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Walk Summary: Moderate 6 mile circular walk around Langsett reservoir, along Mickleden Edge and going deep into the Midhope Moors.
Start : Waggon & Horses pub
Locality: Langsett
Area: South East
Start OS Grid reference: SE2125400455
Start What3words : handfuls.sued.builders
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance miles: 6.0
Ascent meters: 365
Estimated Walk Time hours: 3.6
Pub & Locality: Waggon & Horses at Langsett
Parking: Limited parking at pub but there is a large public carpark 5 minutes away for Langsett walkers
Public Transport: Various buses from Holmfirth to Langsett bus stop via Penistone. Infrequent services. Journey time approx 2 hrs from Holmfirth via Penistone.
Walk Description: From the Langsett Barn Public carpark, take the track down to the reservoir and then walk anti-clockwise along the bank of the Langsett Reservoir (1) on a wooded path. Follow the path to the end of the reservoir to where it turns left down a path to a bridge over the Little Don river entering the reservoir.  Cross over the bridge and over a steep open rtack up on to moorland going due south. follow this track due south. Don’t take the first or second turns on the left which are the circular path around the reservoir but carry straight on to Mickleden Edge along Cut Gate path (2).  On reaching the watershed where the land levels out, leave Cut Gate path and bare left down Sugden Clough over the MIdhope Moors back northwards to the reservoir.  Here a number of shooting butts will be seen as these are private grouse shooting moors (3), with regular shooting parties often seen, complete with Land Rovers, gamekeepers, gundogs and beaters. Follow the track northwards back to rejoin the circular route around the reservoir, near to some old farm settlement remains North America (4),  back along Thickwoods Road.  Turn right along the track around the reservoir, bypassing Upper MIdhope, joining Joseph Lane. On reaching MIdhope Cliff Lane, turn left and cross over the Langsett dam embankment road. Immediately on crossing over the spilway bridge turn left through a gate and take the track along the reservoir edge and back to the carpark. Alternatively, carry on along the road to the A616 Stocksbridge Bypass and turn left to the Waggon & Horses pub for food and refreshments!  
Other comments and Points of Interest: (1) Langsett Reservoir is a major water supply reservoir serving Sheffield and Barnsley.  Constructed between 1889 and 1905, it dammed the Little Don River, creating one of the UK’s largest earth embankments, and required building a temporary village (pop. 500) for the workers and families, and a railway for materials supply.
(2) Cut Gate path – this bridleway between the Little Don and Derwent valleys is an ancient, historic packhorse route used for centuries by farmers, wool merchants and livestock drovers moving between Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. Originally traversing the area now occupied by Langsett Reservoir, it was re-routed in 1904 and remains a popular, remote route for walkers and mountain bikers, having been restored in 2007-2008. 
(3) Grouse shooting at Langsett Reservoir has been a major feature of the surrounding moorlands for over 150 years, peaking in popularity during the Victorian era and continuing as a managed activity today. The area is heavily managed to maintain heather moorland for grouse, which has historically been a significant source of income and conservation management in the Peak District.
(4) North America – originally a remote farm on the Midhope Moors whose name owes to the old practice of calling remote farms after far-off lands, it was abandoned in 1904 when the reservoir was constructed. The farm ruins were used for tank target practice by US armoured divisions during World War II, with the dents in the stones still visible.

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