Walking the Camera in the South Pennines

The South Pennines covers the hill country between Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire, easily accessible but less well known than other walking hot spots. This is an area of high moorland with deep, often wooded valleys and drained by fast-flowing rivers such as the Colne and Calder.

Early textile industry took place in isolated farms and small collections of houses dotted around the countryside, where income from farming often marginal land was supplemented by handloom weaving; the workshops often ran along the top storey of a terrace of cottages with the typical rows of mullioned windows.

There were so many of these isolated settlements with people needing to travel between them and to the cloth markets, such as Halifax’s magnificent PIece Hall, that there is a dense network of footpaths, so inviting for exploration on foot.

Later, textile production moved to water-driven mills, now abandoned but providing a unique landscape as they are being reclaimed by nature, such as at Crimsworth Dene or Healey Dell. Steam power using the plentiful water and coal resources meant that huge factories could be built for textile production; these are themselves now being adapted for other uses, including housing such as the Titanic Mill at Slaithwaite.

Stuart and his wife Jean spent many hours walking the paths and byways of this magical area, with Stuart’s camera recording the many beautiful and interesting sights they encountered. This book is a testament to a couple’s love of rambling for almost 40 years in the magical South Pennines.