AY UP LADS! - A REYT GUD TIME BY GUM IN`T YOLKSHIRE!!

Get away for a weekend break in the Heart of the South Yorkshire Pennines in a refurbished 16th century Manor House! 

Marty, Jason & James look forward to welcoming you to YHA Mankinholes where "Bronte Country" meets the "God`s Own Country" film set.

Mankinholes is a small stone hamlet nestled at the foot of the iconic Stoodley Pike and halfway between the classic and characterful Pennine towns of Todmorden and Hebden Bridge that are linked by the Rochdale Canal. All around are typical millstone grit High Moors evocative of where Heathfield and Cathy roamed and romanced - and, for that matter, Johnny & Gheorghe!! Mankinholes is an unusual name of Celtic origin meaning place of fierce wild men!! - We can only hope!?

The hostel is a converted 16th century stone manor house recently refurbished with 8 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and 3 showers, a large kitchen and dining room, a cosy lounge, garden and parking. Across the field opposite in the twin hamlet of Lumbutts (I said there were interesting names in these parts! Anyone for Slack Bottom!?) is the local pub.

You can`t miss Stoodley Pike that towers over the Calder Valley, a 120ft high obelisk, surmounting a 1300ft high hill, originally built in 1815 to celebrate victory at Waterloo and rebuilt in 1856 after a lightening strike to coincide with victory in the Crimean War. There are internal steps to take you up to a 360 degree balcony with spectacular views across the Moors.

For activities the Pennine Way, Calderdale Way, Pennine Bridleway and Calderdale-Aire Way are all close by and the 75km Mary Towneley Loop Mountain Biking route runs right past the Hostel - there is a cycle store at the hostel so this event is suitable for cyclists as well. Jason will put together an interesting selection of walks of different standards and lengths linking up all the main highlights, Todmorden, White Holme Moor, Cragg Vale, Rochdale Canal, Hebden Bridge, Hardcastle Crags & Gibson Mill NT Centre, Heptonstall and Hebden Dale.

To whet your appetite and interest the BBC have recently run a short series of "Yorkshire Walks" with Shanaz Gulzar a Bradford artist and the 2nd one was Heptonstall to Stoodley Pike via Hebden Bridge. Originally on BBC4, now on BBC2 you will be able to find it on IPlayer. BBC4 are also re-running the Paul Rose series of walking the Pennine Way, the first programme includes Stoodley Pike and Heptonstall.

One idea we are working on is driving/ferrying the group to Oxenhope - about 10 miles away - and taking a steam train ride on the Keighley & Worth Valley Preservation Railway to Haworth and walking up through the village (think "Hovis" advert!) to the Parsonage and then onto and across the Haworth Moors back to Oxenhope.

Note: There's a Beer and Music Festival on the weekend that we're in the area so we will need to factor that in.

Other options for those looking for more "townie" trips is Halifax only a few miles to the east, with the spectacular Piece Hall, the "Quality Street" factory, Eureka Museum and Shibden Hall home of the now "famous" Ann Lister otherwise known to BBC Drama fans as "Gentleman Jack".

So, there will be plenty of options to keep you busy and entertained (we hope to be able to play the DVD of "God`s Own Country" if they have the right equipment at the Hostel) and of course you will be well fed and watered by mein hosts throughout with breakfasts and three course evening meals. 

Dogs: There will be four dogs at this hostel. All dog places have now been booked.

Photo credits: Photographs of the hostel used with permission of the YHA. All other images property of Martin Watkins and used with permission. 

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