Upper Calder Valley 6 Trigs

[Corniceman]

Has anyone got much info about this route I found on Gofar? I am looking to doing a longish day out up around Hebden Bridge/ Tod in the next couple of weeks and wondered about this route. It says 26 miles but are there many tracks or trods as I dont want to spend 26 miles stmbling across heather as I need to run as much as possible. looking at the map it seems to follow a district boundary and there are not many marked paths but is there anything at all? Also how much ascent is there?
I have done the calder valley hike 16 miles which was great so would like to do something else in the area. Looking at the map it does seem possible to do a circuit around Todmorden,commencing in Hebden or Mytholmroyd linking Stoodley Pike, over to Theively Pike and then back across valley finishing over Bridestones and this looks to follow better tracks. Anyone have a more defined route for such a circuit?

I really like the area but am not too familiar with the terrain so any info would be great.

[Splatcher]

Hi Corniceman. I ran the Magnificent 7 last January, which is a slightly extended 6 Trigs, & there's a thread about it on here somewhere, although not a lot of info about the route, if I recall. It's very much a moorland route, and although there are paths or trods of a sort most of the way it's going to be rough wet going for a lot of it. I had a great time, but that was my 2nd attempt. It was so wet & cold on 1 Jan on my first attempt that I couldn't make it all the way round. If you looking for something on proper paths & tracks, more in the spirit of the Calder Valley Round, how about the Haworth Hobble route? You can cut it shorter easily enough if you want.

My stats on the Mag 7: 24.5 miles, 3000ft of ascent, my time 6:30. To put that in perspective, my best Haworth Hobble time is 5:20, & 2:57 for the Calder Valley Round.

[richsund]

Hi Corniceman

The 'Todmorden Centenary Way' might be more or less what you've described! 22ish miles on paths and bridleways, with 3 big climbs. Takes in a lot of the best scenery in the area and is reasonably well waymarked all the way round. I've walked it a couple of times and hope to run it one day

Map here. (If you start at one of the main road crossings rather than Todmorden centre you can take a shortcut across Whirlaw Common and omit the section into and back out of Tod centre).

Good Luck!

[dantodman]

Hi Corniceman,

I have done a round of 10 trigs which is a circuit around todmorden as follows, the round is approx 32 miles with 8000 feet of climb. Please note there are a few miles off path, but most of the route can be done following paths.

I began my round from home in tod centre but anywhere from Tod to Hebden would surfice or you could also choose to start in Cliviger or Littleborough and do the trigs in a different order. Its not to be taken lightly, ive done it twice so far with a best on Christmas Eve of 7hrs 44mins. Reckon its definitely do able a bit quicker with a bit more fitness (which i hopefully now have) I am going to give it another go once i have a chance (Howarth Hobble coming up so will be after that) and hope to get close to or under 7 hours.

Bridestones 932 267
Hoofstones 914 291
Robin Cross Hill 884 294
Thieveley Pike 871 271
Trough Edge End 906 219
Watergrove 919 176
Blackstone Edge 972 416
Dog Hill 003 171
Manshead End 998 197
Little Holder Stones 969 213

If anyone wants any advice or tips or alternatively wants to join me sometime in the future (possibly 15 or 16th March) drop me a PM.

Dan

ps its very easy to cut off at a couple of points making it a shorter run, you can return from Blackstone Edge missing out Dog Hill and Manshead End, or alternatively sticking closer to tod i sometimes do the first 5 which can be done in 3 hours.

[Corniceman]

Hi Corniceman

The 'Todmorden Centenary Way' might be more or less what you've described! 22ish miles on paths and bridleways, with 3 big climbs. Takes in a lot of the best scenery in the area and is reasonably well waymarked all the way round. I've walked it a couple of times and hope to run it one day

Map here. (If you start at one of the main road crossings rather than Todmorden centre you can take a shortcut across Whirlaw Common and omit the section into and back out of Tod centre).

Good Luck!

Thanks to all for the info. there is so much to do up there. I think I will do a version of the Todmorden Centenery Way but add a trip to Theively Pike into it. Looks great and cant wait to get up there.

Thanks

Simon

[richsund]

Be interested to hear how you get on. The Tod Centenary Way doesn't seem to get much attention as a running route (compared to say the Calder Valley Round, Six Trigs and whatnot) but I think it's a great route; a bit of waymarking makes the navigation a bit easier too.

[Corniceman]

Be interested to hear how you get on. The Tod Centenary Way doesn't seem to get much attention as a running route (compared to say the Calder Valley Round, Six Trigs and whatnot) but I think it's a great route; a bit of waymarking makes the navigation a bit easier too.

Oh dear perhaps this post should go under worst effort of the year! I tried the TCW today starting from Hebden Bridge with the intention of an extension to Theively Pike in less than ideal weather with visibility less than 100 feet. The symbols on gate posts and styles were most welcome given that nearly all of the route was new to me. Anyway after stumbling around in thick mist for 3 hours and I think keeping to the route I eventually got completely lost after crossing the Tod to Bacup road. it was really misty and wet and I couldnt really see the track ahead at all and kept sinking into knee deep bogs. Eventually after an age I emerged lower down on the same road near to Clough Foot. The weather had worsened my map pretty damp and beginning to tear so I made a decision to quit. I went up Southall Road to get a last hill on tarmac then descended into Tod and back along the canal to my car in Hebden. It seemed a great route and fantastic training but one to be saved for better conditions. Despite everything I still covered nearly 22 miles which surprised me as the bigger TCW circuit is billed as 22 and I cut a bit of a corner. perhaps I went a bit wrong earlier on and added a bit? Back in Nottingham and a long soak in the bath I still cant get rid of the peat staining on my legs!

[richsund]

Ey Up Simon

Glad you had a crack at it... definitely wasn't the best weather for it on Friday! Sounds like you had one of those 'challenging' days out!

I seem to remember having some trouble at the Bacup road crossing when we walked it a few years ago, looked like somebody had dug up most of the field that the path was supposed to go through...

The Tod to Summit section is probably the hardest for both nav and effort / terrain, so maybe best to get that out of the way early on.

Must have a go myself one day, managed 16 miles yesterday but I'm not sure I could manage much more at the mo... kudos to you for doing 22 in spite of the setbacks!

Richard