all the tributaries and streams which together make up the waters of the Hebden Water and Colden rivers and which empty eventually into the river Calder. Beyond are other river systems, some ending up in the river Ribble, some in the river Aire.
Ranged along this arc are six of the Ordnance Survey's trig points: at Bride Stones (GR 932268), Hoof Stones Height (GR 913291), Boulsworth Hill (GR 930357), Stanbury Moor (GR 978357), High Brown Knoll (GR 009303) and Sheepstones (GR 014278). The task, therefore, is simply to put them together – to start at Hebden Bridge, visit all six trigs (either clockwise or anti-clockwise), and return to Hebden Bridge several hours later, tired but satisfied.
The idea for the ‘Six Trigs' was first floated late in 1999 in an article by the current author in the outdoor magazine TGO. At the time, the point had to be made that the Six Trigs route crossed private land and would have to wait – at least for anyone not wanting to have to trespass – until the access legislation was in place. TGO kindly described the route as a ‘soon-to-be classic'.
That time has now come, and the Six Trigs is available to all. The route is about the same length as a marathon (26 miles/ 42 kms), and although there is little climbing after the first pull-up from the Calder valley, the ground is in places hard going. Anyone attempting it walking will probably take about ten hours to complete (runners will be able to knock some hours off that time). The route includes the high moorland of Black Hameldon, the Boulsworth Hill plateau, Crow Hill and the Alcomden Stones, Top Withens and Oxenhope Stoop, and High Brown Knoll.
There are no badges or certificates for completing the Six Trigs, and there is no organisation to congratulate you on your achievement. What you will gain on the other hand is the pleasure of a hard day's walking, and the understanding that comes from a comprehensive introduction to some of the finest of the south Pennine moors.

[MOUNTAIN MAN]

Inspiring stuff there Trig. I did the original 6 Trigs after the TGO article appreared many years ago so good to see it riding again in its latest reincarnation - The Magnificient 7. Looking forward to it :w00t: !!

[Trig]

Inspiring stuff there Trig. I did the original 6 Trigs after the TGO article appreared many years ago so good to see it riding again in its latest reincarnation - The Magnificient 7. Looking forward to it :w00t: !!

It would make an excellent race - although could be tricky to marshall - dibbers might be the solution.
Landowners may also be tricky - none of it is on paths
Wonder if anyone could pick that up and run with it????

[AndyA]

It would make an excellent race - although could be tricky to marshall - dibbers might be the solution.
Landowners may also be tricky - none of it is on paths
Wonder if anyone could pick that up and run with it????

Now I wonder?....

Who do we know with recent experience of organising a race from Heptonstall?....

No, don't tell me, it'll come to me!....

The Magnificent 7 sounds good but doubt that I'd get it signed off in time. Have a good day anyway.

Trog; what time are you looking at for PPP? I did 4h20 last year, hoping for closer to 4h10 this year, and I've never gone beyond 18 miles in training ( and that infrequently). It's not the miles that are the problem, it's the hills they join together!