Sycamore Class’s latest Adventure Day took them into the Piethorne Valley on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors, for a rigorous 4-mile walk.
We passed beside the lovely Piethorne Reservoir, built in 1868 to provide people of Oldham with drinking water. On our way we passed the brand new Water Treatment Works, and then reached the Lime House, where lime was stored in Victorian times, to be added to the acidic moorland water to make it better to drink. Water treatment Victorian-style!
After that we climbed up the valley side, and cut through the forest, into Bluebell Wood. What a good name for it! It looked absolutely stunning with the whole forest floor carpeted in these gorgeous flowers.
We sheltered by a dry-stone wall to have our lunch – making sure as always that we removed all trace of being there – then set off again across the moor. We soon came to a ruined homestead, which was a farm dating back to the 1300s! We even found the well that the people who lived in the farm used for their water supply.
As we reached the top of our walk we enjoyed a gorgeous view of the lakes beneath us, as skylarks soared and sang above our heads. After our steep climb we took the opportunity to practise our emergency drills, by setting up the bothy bag and getting the whole class underneath it. We always hope that we will not need our emergency equipment, but it is important to know what to do in case we did.
To finish off we came down through the only hill farm remaining in the valley – using the public footpath of course – and the sheep and lambs parted to let us through as we made our way sensibly across the pasture.
Another party of walkers had met us at various times during the day, and summed up our feelings as they described the children as “a credit to the school”
