Pennine Way Day3- Standedge to Mankinhole 11 Miles

   The rain seemed to have left us for a while and even if everything remained damp and wet it was much better than I'd thought. I forced the damp clothes back on and began before everyone else. Again I was hoping to come across somewhere I could buy some food since my breakfast of pringgles, bought the night before in the pub. wasn't quite as nutritional as I'd hoped.
  The walk today was easy compared to the other ones. Back at the car park you cross the road and within five minutes your enjoying fantastic views from Millstone Edge. I stopped within ten minutes and finished off my pringgles then trudge on-wards feeling slightly more upbeat about it all.  It's today that you'll get you're fill of reservoirs- you'll pass at least five before reaching camp. There was no sense of seclusion and wilderness at this stage although by any normal standards it remains very pretty.

View from Millstone Edge

  A hill runner swept past me as this point and I was very impressed, thin gentleman quite young and quite happy to puff his way over the rough terrain. I'd have collapsed in less than five minutes for sure. Looking through the guide book I realised I must have missed the memorial to Ammon Wringley saying- '...so over the hills I'll take my way and mate with the wild and free will mu dust is flung to the winds in my hill country.' Its a lovely quote and suggests the sweeping feel of the moors themselves.
  Up over White Hill Summit I crossed my first road. I then reached my desired chip van and I paused to buy myself a bacon bun and a slice or jam cake. The sandwich was horrible but hit the right spot and I enjoyed a quick break on a stone. Then a quick climb and its over the M62 where I had a very enjoyable fifteen minutes trying to work out how to get the road in focus and moving cars blurred with my brand new Cannon 1100 camera.

M62

  Around Blackstone Edge I got a bit bewildered and lost as I wound around large boulders straight from Narnia and the Giants realm. I examined my map thoroughly and using my initiative took a route away from the Pennine Way choosing a more distinct path and cutting out the moor. You follow the stone path down and then walk along an old ditch to the side of an ancient pack-horse road- possibly Roman. Its nice and flat, and easy to follow. I stopped and lying on the slope enjoyed the sun for a few minutes, relaxed and beginning to loose the ever present sense of times and schedules that runs my life at home. At the next road, the A58, I paused at the White House Inn to pee- something I'd wanted to do for quite some time. I enjoyed two glasses of coke, recharged my phone a little and checked in at home. Its a lovely pub, full of locals and pensioners having lunch.
   Time was wearing on now and I knew I'd squandered my early start. The next section is dull but extremely flat. It curls on the inside of the Blackstone Edge Reservoir before going along the Light Hazzles and Warland Reservoirs. Your legs wont feel it at all and you can tune out. Its then a short stretch across the moors and left. I followed it precisely but ten minutes later I doubted myself and returned back to the T-junction.

My first view of Stoodley Pike

  After re-walking the same section, disturbing the same sheep, I spotted Stoodley Pike in the distance. My legs were feeling a little better but my feet were in serious pain again, the souls were on fire. After the memorial seat I turned left and walked down the steep slope to Mankinholes. I past the river and mill and spent the next hour walking backwards and forwards looking for the campsite a local eventually told me had shut down a few years ago. After three lots of direction I finally found Cross Farm and set my pitch in an over grown lopsided campsite. The Farm Cross is a B&B with an enchanting garden but its not a campsite, the ground is far too sloped and makes for a horrible pitch.

My lopsided but quiet campsite

  I had enough cash to pay for the campsite but little else. Very few campsites take credit cards so I decided to walk the thirty minutes down to Mankinholes town and buy some snacks. I swapped into my flip-flops which helped my feet a lot. Within half an hour they seem to recover from the shoes and it felt like I was doing nothing more than walking home after a long day. This feeling soon slipped away when it took me over forty minutes to get into town, making more and more nervous about missing my bus back up to the top. I didn't want another hour of walking with my shopping back up the hill.
  I finally reached the shop but the cash machine was broken making the entire trip a waste. I'd not eaten for a long while now and low on sugar I might have been blunter than I'd meant to be with the lady who told me that there was a petrol station another ten minutes down the road. I rushed in and grabbed the first high sugar snack I spotted, got back to the bus station and saw on the electronic sign that there was another ten minutes before it arrived. I should have stayed and waited but I realized I'd forgotten to get noodles for dinner or milk. By the time I got back again two or three minutes later the bus had gone.

Stoodley Pike from the Cross Farm Camp

   I got back to the campsite at dusk absolutely exhausted but I was rewarded for my efforts by a stunning sunset. I had a shower and collapsed back in the tent having had chocolate bars for my dinner. My health-kick side of this walk is failing horribly and chocolate raisins for snacks tomorrow isn't going to help.