My favourite ride
Reader Dave Ackrill take us for a spin in the Peaks
WHAT HAPPENED TO the weather? Today was forecast to be a bright and dry day but it’s anything but — it’s cold and a thin drizzle’s falling as we meet up for a much-needed coffee at the visitor centre by the Upper Derwent reservoir. “This is one of those places you’d never find if you didn’t know it was here,” says Dave, and he’s right — it’s tucked up at the end of a narrow dead-end road which runs along the eastern side of the reservoir (where the Dambusters did their practice runs). Dave’s only been riding four years, having got into bikes following the loss of his partner, Kate, in January 2016. “She always wanted us to have a Harley, so we hired an HD with a hearse sidecar for her final journey. The rider became a friend, and suggested I start riding, so I got a YBR125 in the March and passed my test in the November.” Today he’s on a very tidy Tracer 900 and isn’t bothered by the rain — it’s had the full ACF50 treatment, so let’s go and get it dirty...
The ride
Back along the reservoir to the main road and it seems like its still raining, but it’s just the overhead canopy of trees dripping on us. Turn right onto the A57 and, with the Ladybower Reservoir on our left, we’re on
the approach to Snake Pass, noting the excellent Ladybower mobile café on our right in the first layby — we’ll be back here for a brew later. We quickly leave the reservoir behind as we climb through trees. “It’s a 50mph limit all along here but you don’t need to be going fast to have fun,” says Dave. Just as well, as we’re dodging the odd pothole and grotty tarmac as well as making allowances for the damp and slippery patches on some corners. No need to get stuck behind slower traffic for too long though — there are frequent passing opportunities (that’ll change as we climb up and find more double white lines).
As we pass the entrance to Rowlee Farm, the scenery changes subtly; the trees start to peter out, dry-stone walls take over from hedges, and we can see the open moors ahead of us. Or at least, we can see a blurred outline — the cloud’s slumped on the peaks like it means business, so the usual great views you’d expect will have to stay at a quantum level for now. The road is winding rather than twisty and it’s easy to slip into a nice rhythm, swinging along in a high gear with a whiff of throttle.
Past the Snake Pass Inn, through another belt of trees and then we’re abruptly out onto bald, bleak moorland grazing, although the sheep seem to prefer roadside rubbish to thin grass. You’ll often see a photographer here on sunny days, snapping anything interesting and selling the photos later (see bikerpics.co.uk). He’d be wasting his time today though. Then we’re at the top — a mighty 510m above sea level. On a clear day you can see across to Kinder Scout from here — if you like to get out and enjoy the country, you can thank the ramblers who organised the mass trespass there in 1932 and paved the way for Right to Roam legislation in the 1940s. Can’t see it today unfortunately, although looking North towards Huddersfield there’s sunshine on the high ground. That’s where we’re going but first, it’s a steep descent into Glossop where Dave navigates us through avoiding the stop/start traffic in the centre (“That’s the first time I’ve managed to actually go the way I intended — much better than usual!”) and then back out into the countryside again. We pick up the B6105 towards Torside. We’ve gained some altitude again and there’s a lovely view down over the waters of reservoirs three and four of the day (Torside and Woodhead) as we descend once more, through the odd twist and turn and briefly join the A628 at a tricky junction made trickier by roadworks today, and then left onto the A6024 Woodhead Road which will take us across Holme Moss.
And what a lovely road – twisty enough to keep it interesting, but not so much as to distract you from the scenery, which even on a dull day like today is bleakly magnificent. The highest point is only about 15m up on Snake Pass but somehow, it feels a lot higher, especially today, with a stiff wind buffeting us about as we stop for the obligatory photo at the top. Beware the potholes in the lay-by, as they’re deep. In summer, the well-surfaced car park just over the top is usually a popular meeting point for bikes, cyclists and ramblers but now, it’s closed to discourage gatherings.
We’re on the final leg now, a fairly gentle descent down into Holme; well surfaced and with a few challenging bends to keep things interesting. We’re back in managed farmland rather than open moor and, as we pass between reservoirs no.5 (Brownhill) and no. 6 (Digley) and trundle through Holmbridge and into Holmfirth, we’re entering territory that’ll be familiar to anyone who’s watched Last of the
Summer Wine over the years – it’s where the series was filmed for nearly 40 years. We’re not heading for some Lotsw-themed eatery though. I assume Dave’s lost as he pilots us through some tiny back lanes and tracks, through building sites and crumbling Victorian industry and into the yard of a former Dark Satanic Mill. But instead of giving his sat nav a good talking to, he parks up and explains that this is our destination. You wouldn’t know from the outside but this is the Carding Shed, a former woollen mill, now housing a classic car restoration business, a retro clothes shop and, praise be, the excellent automobilia-decorated Oil Can Café. Coffee, cake, and the best steak and Stilton baguette I’ve ever had make the perfect end to a great ride. Shame about the weather, but that just makes us want to do it again another day. Cheers Dave.
‘You don’t have to be going fast to have fun’