A View to the Old town

A view from the windswept Hurst Moor above Glossop.

I love the colour of the foreground in this photo and it includes Old Glossop Parish Church, the unmissable Laneside Farm and the line of trees at the cemetery.

The walk over the moors started at Moorfield up the track to Black Moor which eventually becomes an approach to Kinder Scout but that was never the target. After a quick chat with a man and 2 lively dogs I headed over Hurst Moor.

The walk over this heather moorland was made very easy by following the areas that had been cut to harvest the heather brash. These lines on the moors are clearly visible from the Snake Pass road and they do make the moors look like a giant art work. The details about the work are on The Moors for The Future website

As I walked over the moors I disturbed Red Grouse in good numbers but the
birding highlight was a great view of a female Merlin - 9 failed attempts to photograph this as it disappeared low over the moors.

I continued on towards the sluice gates at Hurst Reservoir and saw a Buzzard overhead. No sign of the pair of Dippers today - I see the local paper Nature notes mention a pair in the next valley and Dustystreets1 watches a pair over the hills so there are a few in the area.

I took a few shots of the Reservoir for a bit of a different angle and then home via the Golf Course. My car was still at the start of the walk so I admit this was an unplanned walk and all the better for that.