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  • 2017 My Walking Year in review

    Posted on by Mark Wild

    And so it came to pass, that in the year of our lord 2017, Mark Wild did next to bugger all walking!

    There are no elephants on my blog, I’ll admit that in many ways, this has not been a stellar twelve months and walking, or the lack of, was one of the ways in which the year’s darkness materialised.

    I got off to something of a bad start by developing a foot problem by the 14th of January and whilst I had been to the gym a number of times, this would never grow into a habitual regime! For most of January I simply walked around the fitness trail at work as a way of keeping the limbs moving.

    At the end of January we lost Mike, this impacted upon us all and subsequently I had to pull out of the Anglezarke Amble which I had planned on doing with Darren – January’s only walk had been the ‘half Amble’ with Darren – for most part in the snow!

    February saw my declining relationship with Southport Ramblers sink to new depths as we trudged our way across muddy field after muddy field at the stunning Arnside, four weeks later we took in the worst of what the Forest of Bowland has to offer with another ten mile slide at Chipping! Unofficially, I’ve had it now, these walks are just not worth paying £14 a pop for! The highlight of February however, was introducing Darren and my nephew Connor to the delights of Pendle Hill…even if I did fall over on the way down (at least if gave Connor a laugh!).

    As mentioned previously, March’s Ramble to Chipping was utterly rubbish, I could have had a better time at home or even at the gym! March would prove to be my standout worst month. But April was by contrast a festival of walking. First came a beautiful stroll over two of the lesser challenging Wainwrights as Sue and Karl and I took in Brock Crags and Angle Tarn Pike. A week later saw me at Anglezarke once more in order to do the long pull up Great Hill and the traverse of the ‘Edge’s’ then an equally strenuous ascent of Catter Nab via various terrains of Woodland and grass – all in all a very pleasing yomp. The climax of this fantastic walking month was another trip to the Lake District to tick off another of the giants – High Street and I hope I can hold onto that memory of being face-to-face with the true giants at the top of this mighty whaleback! We nailed another three summits whilst there – but don’t ask me which ones, I can only remember the glory of High Street.

    May and June saw no walking activity again and it was not until the start of our two weeks of annual leave in July before my feet touched the ground (other than going to and from work). Chris and I had a lovely stroll around the haunting Crosby Beach followed a few days later by an excursion to Beacon Fell to take in those magnificent views of the Forest of Bowland. On Sunday the 30th Sue, Lynne, Karl and I took in two wonderful summits at Martindale – Beda Fell and Place Fell. I might never go back to Beda Fell, I can’t imagine never going to a new favourite in Place Fell.

    In August, four of us teamed up to take on two peaks near Horton in Ribblesdale – one rightly famous, Pen-y-Ghent and the other notorious, Plover Hill, one of the wettest places I’ve ever trudged across. I had planned another Yorkshire Three Peaks assault with Darren, this walk underlined just how unfit  I had become as I struggled all the way up Pen-y-Ghent…I was in no shape to do any three peaks, let alone Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough. It would have to wait for next year and I was dismayed to hear that Darren and Mike had achieved a very credible 9 hours thirty minutes a few weeks later.

    In September I donned my walking boots on two more occasions, the first of which was a classic at Pendle taking in the lesser known Stang Top Moor with its legendary view of Pendle across the sky. As far as solo walking goes, this is my cream of the crop, I aim to repeat this walk at least once per year from now on. The second walk, just a week later had me back at Great Hill having first traversed Spitlers and Redmonds Edges and finally marching back through Anglezarke to Rivington, this has become my ‘go-to’ walk, if I can’t quite make up my mind where to go then this will always suffice.

    So, with the exception of a wonderful ascension of Snarker Pike and Red Screes with Sue and Karl (my fourth trip to the lakes this year!), my walking year came to an end…it hadn’t really taken off by comparison to 2016!

    This year, this awful year of 2017, has seen loss on a personal and family level on a new unprecedented scale…that I hope to recover from with the shortest of all delays. People will say, hell, I’d say of it, ‘a year is a year, it’s what you make of it’ and rightly so. But sometimes, just every so often, a dark one comes along…here’s hoping that I can make 2018 a fantastic spectacle of a year, I’m definitely doing the Amble (with Darren) and have organised a trip to Horton with some of my colleagues to do the Y3P again, so fingers crossed that I gain a measure of fitness that has been sorely missed this year!

    Happy Christmas all and a prosperous new year.

     

     


    Fells, Hills and Mountains Pendle Hill The Training Regime Uncategorised

  • Staggering up Stang Top Moor…

    Posted on by Mark Wild

     

    … and barging up Big End!

    This was the walk of Saturday the 16th of September.

    After dropping off Chris at around 6:15 on Saturday I drove over to Barley via the usual, A59 route and arrived at 7:55. I set off with the clear intention of taking in a lesser, but none-the-less important (to me) summit of Stang Top Moor. I first stumbled onto the summit in 2012 on the day of the Pendle Witch walk and was enraptured by the fantastic view offered to me of my favourite hill – Pendle, from the summit of this otherwise diminutive hilltop. A few years later, quite by chance I managed to climb up to the top of the summit without using roads and it was this route that I intended to take on this day.

    Alas, what was once easy was now…not! The path that had stood so proud and clear on my last ascension, was for all intentions invisible and I ended up missing the turning I should have taken and tramping around through grassy paddock after grassy plantation until I spied the road. I remembered the road for it was the same one that I had walked down in 2012, now I had to walk up it. To be honest, it was not that difficult, the sun came out and thankfully started to dry the legs of my walking trousers which had taken in copious amounts of unnecessary hydration! Apparently the weather was going to play fair with me today.

    Within an hour, I had managed to navigate my way to the trig point at the top of Stang Top Moor and was once again flabbergasted at the sumptuous panorama across to mighty Pendle Hill. It was odd that something which I knew to be at least two miles away, appeared to be within reach. This peak is nothing if not a splendid viewing platform.

    On this day I had decided to take lots of photos and to actually create a video log of the walk – incidentally, I refuse outright to refer to them as VLOGS! This initiative would lead to some interesting and interested looks from people who I encountered on route. Admittedly, since leaving Barley I didn’t actually encounter anyone in Rough Lee and it was at the Upper Black Moss before I exchanged greetings with anyone – although I’m certain that the neighbours on route would have heard me keep chastising myself for using the pronoun ‘we’ when referring to which part of the route was coming up next! The drop down from peak number one to the reservoirs is, if anything, too short. One wants to take time and relax in-between hilltops…I charged around like a newly liberated man and arrived at the confusing section of the walk, the part between the reservoirs, Windy Harbour (it really is called that) and Salt Pie (yes!). I never know which is which out of the latter two – the reservoirs are thankfully self apparent!

    I spent a few minutes rubbishing the claims that the ruin of a dilapidated shed is the infamous ‘Malkin Tower’ of Pendle Witch folklore and basking in the sunshine before becoming somewhat agog at the audacity of the man (whoever he may be) that had decided to block off part of the public right of way which should have lead me across a field and no longer did. Undeterred, I stomped up a farm track and headed towards Barley Road, only noticing at the last moment that there was another track across a field…which would lead me to Barley Road (eventually). It appears that there had been no blocking of the public footpath and I had simply remembered incorrectly, the shame of it! I opted not to cross the last field which lay adjacent to the road and took the longer, but less prone to sink-inducing tarmac path towards Barley Road. I do not enjoy the wetness of the fields in this area and as such was more than happy to walk up to the turn off which runs almost parallel to the hill along a dry track to Pendle House. There’s nothing like being in the shadow of the beast.

    If what had gone before had been something of a pleasure, I was now at the privilege part. I love the walk up the slope of Pendle to ‘Big End’, every step is a joy…on the way up, coming down is a whole different kettle of fish – which is why I seldom descend via this route. that’s not to say that you don’t have to watch your feet from time to time, there are parts of the path where it’s all too easy to stumble and take it from me, millstone grit and human skin do not a happy combination make! The walk up the slope terminates, or at the very least gives way and merges with the main drag from Boar Clough and later still the approach from Ogden Clough and Spence Moor. It’s a wondrous thing to have walked practically all routes up this magnificent monolith…I must do the Worston Moor and Mearley Moor routes one day. All too quickly I was at the trig point, 1,827 feet in the air. the summit was very clear and I encountered just one other walker whilst I was there. Not that there were not many people on the fells, they’d all had a get together and let me have the top to myself for a while because before very long, the masses began to appear at the apex of the steps route – my choice of descent for today.

    It’s official, if not yet documented, that it takes me longer to walk down from the top than it does to get up the thing! My ingrained fear of falling (which does not prevent the act at all) imbues in me a snail’s pace when it comes to dropping down the Pendle Steps. I give way at the slightest chance to those who look scarlet in the cheeks and puff and pant…it’s a joy to behold people struggling…it’s like a drug! Alas, all too soon (it feels that way at least), I was at the bottom of the stepped staircase and rounding the bend which leads me to an area of land simply to small to be called anything greater than a paddock. Once, through the gate, (having quite skillfully traversed a patch of mud), it was then down on to those accursed fields – the ones which I don’t like in-between Pendle and Brown houses. For once, I never fell…and this only minorly marred my walk, I’d much rather see the countryside from afar as opposed to glare fearfully at it anticipating each and every step!

    I met and greeted many more walkers on route back into Barley, I’d given up any notion of making a nice well rounded and informative video commentary of the day and was now pretty much snapping everything that didn’t move, my video will serve as a testament to this! The smell of freshly ground cappuccino or latte was engulfing my olfactory sensors, I wanted coffee…now! by 11:16 I was within shot of the Cabin and my well deserved cup of coffee.

    Pendle will always be my most favoured hill, it’s dominated my walking thoughts since 2009 and shows no sign of relaxing its grip on me…this I wouldn’t want to change. There’s something vastly satisfying about regarding oneself as a ‘Pendle expert’ and a little vane! But with regards to walking around this verdant mound I believe myself to be one of the elite few who ‘really know Pendle’, I suspect I’m in good company (a nod to the late Mr A Wainwright of Blackburn and Kendal). The two walks I have completed around this area this year have been immensely rewarding, not least because my nephew Connor is also now a fan of the hill! Some years I have visited here four times, more often than not just the three…quality matters over quantity. I’ll be back in the new year (a year of big changes I expect, but at least hopefully Pendle won’t change – fingers crossed!), I’ve told Chris she has to come with me at New Year…we’ll see.

    Ps. There’s still two more completed walks this year to blog!

     


    Fells, Hills and Mountains Pendle Hill Pendle Hill The Pendle Witch Walk The Training Regime Walking

  • 2016 My Walking Year in review

    Posted on by Mark Wild

    I knew it was going to be a good year, I was wrong. It was a fantastic year!

    Lots of folks out on the hill today, we must all be mad.
    Lots of folks out on the hill today, we must all be mad.

    I was off the mark very early in the year in 2016 as I rekindled my relationship with my beloved Pendle Hill on New Year’s Day. It was good that there were so many people out and about in spite of the liberal coating of snow/frost that she had been granted. Before the week was out I joined the Ramblers on a walk in the Lune Valley / Reservoir as we slogged along a flood plain for ten and a half miles and I watched as my core temperature plummeted! Later in the month was a trip to the future, at Burton as I observed the effects of silting on the River Dee estuary. The same environmental metamorphosis is set to happen to our beloved and receding coast line at Southport. A sobering yet captivating scene. the last trip out of the month was with the Ramblers to Skipton where, whilst being rained upon for most of the day, I conquered the minor peak of Sharp Haw.

    The Jubilee Tower on Darwen hill
    The Jubilee Tower on Darwen hill

    February brought with it a bonus week off for my birthday during which Chris and I returned to the spectacular Ingleton falls. In winter this was far nicer than the last time that we visited at the height of summer. Then came the big one, the walk that I had been building up to for over a year: The Anglezarke Amble with Mark Carson. To say that I had become obsessed with this twenty-four mile dash over numerous hills and mud galore is no exaggeration. Nearing the end of this epic day I had sworn ‘never again’ yet within an hour of finishing, on the way home, I was planning my next participation. I’m hooked and hope that I will always be so. At the end of the month came another trip out with the Ramblers as we went to Staveley , taking in numerous fields and more parts of hills. Although the walk was enjoyable it would be so nice to put a name to the places that one has been!

    March opened up with a wonderful snowy walk with Chris as we passed most of Rivington’s vast reservoirs. We loved this route so much that it has now replaced Rivington Pike as our ‘go-to’ route. Winter Hill draped in snow is becoming an increasingly irregular sight, so i considered myself fortunate to be within sight of this natural beauty on this visit. The next walk was another where I re-united with an old acquaintance in the shape of the Keswick giant Skiddaw. Sue, Karl and I spent five glorious hours traversing the Ullock Pike ridge to Skiddaw whilst avoiding suicidal mountain bikers at 2,700′! Six days later Chris and I returned to Pen-y-Ghent, where snow was on one of its flanks and spent a very enjoyable afternoon walking around my favourite of the Yorkshire Three Peaks: Pen-y-Ghent. On Good Friday came what could well be the prestigious (in my head at least) ‘walk of the year’ – the Half Amble’. Although on my own, this walk featured a celebration of my completion of the Anglezarke Amble and at just shy of fifteen miles, was a good workout in fine temperatures and even featured a sighting of a red deer on Anglezarke Moor.

    Cheetham Close's summit comes into view.
    Cheetham Close’s summit comes into view.

    April saw Chris and I back at Pendle on a gloriously rainy day. No new sights, no new routes we slowly splashed our way up the steps in the rain. the photos were a washout, the route down to the slope was precarious! The rest of the month saw me return to Darwen Hill and then two excursions up to a new favourite in the form of Cheetham Close, its neighbouring summit Turton Heights practically defined disappointing but I may still take this route on next year’s ‘Amble’ as the route across the slope of the hill is just awful!

    A re-take of a photo that I used to have on my desktop in 1999
    A re-take of a photo that I used to have on my desktop in 1999

    In May we took a mini break in Salou (again) but still managed to get in a breezy coastal walk along the Camino de Ronda. A couple of weeks later I was lucky enough to tackle multiple summits over the Dodds in the north east corner of the Lake District. I won’t lie, Clough Head was very testing and to this we added the summits of Watson’s Dodd, Great Dodd, Starling Dodd and a couple of Birketts. This visit left me wanting more and Chris and I returned a week later to the Lakes in order to take in Loughrigg – we finally managed to get to the trig point. The next day we had a three peak walk over Rivington Pike, Crooked Edge Hill and Winter Hill.

    The first walk of June was somewhat frustrating. Southport ramblers took us off to Ambleside where I had the option of ascending Great Rigg and Fairfield or Silver Howe and Blea Rigg. As I had climbed  Great Rigg and Fairfield as part of the Fairfield Horseshoe last summer I thought that I would tick off the two lesser summits. And there in lay the problem. Oh sure, we achieved the steep little pull up to Silver Howe with relative ease, for the next few hours however, Blea Rigg proved elusive. We could not find it! I think we stood on four minor peaks with me checking my phone’s altimeter to no avail! The following Saturday Chris and I walked up to the summit of our biggest mountain so far. We nailed Snowdon from Llanberris. I was delighted to be atop this majestic giant, even if a thick mist had descended half-way up.

    Walking was to then take a back seat. Mine and Darren’s Yorkshire Three Peaks had to be put off, as did the week after’s White Bear Way as Chris succumbed to a gall bladder illness which would trouble her for a further three weeks and involve an ECRP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangio-Pancreatography) procedure which bottomed-out her blood pressure – thank you Fazakerley Hospital!!!

    Barrow, Outerside and Crag Hill on the left with Grisedale Pike facing on the right.
    Ard Crags begins to fill my mind as well as my camera lens.
    Ard Crags begins to fill my mind as well as my camera lens.

    It wasn’t until the end of July that I was back amongst the north western fells on a walk with Sue, Lynne and Karl which took in the magnificent Grisedale Pike and another three summits from this area of relative giants.

    Another month would go by before Chris and I returned to Pendle for a jolly old walk up the slope and down the steps. She didn’t appreciate this diversion to an established route – I did, the slope route is my favourite way up and down.  August saw no further walking action from either one of us.

    And so into September and once again a lean walking month. Sue, Karl and I had a strenuous hike up to the two lesser Wainwrights of Ard Craggs and Knott Rigg. This is hailed as a ‘classic walk’ according to the internet…I remained somewhat unimpressed.

    A distant view of the masts from Belmont Road.
    A distant view of the masts from Belmont Road.

    Again over a month went by with no walking and then it happened! I proposed a route to Karl that we simply could not resist – the Anglezarke Amble (shorter version). I don’t want to betray its bigger brother…but the shorter version is simply the nicer walk. Not only is it eight miles shorter, it omits the eastern half of Longworth Moor, declines the opportunity to ascend Darwen Hill and gives one some wonderful yomping across Catherine Edge…it’s all good. Moreover, in preparation of next year’s Amble, I now know the route from White Coppice back to Rivington. One week later saw me return to the same environment to tackle the classic Edge’s to Great Hill walk returning to Rivington via the same White Coppice traversal – Brilliant and the fact that it clocked in at just shy of twelve miles meant that Chris and I had just set our new distance bar!

    We had no walking in November as Chris had to have the misbehaving gallbladder extracted. Never again will the cursed thing impede my Three Peaks and White Bear Way…bloody thing!

    Looking far more sinister than normal, Pigeon Tower.
    Looking far more sinister than normal, Pigeon Tower.

    So that brings me up to December and already we’ve returned to Rivington two more times. The first time we took in Wilkinson Bullough, Simms and the Hempshaws Pastures – it’s becoming a classic for us. On our next return we simply took in the Pike and back – more ‘Amble’ practice, I am now sure of the easiest way to get me and Darren up to the top of the Pike. Only two more possible walks remain. Karl and I have promised ourselves another return to Ramsbottom in order to take in Bull Hill and Holcolmbe Hill. Hopefully the final walk of the year should see me at good old Pendle to do my doc-u-walk and visit both Stang Top Moor and Spence Moor in the same epic walk, watch this space, on New Year’s Eve!

    So there you have it. If all goes to plan then I will have completed thirty two walks this year. It’s getting serious now. There have been some new peaks: Grisedale Pike and the others of the north western Lakes and not forgetting the little cracker that is Cheetham Close. by way of contrast, aside from Pendle, Winter Hill and Rivington Pike who would have thought that I would hit Snowdon once again and that I would slip and slide my way over the Ullock Pike route to the mighty Skiddaw?

    For next year, I long to be back atop England’s highest, Scafell Pike to me is somehow not fully ticked off. Darren and I often put plans down to return to Snowdon in order to complete the epic ‘Watkins Path’…here’s hoping. There will be more challenge walks next year, obviously the Amble, a moth later the Peelers Hike with Mark and two weeks later the one that has me most nervous – The Two Crosses (25 miles in nine hours). I’ll give the White Bear Way another shot, I may even make it to the start this time! So many walks to do…

    But returning to this year and the not at all prestigious walk of the year. Once again there were three candidates:

    1. The Anglezarke Amble – full version with Mark.
    2. The Half Amble – me on my lonesome
    3. The Anglezarke Amble – short version with Karl

    And the winner is…(no, seriously did you need to ask, I’ve been banging on about it all year?) The Anglezarke Amble (long version). But the other two were tied for second place!

    Until next year…

     

     

     

     


    Anglezarke Amble Challenge Walks Fells, Hills and Mountains Peelers Hike Pendle Hill The Training Regime Turton Walk Walking Walking for fitness West Pennines

  • Persisting at Pendle

    Posted on by Mark Wild

    The walk of Saturday 2nd of April, 2016, with my lovely partner Chris(tine).

    This was my second visit to Pendle and the weather, it has to be said, was a bit inclement. This walk was our compromise, I had wanted to go to the Lakes and have a go at a ‘Half Newlands’ featuring High Spy, Maiden Moor and Catbells. But, with the weather set to be somewhat abysmal in the northern half of the country, we settled on good old Pendle – as I know this hill better than any other and would more than likely get us there and back safely.

    Whilst it’s true to say that we weren’t experiencing hurricane force winds, there was enough rain around to leave us saturated after roughly twenty minutes, but more of that later…We set off, finally, for I’d had reservations but Chris just wanted to ‘go for it’, at roughly 12:03. We had tried ‘sitting it out’ in the Cabin café but this had proved fruitless. I’d decided ahead of time, no matter what the weather: I wasn’t going to go via my normal route – I really don’t like the two fields adjacent to Pendle House. Of all the alternative routes, simply walking up Barley Road seemed to be the most obvious – all that needed to be done was to watch out for cars flying around the copious sharp bends.

    The turn-off for Salt Pie and Windy Harbour.
    The turn-off for Salt Pie and Windy Harbour.
    Aitken Wood appears to be looming over Lower Black Moss Reservoir.
    Aitken Wood appears to be looming over Lower Black Moss Reservoir.

    Walking past the turning for the oddly named Salt Pie and Windy Harbour brought back happy memories of the last time that I did Pendle in the rain with Sue, Helen and Karl and I wished that the weather had been better so that we could have done the longer walk which I had planned. The road certainly made for much easier walking than any of my normal routes would have done. It was long before we reached the lane which would lead us by Pendle House and up to the splitting of the paths.

     

     

    Just to highlight how wet it had been…my camera has fogged up.
    Just to highlight how wet it had been…my camera has fogged up.
    The cruel slope of this legend of a hill.
    The cruel slope of this legend of a hill.

    In the first section of the walk we scarcely saw any other walkers. Even on a quiet day the Barley steps route is normally draped in walkers in various states of fatigue. Today I don’t remember seeing one for the majority of the climb. Yes, we had chosen to take the steps route – I’ll hold my hand up and say for the record that I do prefer going up the slope for simply walking and up the steps for making out myself to be some kind of walking super hero (which obviously I am not!). The first hundred yards are the hardest part of this route purely because here is where the steps are at their deepest / highest (delete as per your understanding) – each step upwards seems big! The mist and rain made photograph taking something of a futile activity.

    I noticed that the main ‘stepped’ route is now supporting a number of branch-off routes. I’m not sure that this route needs any adding to as this is the second most direct route from this aspect and the branching can only possibly link to the route up which I have named ‘the middle way’. Yes folks there is a steeper route up this hill, fortunately it’s also about a quarter of a mile shorter. All the same, I do hope this vogue of ‘adding a branch’ is not taken up – it would be a shame to add a great big scar to the side of this majestic hill.

    A Marshall for the Pendle Fell race taking part today.
    A Marshall for the Pendle Fell race taking part today.
    Chris went and pinched the first to the trig point opportunity.
    Chris went and pinched the first to the trig point opportunity.

    Before very long we were at the apex, at the ‘Downham Wall’. If one were to hop over the wall stile then apparently a path will lead one to the Scout Cairn. I’ve fallen for this before and ended up dropping down the path all the way to Downham and had to duly head back up the hill again. One day, perhaps when the mist is in remission for an hour or two I may try and locate this illusive landmark. For now we were happy to be at the end of the serious climbing and onto the summit plateau. I’ve read various reports on just how far from the apex of the path to the trig point is…personally I don’t think it’s two hundred feet…more like around quarter of a mile (1,320). The mist was so thick that the trig point was not visible until we were something like twenty feet away from it. What I though had been it turned out to be a Marshal from the Pendle Fell race – yes people were planning on running up here today. The summit was freezing and I joked to hime (the language of which I shall clean up) ‘Who did you upset to get that job?’. He laughed but was gobsmacked at the same time.

    I don’t think we were at the trig point for more than five minutes. My hands were freezing and within ten minutes of leaving the ordnance survey column I put my gloves on. Oddly enough this simple act aided my concentration and I didn’t miss the turn-off for the slope for our descent back to Pendle House. I hadn’t fancied the idea of tackling the steps on the way down – they scare me when they are dry, let along wet. The start / end of the slope has of course now been split into two paths – in this case it makes sense to have one for ascent and another for descent – the ascending one may only be fifteen yards or so in length – but it’s steep enough to put this walker off descending it.

    Our ‘slope’ path back down to Pendle House.
    Our ‘slope’ path back down to Pendle House.
    All that Barley has to offer…unseen.
    All that Barley has to offer…unseen.

    We were on the slope now and dropping gently. The last time that I dropped down this route I lost two things: 1 My footing (as it was icy) and 2 My Ingersoll watch. I made sure that my cheap Casio one was on tight. From here, on a clear day, you get the chance to take in the essentials of Barley – the café, the four main reservoirs and all of the smaller pond-sized ones and all of the farmsteads. Today, well the colours were all washed out making most things hardly worth a second glance. Still, what did matter was that we had walked up a really hard hill. At times, in places, Pendle can compete with the best and highest that England has to offer.

    Chris strides on, whilst I try find something that my camera can focus on.
    Chris strides on, whilst I try find something that my camera can focus on.
    The path around the back of Pendle House.
    The path around the back of Pendle House.

    At the bottom of the slope our path linked with the steps path and we made our way back down to Pendle House. As could be expected, there were more walkers on route now (we had met a couple near to the apex of the way up), but now there was the odd group and a number of couples walking. I didn’t fancy the fields route – it can be very slippery, so we opted to take the same way back as we had set out. This meant the road once more. From here on it was a case of looking at the scenery that we had missed on the way up! Linking Barley to the quaint little postage-stamp sized village of Newchurch in Pendle is one of the steepest roads that I’ve walked up, Cross Lane. Today, Cross Lane was one of the few ‘objects’ which I could discern amongst the mist.

    Cross Lane peeps out of the centre foreground.
    Cross Lane peeps out of the centre foreground.
    A look back though the village to where Pendle should be!
    A look back though the village to where Pendle should be!

    Although there had been quite a bit of traffic on our drive up to Barley, it seemed to be bypassing the village and thankfully our journey back down to the car park and visitor centre was incident free. We were both soaked to the skin and to be honest the wind really hadn’t put in a good enough show to dry us out! The cup of coffee at the Cabin helped thaw me out, to be honest I had warmed up as soon as we set foot on the slope back downhill. I was surprised to see upon our arrival that the car park was now almost full, but then I remembered those crazy individuals taking part in the fell race. Upon leaving the centre we saw a vast group of contestants outside the village hall, they all looked eager to set off and get warm.

    Summary

    Map my Hike tells me that we walked for just over five miles and ascended one thousand, four hundred and seventy feet. Given the conditions I was very happy with this. I’m happier still that Chris and I got to the top of Pendle in only one hour and ten minutes, no mean feat.

    Again, there was no ‘Song of the walk’ – I was too busy talking! But below is the montage of rather washed photos that I managed to take.


    Pendle Hill Walking

  • Perishing Pendle

    Posted on by Mark Wild

    Last year I celebrated New Year by climbing my favourite hill – Pendle, on New Year’s Eve – effectively 2014 (still with me folks?). I made the comittment to do the same walk the following year but around December this year came to the realisation that it would be January first that I would do the walk. All the same it was a great way of burning off a mince pie or two as not only was it a good old leg stretcher, the temperature ensured that there would be no idling on route.

    The 'grit stone slope' path which leads to the Boar Clough main arterial path to the summit from the rear of Pendle House.
    The ‘grit stone slope’ path.
    Photo of The steep and infamous 'Barley steps'.
    The steep and infamous ‘Barley steps’.

    I made it to Barley for around 11:00, set my phone to run ‘Map My Walk’ and was all ready to roll at 11:07. I’d planned to go up the hill via one of my lesser used routes – the ‘Grit stone slope’. Along with its sister routes this path starts around the back of Pendle House but splits off to the left. I passed only one person on route to the public footpath which starts facing the Barley Mow – he was a huge hulk of a man who appeared to be walking hap-hazardly, I couldn’t get past him quickly enough. The stretch from the road up to the area around Brown House is a gentle walk over multiple teraains – gritstone, grass, tarmac road, you name it. I occaisionally peered over to the steps to see if I could catch sight of anyone ascending by that most arduous of routes, some Bank Holidays it can be like looking at a procession of ants, but not today. In the centre of the village the weather was quite mild, my scarf and gloves would stay in my backpack, for now and I kept my coat undone.

    The first person that I encountered on route was a young blonde haired (I want to say woman, but to be honest she could have been fifteen or twenty) who said ‘Hi’ to me with a lovely smile…the day was shaping up. By the time I’d reached the horrid fields on the run-up to Pendle House I think I’d exchanged greetings with another four people, a couple of couples. After roughly twenty minutes Map My Walk had told me that I had walked one-point-six kilometers, odd, even though I’d set the ‘app’ to read in metric measurements it still wanted to tell me the milage – why not tell me of my progress after one kilometer as opposed to 1.6  a mile!

    After traversing three footbridges and noting that the footpath at Ings End needs repairing again (honestly, it’s a mess again) I finally arrive at the horrid fields which had their usual draining effect on my calves and thighs, I’ll never appreciate this part of the route and to make matters worse, the second field was rather cut up and muddy, I think I could have taken five minutes less time on the day if I had ascended via Barley Road. I vowed to not come this way on the return to Barley.

    Another photo of the steep and infamous 'Barley steps'.
    Another photo of the steep and infamous ‘Barley steps’.

    And so I arrived at the foot of the infamous ‘Barley Steps’. By this time I had encountered a lot more people on route, possibly around fifty or so. The mood was somewhat bouyant, I heard the odd ‘Happy New Year’ and the dog-walkers were definitely out en masse. Whereas last year my initial vow was to essentially ‘say yes to everything’ (I pretty much stuck to this, even if sometimes I ought not to have done so), this year’s inspirational motto is to be ‘balance’ (this has been influenced by a very dear aquaintance, who is one of the most balanced people I’ve ever met). I’d need balance to get me up the slope as it starts off quite easy – for a good five yards or so…then gets really tough for roughly a quarter of a mile. I had been tempted to try the steps route but promised myself to stick to plans that I have made (if it makes sense to do so), so I kept to the slope plan. I met a lovely couple who were gingerly descending the slope, it was quite wet so they were watching every footstep, I have lost my footing on the way down this slope prior to this visit and can vouch for how tricky it can be. I failed to take any more photographs as the higher I climbed the more fierce the wind became and by the time I had reached the hollow at the top of the slope, just before this path merges with the one from Boar Clough, my ears were stinging owing to that biting wind.

     

    Map my walk informed me that I had been walking for forty five minutes, this had the effect of accelerating my pace. I met several more people who were taking my route back down and exchanged greetings with a number of people (including one Happy New Year). I now wanted to get to the summit trig point as soon as possible, would I improve on my previous time of fifty-seven minutes? The summit plateau was decidedly ‘crunchy’ in places were the myriad of micro-streams which ultimately merge and become Pendle Water, had frozen. Now the wind was howling, this was more like being on Cross Fell at the time of the Helm Wind, let a lone Pendle Hill. The trig point beckoned and seemed to get nearer all at once, not enticing for seemingly ages but appearing to stay the same distance away. Within moments I was touching the top of it and uttering ‘for mum’. Only after doing this did I notice the time – twelve o’clock, it had taken me just fifty-three minutes from start to summit!

    The o/s point atop 'Big End' at Pendle Hill.
    The o/s point atop ‘Big End’ at Pendle Hill.
    Lots of folks out on the hill today, we must all be mad.
    Lots of folks out on the hill today, we must all be mad.

    From my backpack I retrieved my scarf and gloves, this did not aid photography in any practical way. Thus I took just a few photographs. Many more people were now nearing the top of the hill and I wondered if someone kind of ‘meet-up’ had been arranged as they all seemed to know one-another! I did consider doing the decent thing by asking other amateaur photographers if they needed a photo taking by me (with the cameras/phones) but the wind was screaming by now and this did not facilitate conversation. Myself and another walker tried to have a dialogue about our respective routes of ascent and descent but to no avail. We said our farewells and headed off in opposite directions, I aimed for the Downham boundary wall where I then turned right and began a perilous desent of the steps. Why was it perilous? Well the wind was now being highly efficiently transported to my eyes causing them to water profusely. Whilst this was not painful and was tolerable, it didn’t expediate progress as I had to keep stopping in order to blink!

    After a few hundred yards the wind was much easier to cope with owing to my losing altitude. More people passed me on the way up the hill, I had expected it to be busy today. For the first ever time, when I got to the bottom of the steps I stayed on the same route (as opposed to veering off to the right as normal) and took the left path passing the rear of Pendle House, I was sticking to my resolve to not slip and slide my way across the horrid fields. To be honest it was an inspired choice as quite soon I had removed my gloves in order to send Chris a text boasting of my progress. I stopped to check the ‘app’ and take a photograph of the slope – the odd thing is that I cannot find this photo on my phone and it was rather a good one with a little dog posing in the forefront (this tickled the dog’s owner, who was actually a stunning strawberry-blonde haired woman!).

    When the leafy lane met with Barley Road I turned right and resisted the urge to wander across the fields opposite in a bid to nail Stang Top Moor as well, that would have to wait, today’s walk was to be just Pendle (see I’m already getting the hang of sticking to a plan if it makes sense to do so!). The walk along the tarmac back to the centre was very boring, but all the same it was lovely to be out and about getting fresh air and exercise and before long I was back at the car park and café from where I would get a really fowl-tasting latte – the staff at the Cabin are lovely but they need to ditch that coffee machine as it’s a good few years since I last had a decent drink here!

    Summary

    As far as walking goes, this was a perfect start to the year. I’d shaved another four minutes off my record walking time – obviously aided by the cold weather, I’d been sociable and said ‘morning’ or ‘hi’ to a dozen people or so and most importantly I’d shed the December cobwebs in preparation of Sunday’s Ramble to Hornby with the Southport Ramblers.

    Stats:

    Passed – seven

    Passed by – three (but I then passed them!)

    Miles: Just over five.

    Ascent -1,043 feet.

    Time taken: One hour and forty-two minutes!

    Song of the walk: Love Me Like You by Little Mix

    Route: Barley visitor centre, Ings End, Brown House, Pendle House, The slope, Big End, The Steps, Pendle House, Barley Road.


    Fells, Hills and Mountains Pendle Hill Walking Walking for fitness 📎and tagged

  • 2015 My Walking Year in Review

    Posted on by Mark Wild

    Well now, this was a good walking year!

    Hard to miss…the Jubilee Tower atop Darwen Hill
    Hard to miss…the Jubilee Tower atop Darwen Hill
    Great Hill hazed out by a stinging snowstorm.
    Great Hill hazed out by a stinging snowstorm.

    January saw the start of my walking year…I know how obvious that sounds but some years I haven’t started walking until March.

    I had decided to have another bash at joining Southport Ramblers after 2011’s falling out with them. This time around I found that I was much better prepared to keep up with them – picking category ‘C’ walks at first proved to be a wise decision. I have to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of the routes offered by the ramblers. We seemed to traverse muddy fields simply for the sake of traversing muddy fields. The highlight of each walk definitely was the company. Our first outing to Longridge in order to take in various country lanes, could essentially have been anywhere. Likewise two weeks later saw us at Saint Asaph for a walk through some more washed-out and verdant fields! Late January saw the weather take a turn for the colder as Karl and I enjoyed a walk in the snow over Darwen Moor. Karl and Anne and I traversed the hills on my mission to acquaint myself with the route of the Anglezarke Amble (I did mention that I’m doing this in February 2016 didn’t I?) This was to be my first West Pennines yomp of the year and a thoroughly enjoyable one…minus a couple of minutes when I had to climb over a barbed wire fence and nearly became an alto singer! A further expedition along Southport’s thought-provoking Coastal Road gained me some more leg milage – twenty one to be precise. The 22nd of February saw me with the Ramblers at Rivington in a very enjoyable, snowed-out walk over Rivington Moor and Catter Nab whilst taking in the sights of Rivington Lower Reservoir and the Yarrow Reservoir on route.

    Longridge, Pendle and another top on the distant horizon.
    Longridge, Pendle and another top on the distant horizon.

    Until the end of March far the most challenging walk of the year came about when we (The Southport Ramblers) went to Chipping, walked over six mile’s worth of muddy fields then took on the steep southern face of Parlick Pike. This would put me in good stead for the rest of my walking year as not even Whernside or Snowdon (the Llanberis route) can measure up to the ridiculous gradient this aspect proffered, by the time I reached the summit, I was shattered. Parlick had been on my ‘to-do’ list for the year, although I had meant to set about it from the top of Longridge Fell – I still intend to do this iconic walk…maybe next year.

    Further trips in the first quarter of the year saw Karl and I back at the West Pennines in order to take in Turton Moor and another section of the A.A. whereby we wandered over the side of Turton Heights then back over past Cadshaw to Green Arms Road. I’d never walked in this locale prior to this and was taken aback at just how scenic the West Pennines (including Winter Hill) can be. Another attempt at doing a section of the A.A. on my own resulted in a ten mile walk over Rivington Pike, Winter Hill and many, many miles of roads as my legs started to moan under the stress of so many walks in such a short time. The walk in itself was fantastic but the company was a bit irksome! This would improve dramatically as in March Chris and I enjoyed a quite balmy walk on one of the many trails through Delamere Forest.

    April saw me return to do the Coastal Road once again and a trip with the Southport Ramblers to Besston. I’d never heard of the place before and to be honest, I could quite easily forget all about it now as we took in a tiny summit (the name of which I cannot recollect) and we visited a candle factory (be still my beating heart!).

    The Middle Way
    The Middle Way

    May brought with it a couple of Bank Holidays and one of these saw me return to good old Pendle to do ‘The Middle Way’, on a walk which I laughingly referred to as ‘Pen-ny not so dreadful’ I completed my objective of ascending Pendle the undisputed hardest way. The climb itself was hard, but the time to complete the steep ascent was a breathtaking sixty-nine minutes. I had no idea that I could walk so quickly uphill! As this was training for the month after’s Yorkshire Three Peaks attempt, my confidence was escalated beyond my wildest possible expectations. Another walk two days later which would take in Winter Hill via the east and again ran in at around ten and a half miles, left me feeling that this time, more than at any other point in my past, I would be able to get around the infamous Yorkshire three peaks of Pen-Y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.

     

    24.5 miles, five thousand feet, one county top and two aching legs!
    24.5 miles, five thousand feet, one county top and two aching legs!

    And thus onto June and on the sixth I booked a car from Enterprise (A wonderful little Corsa), drove up to Horton in Ribblesdale, met up with the lovely Linzi from Southport Ramblers and Mark – an old acquaintance from my Bolton days and took on the challenge of Yorkshire’s finest. It’s tough going but at no point did I consider not completing the twenty four and a half mile course. I would go on to to scale bigger mountains throughout the year but nothing could compare to the sense of sheer unprecedented joy of arriving back at the Penyghent Café to be informed that we had completed the route in time…eleven hours and four minutes. I believe that there were many factors which contributed to my success: yes the weight loss had definitely been principle among these, but also the twenty-plus mile walks along Southport’s stunning Coastal Road had definitely played a part – as had May’s ascent of Pendle’s ‘Middle way’ – even Ingleborough seemed less challenging than this (though not to be taken lightly, I still paused a number of times). Mark was excellent company – even if he did comment to the effect that I dropped down the hills like a sheep (A sheep? Not a GOAT?) and it was a shame to lose Linzi at Chapel le Dale. I had vowed ‘never again’…that promise would last but two short months as I returned to do the reverse route with Darren and Colin at the end of August. Alas our bid was unsuccessful after some wayward rambling put us on a path which never seemed to get use any nearer to Pen-y-ghent.

    The end of the Fairfield Horseshoe - Low Pike!
    The end of the Fairfield Horseshoe – Low Pike!
    The Coniston Range as seem from Low Pike.
    The Coniston Range as seen from Low Pike.

    In between the two Yorkshire assaults there were a few walks – including two trips to the glorious Lake District. The first trip was again with the Ramblers under the pretence of ‘We’re going up High Street’ – this was a blatant mis-direction as in fact the hill which we did ascend was the much lower (but still a Wainwright!) outcrop of Arthur’s Pike. Although the walk in itself was ‘lovely’ and the company was as good as ever, it just didn’t seem to be that much of a challenge a week after completing the Y3P. The second return to the Lake District however, was a real belter as four of us took on the impressive Fairfield Horseshoe. Karl and Sue were almost apologetic for the abysmal weather that stuck with us for over half of the walk…I was overjoyed to not be able to see the route in full and thoroughly enjoyed the whole day. If I only stick to one intended walk next year it would have to be another one of these Lakeland Horseshoe routes – preferably the Kentmere Horseshoe. That being said, there is another return to Horton in Ribblesdale planned in May!

    From here on in the walking year became considerably easier. Yes there was a rather boring ascent and hair-raising descent of Winter hill and a record attempt at Pendle’s stepped path from around the back of Pendle house – in just fifty-seven minutes. On the same walk I also discovered the wilder side of Pendle at Churn Clough and Deerstones – locations to which I will surely return.

    Yr Wyddfa - Or Snowdon as the rest of us call it!
    Yr Wyddfa – Or Snowdon as the rest of us call it!
    Connor and Darren in front of a hill which I cannot name!
    Connor and Darren in front of a hill which I cannot name!

    Ultimately, the ‘big walk’ came around. If the Y3P taught me anything it was a sense of perspective, we can only ever walk one footstep at a time. This would be a good motto onto which I would hold on as Darren, Connor and I took on the Welsh giant of Snowdon from Llanberris. Yes, it did prove to be easier than I could have hoped, but, was this only relative to the rest of my walking year? If I hadn’t already done two speedy (for me) walks up Pendle, the arduous trek up Parlick, the two Y3Ps and ultimately Fairfield’s Horseshoe would it have seemed as easy? Snowdon is a beacon in every sense of the word, it’s a challenge even once one has ascended it and I can hardly wait to return in the spring of next year to complete the challenging ‘Watkins Path’ again with Darren – though I’m not sure we’ll be roping in Connor to do this one! There would be few walks for the rest of the year, save for one adventure to do Rivington Pike with Chris…and a last visit to Pendle for All Saints Day, more stunning sceneryand the walk re-routed at Under Pendle, which is never a down-turn given that it’s my faourite part of the area.

    It looks a long way to the top...but it really wasn't, thankfully.
    It looks a long way to the top…but it really wasn’t, thankfully.
    The sun sets on my walking year...it's been a fantastic, challenging and thoroughly rewarding year.
    The sun sets on my walking year…it’s been a fantastic, challenging and thoroughly rewarding year.

    In October we visited the lovely city of Edinburgh and on a leisurely amble I ended up climbing to the top of Arthur’s Seat – a hill of which I’d never heard before our visit. It was a thoroughly enjoyable dash to the summit and I’d love to return to take in a more circuitous route as opposed to the ‘up and down’ direct approach that I took.  Finally in November, Karl and I met up once more with the intent of completing another section of the Anglezarke Amble, but, with the main road from Egerton to Belmont being something of an ice rink we headed to the east – Edgworth and took in the bleak but captivating Holcolmbe Moor. This was about as remote as I have been all year, I doubt that I saw twenty people on the walk and would certainly not want to do this one on my own. We must go back one day when it’s warmer to ‘bag’ Bull hill but for now I’m glad to have made it through the day without falling over!

     

     

    And so ends my walking year. It’s unlikely that I’ll add to my twenty four walks total – the greatest number (by far) that I have completed in one year. I can congratulate myself that I’ve taken on some big challenges in the Yorkshire Three Peaks, The Fairfield Horseshoe and the completion of Snowdon and I’ll be hard pressed to surpass this next year…but surpass I shall as I intend to re-visit Horton in Ribblesdale (with Darren) and to complete the Anglezarke Amble, the Watkins path up Snowdon and there are still those wretched four missing peaks from my ‘Top ten of England’ to tick off. Of course there will have to be more trips to Pendle – I’ve not completed all possible routes up there yet and well, I still love it there. I’m hopeful that Karl and I can get back to Keswick to do the classic Skiddaw via Ullock Pike and wouldn’t it be wonderful to replicate Julia’s walk over Broad Crag and Ill Crag before arriving at the mighty summit of Scafell Pike – it’s been too long since I last went there! For now it’s a case of feet up and build up the calories on mince pies ‘cos come February they’ll certainly be getting burned off again!

    Oh I nearly forgot to mention: the hardly-coveted ‘Walk of the Year for 2015’…well I’m afraid that vanity wins out. Whilst achieving Snowdon with Darren and Connor was very rewarding and a great summit to tick off, and the Fairfield Horseshoe was again a great walk with great company…I did the Yorkshire Three Peaks for God’s sake…that was the ultimate highlight!

    Andiamo!

     


    Fells, Hills and Mountains Pendle Hill The Training Regime Uncategorized Walking Walking for fitness 📎and tagged

  • Pendle, old Pendle

    Posted on by Mark Wild

    The walk of Sunday 13th of September, 2015. (18th walk this year)

    I’d been meaning to go for a solo walk over the old girl (yep, that sounds misogynistic enough!) for a couple of weeks since the Y3PiR marathon. This Sunday, with dubious weather forecast for the weekend, presented a golden opportunity and with the car finally running sound, well, who was I to turn down the chance to go to Barley once more?

    Actually, the weather was gorgeous on route to Preston, well, as soon as I had officially left Southport. I opted once again to take the route of A59 and A671 then on towards Barrowford but this time I went along and up Nogarth Ridge before dropping down to Roughlee and finally in to Barley where the car park / visitor centre was already full by 10:30. A lovely Scouse girl was trying her best to fit me in the car park, as this would probably involve my car being blocked in as soon as I alighted, I opted for simply using the entry to the car park as a turning point and parked on the main road instead.

    image002-1024x576
    The path back to Barley from Ings End

    Having booted-up, I was on route by 10:38. Previously, notably on the walking forum, I had declared my intention to take in Stang Top Moor first, but on the day I thought I would spend all of my energy on getting up the Barley steps first, then explore afterwards. This decision served me well. In between Barley Lane and Ings End I did not see another soul. This led to speedy progress along the start section and I was quite surprised to find myself at Brown House by eleven o’clock. The views were starting to open up a bit now, but, once again, I had resolved to take as few pictures as possible on the way up the hill so as to keep to a steady rhythm. However, I had promised myself that this was going to be a more relaxed, gentle walk and certainly not a race up to the top of the hill.

    With this in mind, I tentatively set off on the steps around the back of Pendle House – after traversing the usually sheep-filled paddock. I saw numerous small family groups which tended to be mostly one child and two adults, there was also one group of one adult and two children. During the next thirty minutes we would all pass each other on numerous occasions. I even had a thirty second sit down when I saw someone who looked fitter than me engaged in this activity.

    The trig point at Big End...again
    The trig point at Big End…again

    It was all very friendly on the hill, some of the kids were very definitely feeling the heat…and the slope, no matter how many times I do this route, that slope will stay relentless. I did the decent thing, I lied and told ‘struggling’ kids; ‘not far to go again’, sadly I knew otherwise, the fun had only just started! That being said, I could have fainted when the very pinnacle of the slope came into view, I was very near to the top already, and when the Downham ‘boundary wall’ came into view I was very close to being flabbergasted. I checked my watch to see that lo and behold – it was only 11:30 and I hadn’t been walking for an hour yet! Although it was in my head to watch my feet and to take care on route to the summit…I had to go for the sub-one hour finish. Left foot down, and charge…I made it to the summit trig point at 11:35 – thuis taking me just 57 minutes from Barley Road to the ordnance survey column! Impressed just doesn’t seem to convey the depth of emotion, pride…I was well chuffed!

    As I have scores of photographs of the trig point, I was happy to let the other walkers (mainly extremely tired but celebratory; children and their parents) take over the trig point, whilst they all posed for a dozen different cameras. I happened to notice that the views north were quite decent for a change and could make out easily the profiles of Parlick Pike, Longridge Fell and even little Beacon Fell. In addition to this, Ingleborough and even Pen y Ghent were just about visible but my camera was not good enough to get a decent picture of two of the Three Yorkshire peaks.

    Longridge, Parlick and Beacon Fell.
    Longridge, Parlick and Beacon Fell.
    image005-1024x576
    More distant, Bowland Fells
    The summit promenade from the Downham wall to the trig point.
    The summit promenade from the Downham wall to the trig point.
    Deerstones, with its scree slope
    Deerstones, with its scree slope

    Having consumed all three sub-bars of my bounty bar, I tapped the trig point, and set off once more. I fancied the idea of wandering over to Spence Moor via the stone slabbed path down to Pendle Water, up and onto Ogden Clough and over to the bleakness that is Spence Moor. This was sadly only lacking in one detail…there is, as of yet, no such single path to facilitate this desire and I ended up going “off piste” – once again. The upside of my next thirty minutes worth of wandering around somewhat aimlessly and having to retrace my steps; was that quite by accident, I discovered the hidden treasure which is Deerstones, not only is this an outstandingly desolate and yet beautiful area of Pendle, it’s very remote too – handy when nature calls…I imagine, as the rest of Pendle is somewhat exposed! I passed just a handful of people  who were taking the lovely and effortless route in from the Nick of Pendle, within twenty minutes our paths collided again as I realised and rectified my mistake rather than compound it by carrying on towards parts unknown…the last time that I did this in Pendle was in 2010 and I still have the psychological scars of twisting my ankle every fifty feet at Spence Moor…it can be a cruel and heartless environment at Pendle.

    image027Nevertheless, I continued my walk and finally stopped retracing my steps when I spied a family descending a path image028that I believed would take me once more to a crossing of Pendle Water. This was a steep drop down, I must have descended about three hundred feet in less than a quarter of a mile. As luck would have it, and for a change, my feet didn’t let me down and before long I was on the Boar Clough side of Ogden Clough – if that makes sense! From here it would be simple to simply traverse the side of the hill and on to Barley Green and return to the visitor centre, however, my watch (still stuck on Mediterranean time) let me know that I still had time to continue wandering. Thus I did take the route passing the Upper Ogden Reservoir, but then I crossed the valley, having first stopped to admire this object to the left and right of the this text.

    Now it was up into the gloomy and eerie Fell Wood. The only thing that is nice about Fell Wood…is its name. The path is steep, the trees are a bit bleak and characteless and the general feel of the place instills in one a sense of ‘do not dawdle, you’re being watched!’

    Witches Galore at Newchurch in Pendle
    Witches Galore at Newchurch in Pendle

    image037-169x300At the summit of Saddlers Height – the hill at the Southern edge of Fell Wood, I took a few minutes out to just admire then view – the path through the wood is that steep! From here I had the choice of dropping steeply down to Wellhead Road and onto Newchurch or taking the hard-to-follow-on-the-ground path down to Barley Green via the rear of Cross Lane Farm. Effectively the latter route would nullify the point of ascending Fell Wood, is notorious for being a bit on the wet side and would present me with another chance to get lost…I went to Newchurch instead. This option also gave me the chance to call in at Witches Galore whereby I could buy some more fluids as I was running short and the weather, being so warm, was not helping. I didn’t have a lot of cash on me so had to buy a key fob or two in order to build up the bill enough to pay by card.

    image035-1024x576After my shop stop, I opted to walk down Jinny Lane because I had never taken this route before but had driven past both entrances to the street so was fairly certain of where I was going. I was right in that I didn’t get lost, but I had no idea just how long the road was, actually not that long but on a hot day having already walked a good old distance, every footstep seemed to be a bit of a drag. Finally I arrived at Ridge Lane, Roughlee and took the left hand turn to take me back to Barley. After around four hours walking…I was a bit tired but elated that I had got up Pendle quicker than ever and finally found Deerstones – ‘though I’d never thought to look for it prior to this day.  In summing, this was one of those classic walks that you remember at the end of the year when the rains hit hardest. It’s always wonderful to be in the company of Old Pendle and today was no exception.

    Stats:

    Total distance around 8.5 miles

    Ascension around 1,800’

    Song of the walk: Emmelie De Forest – Drunk Tonight


    Fells, Hills and Mountains Pendle Hill Uncategorized Walking Walking for fitness

  • Perilous Pendle Perhaps

    Posted on by Mark Wild

    The walk to the summit of Pendle Hill on 31st December, 2014.

    For most of 2014 I had been promising myself another walk up Lancashire’s iconic Pendle Hill – I even had Halloween scheduled in as a definite, but I just kept on failing to make it to Barley…it’s a long drive for someone whom does not drive much. However, New Year’s Eve-eve brought forward a new resolve to do the walk, no matter what and with my partner working on New Year’s Eve, indeed working early (at 07:30) it was like I was being handed the opportunity on a plate and who was I to refuse.

    Frost was all around as I left the car park at Meols Cop, Southport so I pledged that I would take the less hilly – Downham route to Barley if there was evidence of much snow or ice. Fortunately for me the fields of frost seemed to abate by Osbaldeston so I stuck to my normal route of A59, A671 then Barrowford Road the A6068 (yes I did Google that!) up to Fence then turned left one stop earlier than normal (not intentionally) but still came out on to Saint Anne’s Drive whereby I took the narrow lanes up passing Nogarth Ridge before dropping through Roughlee past Jinny Lane and arriving at the Cabin at Barley at around 8:45 ready for a departure at 09:00.

    The steps from around the back of Pendle House
    The steps from around the back of Pendle House

    Although I did not cover myself in many layers of clothing I did bring and wear my scarf and gloves as there was a definite chill in the air, underneath my coat I had only worn my hi-wick walking polo shirt as in the past I have worn too many clothes and spent a good deal of the first few minutes of the walk sautéing away! As the ice was visible on the slope of the hill from the village centre I believed that the route I had planned – Under Pendle, would probably be a treacherous, sliding nightmare, so with no sense of dread (to which I was ready to admit) I decided to tackle the infamous Barley steps for the first time since the Pendle Witch Walk of 2012. Another resolve that I had was to not take any photographs until I had reached the summit trig point as this is a great impetus spoiler (for me). I was quite pleasantly surprised when I checked my watch at  the iron kissing gate and discovered that I had only taken twenty minutes at what I had thought was a leisurely pace. More that a few moments passed before I was facing the beast at the back of Pendle House – after gingerly negotiating the emerging quagmire in the normally black-faced-sheep paddock (none were around today), the steep climb up the south east face of Pendle Hill. My drive was simple, just keep on walking, don’t sit down (mother nature saw to that one for me with a deliciously icy breeze).

    Others were en route up and down the hill today and I was lucky enough to see one lady descend the slope with caution but at least she did it…then my eyes and ears were captured with the sight and sound of a lovely young east Lancs lass falling in her own shadow at pretty much the same place where I fell in 2011! She was as embarrassed as I had been but I had been lucky to have no witnesses. I smirked to her “I did that” and added “and even worse was I nearly impaled myself on my plastic cigarette” which brought a radiant smile from her. I asked what was the condition atop the hill and she responded that it was windy but manageable but the worst part was the slide down the slope. I asked as to the condition of the steps and she replied that they were free of ice. Then she shouted after her walking companion who was by now the best side of an hundred yards across the fields and we parted ways.

    Pleasant distractions ( I like talking to people when I am out walking) over with I began my slow but deliberate ascent. Every so often I would stop and have a five second breather but I am happy to say that only one couple caught up and passed me – the lady of which muttered something about it never getting any easier – she had a point! However, I felt then that the weather was aiding progress as stopping for more than a few seconds was a chilly experience. After what seemed like a good forty minutes (I had resolved not to check my watch on the steps) I was within sight of the border wall – the separation of the villages of Downham and Barley which is the sign that the steep ascent is now over and done with and the next few hundred yards to the trig point is a gentle amble…if one observes the late Alfred Wainwright’s guidance about watching where one puts one’s feet – ice was in abundance at the summit plateau.

    I've made it!
    I’ve made it!
    You want ice?
    You want ice?

    And so was the wind! The last few times that I’ve ‘done Pendle’ I have been rewarded with no view worthy of photography, today was no exception. The colours were all a bit washed out and the sky was very hazy. Add to this the fact that simply the art of holding the camera steady was escaping me because of the wind chill factor…whatever photographs I took were hurried and of no great quality. I was extremely pleased to see that I had beaten my previous personal best time – today’s ascension had taken just one hour and fourteen minutes compared to 2012’s one hour twenty five. I had believed that the walks up Great Gable and Sca Fell would aide me today (not to forget Cross Fell), but here was the evidence – although the cold conditions must have played some part.

     

    A passer by ..passing by!
    A passer by ..passing by!
    My choice of beginnings of the descent route.
    My choice of beginnings of the descent route.

    I began my descent, choosing to ignore the falling girl’s warning of the ice I opted for the slope back down to Pendle House as within twenty feet of the Downham wall there had been enough ice and frost to instil in me a fear of taking that route back down. I had considered dropping down Under Pendle but that route is very steep and would therefore be a sliding exercise in bottom bruising. Perhaps Boar Clough – afraid not, in wet weather this route is also one for those with a sense of balance – mine abandoned me a few decades back and I don’t see any sight of him coming back! No, it had to be the slope…for posterity I took a few photos of the thing that might kill me! I opted for the more shiny route that was not as steep as the one at the lowest part of the photo. I should mention that as this point I was overtaken by another walker who opted for the route that I would take – after setting off down this slope he seemed to vanish and I never saw him for the rest of the walk.

    The slope from the merging of the routes.
    The slope from the merging of the routes.
    Ogden Clough
    Ogden Clough

    I carried on my increasingly slower walk. A very narrow gully which is in effect a small stream bed drops down about two thirds of the length of the slope, in parts this was very icy. After a yard’s worth of a slide I opted for walking at the side of the path…essentially walking in a sloped manner on the slope! I heard a couple very obviously encountering the same difficulties as I had (and still was) but all the same they managed to catch up to me. We exchanged greetings and opinions on our current task and I could sense that he was enjoying the experience as much as I was – ‘though I couldn’t say the same for his female partner who at one and the same time looked rather pale and nervous. Such was my growing confidence that at one point I even got the camera out again and took a few more pictures.

    I reached the point at where the girl (oh she was easily in her twenties but I still call her a girl!) had fallen over and decided not to try her particular route instead opting to take a very slight rise and drop that would lead me directly to the steps. Much more people were now in sight and I exchanged greetings with any whom met my eye contact. I got talking to one chap who was trying to shake off his Christmas Cold – with no luck so far. At one point I was going to tell him the time but realised to my dismay that I no longer had my watch on my right wrist! As I had definitely checked the time at the trig point and at the top of the slope the blasted thing must have come off my wrist whilst I was taking my right glove off in order to take a photograph. I had the option of carrying on regardless or retracing my steps.

    I already have something like twenty watches…and it was cold and exhausting work just walking on the side of this hill, I decided to carry on regardless. This had been the watch which I had worn to the gym and on all of my walks across the Coastal Road so I was a bit gutted but ce la vie! I do hope that someone stumbles across the watch, puts a new strap on it (as I think this must have snapped when I was taking off my glove) and carries on its’ life. Farewell my favourite walking watch!

    More gravel please.
    More gravel please.
    Eyes on your feet here as this stuff is as slippery as an MP on Question Time.
    Eyes on your feet here as this stuff is as slippery as an MP on Question Time.

    I carried on passed Pendle House and Brown House, pausing to take more photos. I must concede that the path really needs repairs in a few spots – mostly near Brown House – the blue shale-like substance that was applied in 2011 has all but gone, I’d imagine that 482 pairs of feet trampling over the route on 18th of August 2012 had much to do with this. Otherwise I was delighted to be able to amble my way taking as many photographs as I could on the easiest section of the route – the journey back to the Cabin at the car park.  The weather had by now taken a turn for the warmer and there were more couples emerging, I passed one couple where the girl had sought to wear probably the most inappropriate pair of trainers imaginable, her poor boyfriend had to pick her up and carry her over puddles that I (in my waterproof hi tec boots) simply strode over.

    The Whomping Willow...whomped!
    The Whomping Willow…whomped!
    Breathe in and throw your backpack over the stile.
    Breathe in and throw your backpack over the stile.

    The same couple were in the vicinity when I decided to take a photo of a tree which had apparently blown over – given the size of it and the location was a more than a little bit shielded I can’t begin to imagine what kind of micro tornado had uprooted this poor Hawthorn tree. I squeezed through the slimmest stile that I’ve seen – apparently the builder of this is not aware that the intended users of this piece of land furniture will probably wear backpacks! Eventually I could hear a distant intermittent hum of traffic from Cross Lane and Barley Lane. I was now in the final stage of the walk which involves crossing over a road (carefully) crossing over Pendle Water, which by now was in full spate and finally the lovely gentle stroll over the green to the car park.

    Summary

    It had been cold at the start and hardly tropical at the end but I was nothing short of elated to have done the walk, taken the most arduous ascent, not fallen over and only a bit gutted to have lost a watch. Before I set off from the car park I had almost felt guilty for not visiting Pendle more times this year, after all it is my favourite hill. I had taken two hour forty five minutes to walk the 5.5 miles and I am quite proud of that. I do think that the year’s previous walks had contributed towards my walk’s process and as such am now resolved to do more and more often (starting with a walk around Longridge on the 4th). Maybe this coming year will be the year that I finally do both the Mearly Moor path and the route straight up the middle – the most direct route, who knows. For now I bid a hearty adiou to this wonderful and beautiful hill and vow that I’ll be back soon.

    Song of the walk: Ólafur Arnalds – So Close (feat. Arnór Dan) – YouTube


    Fells, Hills and Mountains Pendle Hill Walking

  • Pendle from “The Nick”

    Posted on by Mark Wild

    This was on my ever expanding “To-do” list since December 2012 as another route up the mighty Pendle Hill from a starting altitude of close to 1,000 feet. However, I wasn’t going to get off lightly, the return leg would feature an ascent of the creepy Fell Wood and a yomp over the bleak Spence Moor. I posted the walk on the walking forum in September then duly swanned off to Spain with no regards for it until my return. In total eleven of us started and completed the walk and here are how things panned out.

    I left Southport at around 8:30 after calling at a service station for a steak pie (for consumption during) and some full fat milk for after the walk…it’s a new variation of healthy when I walk these days! I reached the start point at around 9.30 give or take the odd minute or two and was astounded to find some of my group – Cogstar and Glyno (odd names 🙂 ) and within a few minutes Karl had arrived too – this was going to be a great turn out…by ten o’clock there were eleven people in our little group – this was almost as many as the last time that I went near “The Nick” with Southport Ramblers. We set off at a lovely pace heading slightly north east along Clitheroe Road, Sabden in search of the best path to take us off to our first hill – Apronful Hill. Legend goes that there was once a giant (the UK’s hills and mountains were seemingly full of these giants at one time or another!), whom seemed to have something against Clitheroe Castle (tosser – it’s lovely!). He took a huge stone from his apron and hurled it at the castle punching a great big hole in the front! This mindless act of violence however caused the remaining rocks to fall out of said apron and onto the ground where they remain to this day. In truth, I did not see a pile of rocks en route whereby I thought to myself “Hmm I wonder how these rocks got here, what an odd place for them!”. All the same,it’s a quaint little story! The next hill to ascend was on the same overall approach to one side of Ogden Clough – Badger Wells Hill. I don’t know why the slope is named Badger Wells Hill, and from a brief google around…neither does anyone else. The summit was fairly obvious but nothing really to shout about but it did provide a minor respite…by this time we were fairly tearing up the hill metaphorically speaking!

    Photo of a fellow walker at Ogden clough
    Karl at Ogden Clough

    Next came Black Hill – The village of Sabden manages to have contained within its’ boundaries two Black Hills – one to the south of the village and ours to it’s north, probably not more than two miles away from each other. The one we ascended did appear to us as a nice little ridge jutting out above Badger Wells hill with a cairn or two – the southern one has a trig point but we weren’t jealous after all… so does Pendle Hill! The route to Pendle was obvious only to yours truly as I pointed due north west and declared “it’s down there…then up there” towards the great divide which is Ogden Clough. From Pendle to Boar Clough via this route is a grind, a trudge, something to do once and once only, however to do the reverse (which our route entailed) was a delight – the company really did help, it hardly seemed any time at all before we were standing akin to the unnamed stream at the start of the climb up the flagged path at Barley Moor. The gathering seemed reluctant to take the first step into the water, I stepped forward (as the leader) and had the wind taken out of my sails as forward stepped Peter and Cogstar…at least I think it was Cogstar (apologies to whoever if not!).

    9 of the 11, we all made it without any fuss but who is missing?
    9 of the 11, we all made it without any fuss but who is missing?

    The progress along the flagged path was swift, it could have taken no longer than ten minutes from the beginning all the way to the trig point at Big End. Pendle is not a generous hill! For every three times one ascends this iconic lump of millstone grit on one occasion and once only will a view of any note be granted…and even then the wind chill factor will play a major role in how many photographs one might feel inclined to take. Sometimes one can see as far away as the Southern Lake District fells and the Yorkshire three peaks. Other times the views extends only as far as the nearby Longridge Fell, Beacon Fell and Parlick Pike. Today from the summit we were not even granted a local view nor the legendary dense mist that can descend on this particular summit with astonishing speed. Oh well, back off the summit it was then!

    Photo
    There’s always one!

    I had already declared we would not be descending via the infamous Barley steps – it isn’t brave, it isn’t clever, you don’t get a medal and you do get tired joints so I advised anyone who so wanted to descend via that way we would see them at the bottom of the slope…nobody took me up on that assertion! Our route headed due south for a good few hundred yards as I kept a watchful eye out for the left hand turn which would take us swiftly down to the rear of Pendle House. I like to refer to this route as the “Grit stone Slope” whether there is any grit stone in the environment is not clear but I don’t remember seeing any thing more than a lot of sandstone. As I had previously fallen over on a number of occasions on this descent I took my time and was the last of the eleven to reach the dry stone wall where we would take our lunch break. The views had opened out more – this is not unusual, Pendle and her sense of humour once more! Once more I spotted someone taking the “middle” route that shoots steeply straight up the hill with no signs of any deviations in course and much heather and bracken with which to contend. I probably will do this route once, only once and I will have nobody with me…for now I think anyone going this way is a bit mad…or is ticking off all the different routes up the hill (as I am).

    After our lunch break we set off for Barley visitor centre. I pointed out another potential route for another time – the “Under Pendle traverse” which I believe to be the superior route of ascent, this is the one which I took in March on my last visit to the area and prior to that occasion took that route all the way to Under Pendle on the day of the Pendle Witch Walk in August last year – definitely a route that I shall do much more often.

    Back to today and after several kissing gates and the odd little wooden footbridge we were back at the Barley Visitor Centre and I was glad to see that it still had the car park attached. Last year a campaign to get a Pendle Witch Museum / Exhibition Centre constructed at the site of the car park was launched by a passionate local historian. In my opinion this would have not been a welcome move and would impact upon the local residents as they struggled to park in their own village, the Cabin Café management as their lovely little Café went out of business and any regular visitor (myself and the likes) who would then also not be able to park in the village. In essence one of those ideas that sound okay as a thought but should never be aired! Yes a museum themed on the Pendle Witch saga would be a wonderful idea but the village of Barley is not big enough to play host to it!

    I ordered and slowly consumed a Cappuccino and then we set off onto the second half of the walk…the harder section.

    Photo of The Lower Ogden reservoir
    The Lower Ogden reservoir

     

    We crossed the intersection of Barley Road and Cross Lane and made our way onto Barley Green – which is in itself not a green but a tarmac road which does carry very light traffic. Our first landmark would be the stunning Lower Ogden Reservoir. This is the biggest body of water in the immediate vicinity in an area that has something of an above average yearly downpour – incidentally it was worth noting that we had so far been subjected to just a couple of very tiny showers. To the left of The Lower Ogden reservoir was the ominous Fell Wood. For the record I have nothing against Woods, Glades and Forest…but Fell Wood gives me an uneasiness that is just not nice. The first time that I walked through here was with Christine in 2010 to the sound of a distant chainsaw on Halloween! Okay it later turned out that the “chainsaw” was a leaf blower but I wasn’t to know!

     

    09-Fell-Wood_smaller
    The demonic Fell Wood – honestly even getting the thumbnail to display has been an ultimate pain in the a$$!

    The next time that I walked through this wood was when I did two traversals in one day having got myself all lost on Spence Moor and I can tell you… that… you don’t want to be walking through this ungodly, gloomy piece of woodland at dusk! Imagination overload is not a useful state of mind when walking through Fell Wood. However, as things panned out I don’t think that we were within the confines of Fell Wood for longer than twenty minutes as new leaders of our little procession seemed to have come to the fore and they seemed to be heading onward at full speed. I have never walked up through here before, on all the other three occasions I had gone from top to bottom, when there was a dusting of snow this had been tricky but doable…reverse the direction and thus the slope and oh my did it get to the calves!

    Finally I appeared at the other side of the wood at the muddy path which skirts the eastern flank. This short path starts off innocently enough but after a few hundred feet turns into a slippery quagmire and my progress was slow. At the end of the path, opposite the minor summit of Saddlers Height we turned westward and pressed on towards Cock Dole and Driver Height. This was a romp over fairly wet grass, ordinarily this would be a “walk in the park” however after traversing Fell Wood at such breakneck speed I admit…I struggled.

    There was some debate over our intended route from the wall atop Driver Height…I thought that we could follow the wall for a few yards and then essentially go over it at a style…erm no! There were no visible styles and instead we practically ran down a very marshy slope in a north, north, westerly direction until we did hit a style and turned west once moor, if we had kept to the original route of simply skirting the northern reaches of Fell Wood I doubt that we would have had to do any downhill sections! Next came the slog as we tramped our divided ways over Cock Dole, up and over Spence Moor and ultimately down over the shoulder of Badger Wells Hill. The rain held off but we were getting steadily wetter from the ground upwards as we waded (in places) our way over this desolate but somehow captivating wet moorland. The views behind to Pendle Hill were once again spectacular as it basked in sun whilst we sloshed across the ground. I don’t think I would be exaggerating if I stated that my spirits and Peter’s sank a little at the seemingly endless trudge over Spence Moor, it’s a locale to make a man of you! As we neared a style en route to Apronfull Hill I glimpsed some figures in the distance whom appeared to be sat next to a wall…as we got closer I recognised the figures as being Karl and Joe and his wife and lovely daughters who seemed to have had their camp stove running – crikey how long had we been if they had the time to make soup??? It mattered not and will be filed in my memory as “nice things to remember from Pendle walks”. From here it was quite literally all downhill as we made mincemeat of the slope down Apronfull Hill and towards the cars parked near the Pendle quarries. Not many moments later perhaps surprisingly we were passing people whom were just beginning their ascent!

    We reached our cars at roughly 16:05 about six hours and five minutes after setting off. If I could have guessed before what the time might be when we returned to our cars it would have been within twenty minutes of this! This had been a fantastic walk that started off easily, got even easier then got harder and finally became a nice gentle drop in. We had walked some 9.9 miles and ascended roughly 1,650′ which although less than my last few walks was something of an achievement.

    I cannot think of Pendle Hill as being ‘just an hill’, I’ve tried…and to me it will never be so. I cannot ever express my feelings towards this spectacular locale without my eyes beginning to mist over (they are now). In short; I love it here. Today I got the chance to knowingly share this wonderful hill with some other people and to do so was a genuine pleasure. I’ve done all of the walks that I had planned for Horwich’s Winter Hill…it practically holds no secrets for me now. I don’t think, don’t want, to ever be in the position to say the same of Pendle…I will return in the spring to attempt the mighty Mearley Moor route, until then…Thank you Pendle for a truly great day out.


    Fells, Hills and Mountains Pendle Hill Walking

  • Sun 3rd March Stang Top Moor & Pendle Hill

    Posted on by Mark Wild

    Well it had been a number of months since last my feet had touched Pendle soil…too many days had gone by since the great world record making Pendle Witch Walk and with my walk in Yorkshire getting alarmingly near it was time to say hello again to dear old Pendle Hill. My original walking forum posting featured the ascent of Stang Top Moor and into Aitken Wood – it’s something of a badly kept secret that I don’t care much for forests and woods – damn you Blair Witch! As it happened my walking companion for the day didn’t seem to have made it to Barley so at 10:15 with the sun appearing overhead I headed off east from Barley visitor centre towards the sleepy little hamlet of White Hough just outside Roughlee.

    Stang Top Moor trig point with Pendle Hill in the background.
    Stang Top Moor trig point with Pendle Hill in the background.

    I had meant to turn off and make my way over to the start of Aitken Wood but my feet just kept on going and before very long I was on the ascent towards the outdoor centre at White Hough and up a somewhat bumpy country lane which had an aroma all of its’s own and evidence that horses had been ridden down here recently. The views soon began to open out and the weather was apparently doing its’ best to put on a good show. I still couldn’t see an entrance into Aitken Wood so continued up through a sheep-filled field with an inkling that around the corner or maybe a couple of corners was the ordnance survey column at Stang Top Moor. After exchanging threatening looks with a sheep whom looked like she was ready to launch an assault I got sight of my newly coveted quarry and the column came into view. This gave me the chance to change the batteries in the camera that I had with me – it was its’ first walk and to be honest was proving to be a chest-bouncing pain in the backside (sic). At the trig point I phoned home (it is impossible to get a mobile phone signal from down in the valley at Barley and I do like to let my fiancé know that I got to my destination safe and sound.

    GEDSC DIGITAL CAMERAThe realisation that for the majority of the next two miles would be downhill ones all the way to the Moss reservoirs put a spring in my step and I made what felt like record progress all the way to the most attractive of the two – Upper Black Moss reservoir. At every turn there seemed to be small groups of people and it has to be said that after my solitary stroll up Stang Top Moor it was good to see other soles around. The next leg of my walk would be be no walk in the park as I walked in-between the Black Moss Reservoirs and headed via the fields – one of which allegedly had a bull in it if the sign at the other side of the field was to be believed!

    Lets hope there is no bull in this field as well!
    Lets hope there is no bull in this field as well!

    This was a hard slog, STM was hardly a breeze in itself but this was something else, having only previously walked in the opposite direction and that was downhill the path through to Higher Laithe was tougher than I had expected. Finally near Windy Harbour I had to decide between the constructed driveway to Barley Road or the concessionary path in a 120 degree direction – both would lead me to Barley Road but one was via heavy field and the other…had a sodding big tractor now chugging along it – so the field was now the only direction! As it happens the going via the field was a lot lighter than I had dared to hope and I estimate that I made it through within five or six minutes.

    The alternate path up to Big End...just as hard as the steps!
    The alternate path up to Big End…just as hard as the steps!

    Now came the start of the real deal, the main tough uncompromising section of the walk. I crossed Barley Road and headed to the area known as Pendle Side, I would not be taking on the infamous steps today…thank goodness but to just feel them next to me was like carrying a burden my route would skirt around the lower slopes of the hill and carry me over to Under Pendle and over Ogden Hill…I think, Ogden hill being one of those hills when one doesn’t really know when it has started or finished! The going was very easy if somewhat muddy and progress was only impeded every so often by me taking in the scenery – this was all a very nice reminder of Aug 18th’s Pendle Witch Walk and I was feeling nostalgic. I encountered hardly anybody on this stretch of the route, a cyclist warned me that another cyclist would soon be flying around the corner with a dog but not to worry as the dog would just carry on regardless. I commented that this was lucky as there was not much I could have done about it anyway.

    My route skirting the slopes, nice and gentle...
    My route skirting the slopes, nice and gentle…

    My end to this particular path came almost too soon, the easy part was over and now for the ascent of what one woman to whom I later spoke referred to as “Whimberry Hill”. This is not featured on Bing maps or my ordnance survey map and I shall refer to the route as traversing Deep Clough Spring! After several hundred feet in distance my path merged with the alternate Barley path featured in one of the photographs above then after many stops and a good few conversations with relative strangers – I really had missed the company of others today. This joint path merged with the main one leading up from the southern ascent “Boar Clough”. All around was peat, apart from where the humans where, this was not as busy as last August’s walk but it was certainly as busy as a Halloween Pendle walk. Noticeable was that the weather had taken a turn for the cool – as is the case more often than not on Fat Goat Pendle Walks. I extended and increased my stride to get me to the trig point, my second of the day and because the weather was certainly getting too cool for comfort.

    GEDSC DIGITAL CAMERA
    Not a “yellow brick” road! And yes that is snow on the left hand side!

    The views from 1,827′ were…pretty rubbish really. The haze was well and truly down, the only summits that I could make out were: Longridge Fell, Parlick and Beacon Fell, I know that out there were Pen-y-ghent, Ingleborough, Whernside and Fair Snape Fell…but there was no supporting evidence! After taking a group photo for a pair of couples and causing a falling out between them when I lied about the men having brought then up the hill the hardest way – Barley’s steps (Worston Moor via Burst Clough is officially the hardest route!). The slabs instilled in me a certain de-ja-vous of being on the Pennine Way…the trouble is that I have never been on the Pennine Way (okay I have done the Pen-y-ghent stretch but that’s about it!), whilst it’s true to say that they were very functional – but oh how boring! Even the tiny undulations, the glimpses of what swelled of either side of them (lots and lots of sticky peat and other chemicals which one wouldn’t wish to trod over a carpet!) did not seem to outweigh the fact that this was a very boring path! I had wanted to do this path for a couple of years now…I’m done, I would rather stick to the tourists steps even though they can be absolute killers!

    GEDSC DIGITAL CAMERAI crossed over Pendle Water at pretty much its’ beginning, the last few steps were taken with extreme care as this was one of the most remote sections of the route. A trip here would lead to a certain disaster…and the same could be said for the next couple of miles as I forded the minor stream and rose up to the shadow of the omni-present Spence Moor and its’ somberness! I thought that I would never hear stillness again; the wind although not tumultuous was just on-going and the path although organic…needs work as in parts it was exceptionally slippery. A number of descents had to be made and invariably this involved a sideways crab-like manner over terrain that was part-peat, part sandstone rock with the odd patch of limestone thrown in for good measure, after a good warm spell this would be a pleasure to walk upon, on my day it certainly got the adrenalin pumping. Ogden Clough was not quite the walkers’ utopia that I had expected. The beauty here was of the kind which lovers of simple moorland views rave about.

    The lonely Hawthorn - Rowan!
    The lonely Hawthorn – Rowan!

    After fording the stream another few times I hit the bottom of Boar Clough – and now it will be treated by me with a much more deserved regard – it’s so much nicer than Ogden Clough and I do always feel sorry for the poor isolated lonely Hawthorn (yes I know it is actually a Rowan tree). The path became easier to walk, the descents far less frequent and less challenging and the rain held off for the whole of the walk and after that. I considered my quandary, should I stick to my plan and at the base of the Upper Ogden reservoir head uphill towards Fell Wood and Cockdole? I spied a walker slowly making his way up the very steep slope and this made my mind up for me!

    The Upper Ogden Reservoir.
    The Upper Ogden Reservoir.

    There was nobody around with a gun pointed at my head! No golden ticket was being wafted from the hill to my right, thus with aching feet and legs that seemed to now hate me I took the executive decision to stay on the track that would lead me down back into Barley and save the Cockdole ascension for another day – preferably when I will be in a better shape. Sadly the weather was now getting biting cold so the camera was put back into my backpack for the umpteenth time today and this time I resolved to leave it there until I got home even though this lead to no pictures of the Lower Ogden Reservoir – the most scenic.

    Pendle Hill
    Pendle Hill

    Finally I arrived back at Barley Visitor Car Park at 15.25 hours, five hours and ten minutes after I had set off and something like an hour earlier than I had forecasted however, if I had been with someone else then we would have probably spurred each other on into ascending Cockdole and added the other hour back onto the route. There were some utterly fantastic sights to be seen at Pendle today, the views of Pendle Hill itself on the way down from Stang Top Moor (I hope) will stay with me forever. Seeing so many people enjoying the glorious Lancashire landscape was heartwarming beyond my ability to express. My choice of path across the hill itself was a good one that gave me the opportunity to focus on the landscape – as opposed to other routes that grant one the chance to focus on just how hard the route is! I doubt that I will ever encounter Ogden Clough again, even if this is a part of the Nick O’ Pendle route – it’s just so barren and bleak, and bloody slippery. I am more than happy to have done the route today and it has acted as a severe reality check for the up and coming Yorkshire Three Peaks event.

     


    Fells, Hills and Mountains Pendle Hill The Training Regime Walking Walking for fitness