This is a minor route used by not very much local traffic. Clough Foot is a small cluster of houses on the A681 Bacup Road west of Todmorden and the crossroads is hard to miss as it’s the only one. The turning you want is Sourhall Road which heads north, taking you up through farming country onto the lonely scrubland below Flower Scar. It may not the most beautiful part of the south Pennines but it does have a pleasantly remote feel to it.
Starting in Clough Foot you’ll need to get the steep bit out of the way first. It’s nothing too energetic and it brings into some pleasantly rolling countryside.
Rolling in this context means that it’s not always uphill. After 1500 metres there’s the second hamlet of Sourhall. The road comes to a T-junction in front of the forlorn aspect of what was once the Country Friends pub.
Here you need to turn left over the cattle-grid and continue upwards on an even more minor road until you reach the crest of the road. If you’re not in thick cloud then the views are bleak and atmospheric.
The Calderdale 50 