Marsden, West Yorkshire, Summer
Time for somewhere a little different.
We’re as guilty as anyone of succumbing to the familiar. Conscious of this, Lisabet and I booked a long weekend somewhere we’d never explored before: the moors of West Yorkshire.
Our “base” for the weekend was the bonny village of Marsden. Much like the rest of West Yorkshire, Marsden was an important mill town known for the production of woollen cloth. The days of hard labour in mills, warehouses, and factories are over, but those grand old buildings remain. These days, Marsden is a vibrant and forward-looking place that enjoys a great food and drink scene, easy travel to Manchester or Leeds, and quick access to the beautiful moorland hills that surround it.
The weather wasn’t as kind to us on this particular break, with persistent and at times heavy rain following us for most of the weekend. We attempted a hike up a well-known local hill, Pule Hill, but quickly turned back as it became clear that the various trails up the hill would be too boggy for us.
Instead, we explored the gorgeous scenery around the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, and possibly the windiest shoot I’ve ever done at Buckstones Edge.
All photos taken on my Sony α7ii using my Sony FE 28–70mm f3.5–5.6 OSS zoom, Vivitar “Series 1” 70–210mm f2.8–4.0 zoom, and Rokinon 14mm f2.8 ED AS IF UMC prime lenses. RAWs converted in Lightroom, developed in Photomatix, and edited and finalised in Photoshop.
Marsden, West Yorkshire, Summer by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
On a small clearing above the canal, we captured an inkling of a view of Marsden and its old buildings and mills.
The Huddersfield Narrow Canal between Marsden and Slaithwaite features plenty of picturesque locks in lovely scenery. The canal itself, though only 20 miles long, has 74 locks.
The canal truly is narrow in name and nature. Near Standedge Tunnel, a splash of colour amongst the brickwork catches my eye.
Many sections of Huddersfield Narrow Canal are beautifully lush and verdant.
This is where Huddersfield Narrow Canal enters Standedge Tunnel, carrying watercraft through and underneath the Pennines. At 5.2 km long, 194 m underground, and 196 m above sea level, Standedge Canal Tunnel is Britain’s longest, deepest, and highest canal tunnel.
Our ultimate destination was Pule Hill above the tunnel, at 434 m/1,434 ft above sea level. Though ultimately we retreated from climbing the summit, we nevertheless got fantastic views of Marsden and the valley it sits in.
An old farm cottage that’s seen better days, but nevertheless enjoys fantastic views.
After clambering and squelching back down the valley into Marsden—and refuelling our bellies—we head up to Buckstone Edge. This rim of the valley above March Haigh Reservoir is lined with Millstone Grit crags and boulders that offer a photographer’s paradise of compositions.
At 1,400 ft above sea level, the wind was blowing a raging storm. Probably one of the windiest shoots I’ve ever done. I wanted to capture that sense of rushing and movement everywhere, contrasted against the still and stubborn boulders and crags.
As a result of the high winds, the clouds above us were rushing across the sky. This allowed for the sun to intermittently paint golden streaks of light across the land. All I had to do was watch, wait, and shoot.
I gingerly clambered down the steep valley side, seeking compositions of the Buckstones pointing towards Pule Hill in the distance.
Some of these Millstone Grit boulders were as big as a car, stubbornly resisting the sheer force of the day’s wind.
After satiating my need for ultra-wide compositions, I equipped my 70–210mm lens for some tighter images. Trying to get a steady shot at 210mm with the wind wrestling my camera was definitely a challenge. Some how, I managed a few sharp images!
Pule Hill, which defeated us earlier in the day. Here, at 210mm, it caught the sun’s fleeting paintbrush as I pressed the shutter.
Beyond the village, I spy the distant hills of Marsden Moor receiving their share of the sun’s brief artistic spurt, and set up a composition at 210mm with the Buckstones.