Oxenhope, England

From the Upwood Holiday Park, where we camped on the Black Moor in north central England, we hiked to the small village of Oxenhope. 

The trail is pretty good here where Brian has stopped, but much of it was overgrown and muddy. When we asked at the camping park if there was a public footpath to Oxenhope, we were assured that it was just across the road. We found the sign, but it was more like a deer trail than a footpath.

We forged on undaunted. Sometimes Brian went ahead to find the trail and came back to lead me through the wet grass and slippery trail. Once we had to stoop under a low tree, but the misty views were worth the effort.

Once we dropped down off the hillside and passed through a couple of gates, we landed on a well-maintained path that led us into the village. We found what we were looking for: a cash machine and a grocery store for a few provisions.  

After eating a snack on a bus stop bench, the only place we could find to get out of the rain, we headed back up the trail to our camping park. On the way, we heard a faint whistle in the distance. We watched as a steam train chugged across the valley below on its way to Oxenhope. I felt as if we had been transported back to the nineteenth century.

The yellow-flowered shrub in the foreground is called gorse. It seemed to thrive in areas protected from the wind. Whereas, the dormant heather could be seen on the exposed and windswept hilltops. We eventually climbed out of the valley's mist and made our way back to our motorhome. As our pants were wet and muddy, I was thankful for laundry facilities at the camping park. Quite a little adventure that day!