“And fragrant hills of purple heather”        Bonnie Auld Scotland      G. Bennett. 

I should have been going up Pendle this morning, but as I set off the forecast changed, possible heavy rain by midday. I must admit the sky looked black out to the west. So I quickly diverted to the parking at the west end of Longridge Fell. I traversed what I call the balcony path with views, today murky, into Chipping Vale, Morecambe Bay and the Bowland Hills. Then it was upwards through the new heather towards the trig point. Have done this walk hundreds of times but today the heather seemed to take prominence colour wise, there was an additional fragrance and lots of busy bees. The fell is transformed at the end of summer by the heather. The summit views were a little muted with the oncoming storm. Found a new path south off the summit, probably initiated by mountain bikers, judging from the built-up jumps. Over the many years that I have been coming up here, more and more of these paths have appeared amongst the trees, so there is still a sense of exploration following them.I was soon back on the main circular descent but made an arduous detour to the small metalled fenced area on the western part of the fell. Have never known what this was for, there is nothing inside it. The OS map indicates stone circles on this part of the fell, but I can never find them.   http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=27144

I was back at the car just as the first heavy raindrop landed. Maybe Purple Pendle tomorrow?