We’re delighted to present this photo-post from Wendy Michallat about her walks with her dog Stanley on the moors around Harden Reservoir to the north of Sheffield. Wendy is a lecturer in the University of Sheffield’s French Department. To see her academic profile, click here.
These pictures were taken above Harden Reservoir off the Dunford to Holmfirth Road on the edge of the Woodhead Pass. I come out here regularly from Penistone accompanied by Stanley the Dog. Five years ago, Harden Reservoir had been the first outing for newly adopted, feral Stanley. He coursed through the ferns and grouse-chased for three hours pausing only to paw and yowl at the ducks he’d scrambled towards over the 10 foot high stone wall edging the reservoir. Nowadays I tend to take him out on a lead. I come up here for peace and solitude and reflection as much as for the exercise. These moors remind me of the moors of Ilkley and Baildon and the childhood walks I would take with Dad and my sister and brothers while my nurse mother rested at home after her night shift at Bradford Royal Infirmary. It feels like a happy place where associated memories join with new ones. On June 17 2012 I came here the evening before my major operation wondering when and if I would see these moors again. The summer photos were taken in late August upon my return and the autumn photographs were taken at the beginning of December 2012.
Stanley and Wendy
See a historic map of this area