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Walk Summary: Hard 10.1 mile walk from Royal Oak pub in Upperthong to the Diggle Hotel in Saddleworth along parts of the Pennine Way.
Start : Royal Oak Pub in Upperthong
Locality: Upperthong
Area: – West – Diggle walks
Start OS Grid reference: SE1280708414
Start What3words : describe.taxed.shoebox
Difficulty: Hard
Distance miles: 10.1
Ascent meters: 408
Estimated Walk Time hours: 5.7
Pub & Locality: Diggle Hotel at Diggle in Saddleworth
Parking: Small pub car park with on-street parking near Royal Oak pub.  
Public Transport:  30min walk from Holmfirth Bus station to Royal Oak pub in Upperthong.  Taxi service required to get back from Diggle to Upperthong or Holmfirth
Walk Description: From Royal Oak pub turn left up Town Gate and follow it round sharp bend to left.  After 50m take Flat Lane on right. Cross the A635 and go down Black Sike directly opposite. At top turn right, then left into Hogley Lane. At end turn right and pass through stile on right to continue across field paths to Carr Green. Follow road up to Flush House, bear right and follow up to cross roads. Straight on to Acres Lane and after 50m fork left into White Walls Lane, becoming Shay Lane then Nether Lane, above Digley reservoir (2) and Bilberry Reservoir (3).  When lane turns sharply right continue straight ahead over stile. Rough path follows edge of woodland then turns right up over poor grassland. At A635 climb over stile then left and into Meltham Road on right. After 300m take Pennine Way down track on left and follow down past Wessenden Lodge until a signpost on the left indicates PW down a steep path to a stream. Cross bridge and climb steeply up path to a covered water tank. Continue on Pennine Way up Blakely Clough, across a stream (care) and follow path until Black Moss reservoir (1) is reached. Cross the dam and follow Pennine Way path to left and then right where it joins the alternative Pennine Way route which will lead to Brun Clough reservoir at Standedge. Follow the northern (road side) edge of the reservoir and the path leads down to the Keepers Cottage thence down the Standedge/Oldham Way to Diggle. The Diggle Hotel is on your left at the bottom of the path.
Other comments and points of interest: (1) Black Moss reservoir and its larger companion, Swellands are owned and operated by the Canal and River Trust. They were built on peat bog in the early 1800’s to supply water to the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and now require substantial maintenance and up grade work. For this purpose a new access road has been built and will be seen where the two Pennine Way routes join. This provides an alternative route to the Keepers Cottage in Brun Clough where the described route leads down to Diggle.
(2) Digley reservoir is comparatively recent, having been completed in 1954. It impounds a narrow, steep valley and the average depth is 18.6m. The dam is on the site of a small mill and an older derelict mill. Further up the valley the former Isle of Skye pub on the A635 was closed and then demolished to avoid pollution hazards.
(3) Bilberry reservoir is the site of the famous 19th century Bilberry Dam disaster.   This was a catastrophic flood in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, on February 5, 1852, when the Bilberry Reservoir embankment collapsed after heavy rain. The failure of the poorly constructed and maintained dam released over 86 million gallons of water, causing widespread destruction and killing 81 people, most of whom were asleep when the flood hit at night. The disaster destroyed factories, bridges, and homes, and an inquest concluded that the reservoir was “defective in its original construction” and was left in a dangerous state. 
(4) Typical Boys Xmas pub walk from Upperthong to Diggle

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