Monthly Archives: March 2021

LET’S STAY POSITIVE.

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Tuesday 30th March. 5 miles. Longridge Fell.

Lockdown eased yesterday but from the pictures of rubbish in the Lake District perhaps for some a few days earlier, I am concerned about our ability to come out of lockdown safely and it is not helped by what I see today.

The hottest day of the year so far as I walk up to the trig point on Longridge Fell. Within yards of the car park I come across litter in the form of bottles and cans, masks and yes, dog poo bags all recently discarded.

It was only last year that barbecues set light to this area, we were lucky the fire brigade dealt with it so quickly and efficiently. When will it happen again?

I became irritated and even more so when I see a lady with four dogs running loose, dogs must be on a leash from March 1st because of ground nesting birds. Calling her she answers that she has badly strained her ankle and is trying to hobble back to the car park. I wonder if she ever had the dogs on lead in the first place, but give her the benefit of the doubt and wish her well getting back.

The top of the fell is reached without further problems apart from deep mud. A charming Japanese man with his daughter and friend are admiring the views, he remarks on the tranquilly of the scene. I have to agree and also enquire how he kept his trainers so clean walking up through the peat bogs.

Onwards into the woods and out onto the path past the grandiose gate to the kennels.

There were two heads bobbing up and down along with the frogs in the small reservoir lower down, the two ladies have swum all winter, today is the first without wetsuits.

As I was walking back up through the plantation I watched a barn owl quartering the open areas, they seem to be a common sight this year.

On the way home I called into a local shop to buy myself a ‘litter picker gadget’ so tomorrow if I venture up the fell, I usually do, I can positively improve the environment. I will pack the litter into a plastic bag and then on the way home I can chuck it over a fence like this lot…

*****

THE TOLKIEN TRAIL AGAIN.

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Saturday  27th March.     6.75 miles.      Hurst Green.

I expected Hurst Green to be full of cars this morning, but we were able to park up outside the Bailey Arms with no trouble. I think we stole a march on most people by being away early. A new signpost has been erected near the Shireburn Inn to get you on the right track. Dropping to join the River Ribble seemed muddier than normal, a lot of people have come this way in the last few months. To start with we had the riverside path to ourselves with wide-ranging views. Only as we approached Winkley Farm did a steady stream of people start appearing from the opposite direction. Fishermen were wading in the Ribble just upstream from where it joins the Hodder. A new path, not particularly aesthetic, gives a dry way across a particularly muddy field. A lot of people were milling about at Cromwell’s Bridge and on the path alongside the Hodder, we couldn’t work out how some of these groups were constituted with no social distancing in evidence – I suspect people are coming out of lockdown of their own volition. Up at Hodder Court Gandalf is staring out over the Ribble Valley, although his hat seems ready to fall off. We walked on through the grounds of Stonyhurst College to a now busy Hurst Green. I dread to think what this walk will be like after April 12th when people can travel further.

Here are a few photos…

A deserted Bailey Arms, I wonder whether it will survive.

We were glad of our poles in the mud.

Aqueduct over the Ribble taking water to Blackburn.

Distant Pendle.

Hodder and Ribble meet – spot the fisherman.

That Winkley Oak.

The new ‘bypass’

Trail walkers with Stonyhurst in the background.

Cromwell’s Bridge.

A wooden Gandalf.

*****

For more comprehensive views of this walk please have a look at

THE TOLKIEN TRAIL.

TO CATCH A SALMON.

ANNIVERSARY BIRTHDAY PICNIC.

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Tuesday,  March 23rd.     9 miles.    Longridge.

My birthday happens to coincide with the date Lockdown commenced last year. There seemed quite a fuss about this [not my birthday], whilst I have every sympathy with the thousands of families affected by Covid deaths and they should not be forgotten, I am not one for lighting candles or creating memorial days for an event we have not dealt with very satisfactorily. I would almost go so far as to say they are devious attempts by the government to distract our attention from the failings and flag wave for our vaccine successes. Dangerous tactics.

Back to today’s walk, which I have completed many times recently, to make an occasion of it I took a picnic with me to enjoy higher up. Last year I visited the limestone quarry  opposite Arbour Farm occasionally for its wildlife so as I pass today I have a look in. There are a couple of roe deer scampering away and a hare following. It’s too soon for any significant flowers but there a few mallards on the water and pheasants taking cover. In the past this area has been used as a shoot and the birds fed in the season. All around are spent shotgun cartridges. I take particular note as I’ve just been reading a DEFRA report of the latest attempts to ban lead ammunition.   Lead ammunition could be phased out under government plans to help protect wildlife and nature, Environment Minister Rebecca Pow announced today (23 March).  There has been a wealth of evidence that lead is damaging to humans, wildlife and the environment and yet a large amount of lead ammunition is discharged every year. Apart from the yearly slaughter of birds there is research showing wild fowl ingest lead pellets, mistaken for food, causing considerable deaths from poisoning.   The Government have been slow to do anything about it and a voluntary transition by the shooting industry has not worked. A recent review showed the majority of game birds sold to the public had been killed using lead shot. So all change then – well not quite – the Government is proposing a two-year review of the evidence and then public consideration. A typical fudge when the hunting and shooting brigade are involved. Why don’t we just get on and ban it now.  [In Denmark, hunters have had to use alternatives since 1996, when lead shot was banned]

Spring display.

Arbour Quarry.

Moving on I made my way up onto the fell and found a sheltered spot for my simple Birthday picnic in a little quarry nearby.  I have recently started climbing in here again after many years, there is a small wall suitable for bouldering away from the Covid crowds that are making themselves unwelcome at the usual bouldering spot, Craig Y Longridge. It is up here that I have been regularly seeing Barn Owls flying around at dusk. Today a kestrel was hovering not far from me and a pair of Buzzards were wheeling high in the sky. Nice place for a picnic in the sun.

I wander home down the switchback lane. I had various texts etc appear on my phone from absent friends and family and in my porch a box of beer and a single malt. Not such a bad birthday after all.

*****

THE BEST OF LAST WEEK.

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Tuesday. 16th March.    6miles.    Chipping.

We drive the 4 miles to Chipping and meet up in the village hall car park. I had promised Mike it would be sunny for him to have a morning away from the builders working on his garage. He is pitching the roof, adding solar panels, electric charge point and enlarging his drive with stone sets etc. etc. I think it is a larger job than he had first envisaged, though he should know. Anyhow there was no sign of the sun, in fact it was grey and cold when we set off at 9.30.

This is a walk we have done many times, but it makes use of, on the whole, well surfaced farm tracks in the foothills of the Bowland Hills. The snowdrops in the grounds of Leagram Hall had finished flowering which was a shame though there were primroses on the lane banks. From Laund sheep farm we cut across to renovated Park Gate where the only field of the day linked up with tracks at the empty Park Style. This whole area is rough upland and the Lapwings and Curlews were in good evidence today. They get a chance to breed up here as the fields don’t get cut until later in the year, if ever. A pair of Buzzards are soaring high above. Down one of the tracks we see a stoat in its white winter coat running ahead of us, quite exciting. At Lickhurst  we meet up with the bridleway coming from Saddle Side, not taken today because it is very boggy in parts. There were notices on the gate warning people not to take vehicles along it. This is the first time I’ve seen this but apparently during lockdown 4X4s have been coming out in the night on these lanes. Of course most of them have been registered in Manchester/Liverpool, often with no tax or insurance. There  are a group of people who think they can do what they like and escape notice during lockdown.  The track has been severely damaged by these morons.

We walk on down the road and over three bridges which have replaced fords in the time I’ve lived in the area,  Lickhurst could be impossible to reach after heavy winter rain in the past. I show Mike the long single span clapper bridge, 6 metres of solid grit stone, and we wonder how they handled it here. It must have been brought here from some distance as all is limestone in the vicinity. Upstream is a fish ladder I’ve not noticed before.

We walk on past that isolated iconic red phone box…

We have friends living in the next group of houses and we have a chat and an illicit coffee over the garden wall. Sheila has a heavenly glow in the photo. The bridleway leading onwards crosses the beck encountered  before at a ford, fortunately there is a footbridge just up stream, [Greystoneley Brook which soon joins the Hodder at Stakes Farm near the stepping stones] This whole area has had its trees harvested last year and looks very bare, but thousands of new trees have been planted so it will be interesting to see how it matures.

The lane passes close to a large almost intact lime kiln in an extensive quarry, another detour. At the end of the lane we meet a chatty horse rider.

On the road back Mike met a retired school teacher who was responsible for getting his children off to a good start. More catching up chat ensues. With all the ‘delays’ we don’t get back to the car till nearly 2pm by which time the sun has come out.

*****

*****

Whilst mentioning the birds we saw today I should also like to report that most evenings while I’ve been bouldering up on the fell a pair of barn owls have been quartering the open areas, a majestic sight as they fly past close by without a sound. The days are getting noticeably longer and there have been some beautiful sunsets to coincide with the Spring equinox.

 

 

BROKEN SLATES.

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I’ve struggled to put a post together this week, in fact I’ve struggled to do much at all. Are we all getting burnout? This afternoon I went on a wake-up walk around the village.

There is a new shop opened, ‘Bowland Organics’, the clue is in the name. It is getting good reviews for the freshness of its vegetables and other local produce. Most days the artisan bread is sold out within hours, as it should be. It is closed by the time I walk by, so you will have to wait for my opinion.

Just up the road, Berry Lane, I see that one of the slate poems has been smashed, not simply broken but obviously vandalised into many pieces. I’ve been commenting on and photographing these poems since they started appearing almost a year ago. See here, there and everywhere. All were chosen to give hope and enlightenment in our troubled times, and I’ve found inspiration from them in my local wanderings. I’m sad at the sight but then notice that against the tree another poem has appeared, this time by Emily Dickinson.

As it was.

Broken pieces.

The new slate.

My last post had a heading photo of nearby Hope Lane so lets all hope for the better.

SLOW ROADS OUT OF LOCKDOWN.

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I have just returned from one of my around Longridge walks. One keeping to the hard surfaces. It is wild and windy, cool with more rain due shortly. I acknowledged and chatted to friends in passing, even their dogs are getting to know me. It is surprising how many have tested positive  for the Covid virus and been ill, I’m glad I have kept myself semi isolated. and I’ve had one vaccination six weeks back now.

The not so Merry-Go-Round continues as we are urged to stay at home, I did the same yesterday and no doubt tomorrow I’ll repeat a similar walk.

But cases, hospital admissions and deaths are coming down, and schools are back.  So what may we plan for in the coming weeks?  I need to remind myself of the Government’s ‘roadmap’ for coming out of lockdown. As I think they apply to me –

         From 29 March:

  • People will be allowed to meet outside, either with one other household or within the “rule of six”, including in private gardens
  • The stay at home rule will end, but the government will urge people to stay local as much as possible

       Stage two (no earlier than 12 April):

  • All shops allowed to open, along  with hairdressers.
  • Restaurants and pubs allowed to serve food and alcohol to customers sitting outdoors
  • Members of the same household can take a holiday in the UK in self-contained accommodation

 

     Stage three (no earlier than 17 May):

  • People can meet in groups of up to 30 outdoors
  • Six people or two households can meet indoors
  • Pubs and restaurants  can seat customers indoors
  • Hotels, hostels and B&Bs can reopen
  • International leisure travel may resume.

There is little guidance on social distancing, hand hygiene or face mask wearing. Perhaps the scientists will remind us of those in due course.

All the above depending on –

  • The coronavirus vaccine programme continues to go to plan.
  • Vaccines are sufficiently reducing the number of people dying or needing hospital treatment.
  • Infection rates do not risk a surge in hospital admissions.
  • New coronavirus variants do not fundamentally change the risk of lifting restrictions.

*****

Where does that leave me?  Well from the end of March I can walk locally with up to six people which is an improvement. My son who lives local can come for a brew in the garden but I’m not sure if I can meet up with my family from Manchester, too distant. In April, I can get my hair cut and stay in self-catering accommodation, though a lot is already booked up. I assume travelling further afield is then permitted. Not until May could I stay in a hotel or B&B. I have no desire to rush abroad whilst European cases are high or variants about, Ryanair’s emails to me suggest otherwise.

I have a few short backpacking trips in quiet areas of the UK on the slow burner so they are a possibility either with B&B’s or taking a tent to be independent. I’d better retrieve one of my tents from the back of the cupboard to check it for worthiness.  Even better I should be able to meet up with friends I’ve not seen for a year for some exercise and a pint. I have a feeling that any outing is going to feel rather strange, I will have to get into a different mindset – a lot has changed in a year. I think any alpine trip can wait till next year but what about the Canaries next winter? I did spot this on the fell last week…

***

Oh well, don’t hold your breath I will be around Longridge again tomorrow. Treat yourself to a little Pete Green…

THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO CLIMB LONGRIDGE FELL.

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Tuesday 9th March.     11miles.    Longridge Fell.

My last walk, at the weekend with Mike, was through the fields and lanes of Chipping Vale with a little nibble at the west end of Longridge Fell. All very repetitive, so much so I didn’t take a single  photo but the conversation must have been good. A couple of days have been spent festering, you know how it is. Today started slowly until I made the effort to get going and put some mileage under my belt. Starting from home the obvious way to increase my mileage was to continue along the road to the north of Longridge Fell before striking to the top. I noticed a few more roadside signs on the way.

Leaving Longridge.

Lee House Church.

Exquisite carved trough.

?origin.

C17th Thornley Hall.

Entering Chaigley. Note the rake as a notch in the fell side woods.

I did consider going all the way to Higher Hodder Bridge but as I hadn’t set out till 1pm I thought it a little ambitious. [another time] I left the road at Rakefoot Farm and climbed the steep rake from there up onto the fell east of the summit. Once on the ridge I threaded my familiar way through the trees and into the open at the trig point. There was nobody else about. From up here one gets a bird’s eye view of the Thornley road below which I’d walked earlier.

It is all downhill from Jeffrey Hill to Longridge, a good way to end the afternoon.

*****

JEFFREY HILL.

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Wednesday.  3rd March.     8.5 miles.    Longridge.

The last couple of days I’ve been out bouldering in all that lovely sunshine.  My arms and shoulders are now rebelling. I felt like a longer walk so planned this one on roads for today. It was grey and cold this morning, so I managed to faff around until after a light lunch, brisk walking was then the order of the day. The road through Thornley doesn’t always have a pavement so dodging from side to side on the corners is necessary. I passed Lord’s Lane and Birks Brow, two regular ways up onto the fell and continued on past Thornley Hall to climb the steep lane up Jeffrey Hill, this part of Longridge Fell. [see inserted map and elevation graph]

Even today there were plenty of cars in the car park by Cardwell House, but they would not have any views as the Bowland Hills were in cloud.

Cutting through Cowley Brook plantation, my latest discovery, avoided a little of the road to the Newdrop. I was then on the switchback road heading down to Longridge. It wasn’t a day for taking pictures or for meeting people so I was soon back home but glad of the exercise.

I wonder if they have published the minutes yet.

The steep bit.

Misty parking at Jeffrey Hill.

Cowley Brook Plantation.

*****

A GRIMSARGH/WHITTINGHAM CIRCLE.

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Sunday.  28th February.    6 miles.   Whittingham.

Spring has arrived for a simple circuit making the most of the unspectacular Whittingham countryside. A route through fields was planned checking out some stiles that Mike had had difficulty with recently.

We started in Cow Hill again. It was busy with cyclists and family groups walking around the block, all looked over by the ginger cat. At the bottom where Savick Brook was crossed,  with three buzzards wheeling overhead, we took the Bridleway up the hill behind the strangely quiet kennels. We knew about the fierce hound that stalks the yard of Seed Hill Farm. The way has been diverted around barns to avoid the farmyard and dog. From here a lane leads up to and crosses Haighton Green Lane into soggy fields that we followed towards Whittingham. There were no waymarks so prior knowledge was of great help. A wooden footbridge has been washed away but fortunately there is a brick farm bridge close by. The path goes through the farmyard of Whittingham Hall Farm which was previously part of Whittingham Psychiatric Hospital where inmates would have work. In a barn today there was a remote robotic cleaner going round the cows, I’ve never seen one of those before.

Lost bridge.

Robotic yard brush.

At one time there were over 2500 patients with its own railway, telephone exchange, church, post office, reservoirs, gas works, brewery, orchestra, brass band and ballroom. It has been closed since 1995, many buildings have been demolished and planned housing developments have stuttered. We walked around the back of some new houses and the church which is boarded up onto the main road. The footpath sign shown in the header photo dates from the old hospital days.

Fortunately there is a footway on the road to Withy Trees where we took to the fields once more. This took us through an Alpaca Farm, but today there  were only sheep and three donkeys. Across the way Harrison’s Farm is a metal recycling plant and the footpath is diverted around it.  It was near here that one of the broken stiles was encountered and was very awkward to cross – or are we getting old. Duly reported to the Local Authority – not our age but the state of the stile. It will be interesting to see if anything is done about it, a lot of organisations are hiding behind Covid rules. Normally Lancashire is very good at footpath repairs. In the fields here is the clear course of the railway which served Whittingham Hospital.

Railway embankment.

Railway trackbed.

Better tracks through Dixon’s  brought us onto Grimsargh Green and back to Cow Hill.

                                               The Cow Hill Cat.

*****

The walk seemed longer than the measured 6 miles, Mike uses ‘Strava’ but he usually forgets to switch it on and off  leaving some of our walks without a beginning or end.

 

National mountain hare day!

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Press release from OneKind (1st March 2021)

Protections for mountain hares have come into force from today, in what campaigners are calling National Mountain Hare Day. The new regulations mean that it is illegal to intentionally kill, injure or take mountain hares without a licence.

The following is worth a read, I’m just spreading the word. We can only cross our fingers and hope the powers that be will enact this regulation on Scottish grouse moors. I always worry when it starts mentioning “a licence”

National mountain hare day! — Raptor Persecution UK