Longridge to Bolton. Two. Balderstone to Pleasington.
Part two of our ‘straight line’ walk between our respective houses.
The phone rings at eight in the morning; it’s the rockman. He can’t find his wallet and sounds panicky. I know the feeling all too well, as I’m always misplacing things; it’s an age thing. Last week I misplaced my debit card, cancelled it and ordered a new one, only to find the original, now invalid. The new one arrived, and the first time I used it at an ATM, it was swallowed up. Several phone calls later I am told it is un-retrievable. So waiting for the next one to arrive.
Half an hour later he phones to say he has found it, underneath his wife’s handbag, no blame attached. Panic over and we are on our way to a meet up point in Pleasington.
There is another problem: the extensive British Aerospace’s factory and aerodrome are slap bang in the middle of our straight line today. There is no way we can cross directly, so our route deviates by about a mile. More than the distance we had set ourselves, but there is no point worrying about that. I’m not certain about a road through as nothing is marked on the OS map, but I have been told there is.
We drive one car to Balderstone and end up on a single track lane heading down to the river. We are lucky to find a small lay-by near the bottom.The rockman does his usual hopping warming up routine. 
I have walked this way before in 2021 and remembered walkers were not made to feel at ease, even though the footpath goes to the river where there was certainly a ford in the past. We were stood on the opposite bank a few weeks ago. A cursory glance and we head into the fields. 
The next hour is not my finest, navigation wise, a series of hidden stiles, un-walked, and often impassable, paths eventually brings us onto a track leading to the A59. There was not much of interest anyhow. 
We reach the busy A59 at a crossing and head into BAE land. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Page
There is a road skirting the Aerospace factories, all very bleak, which brings us out onto the A677 near Samlesbury Hall and then we are back on farm tracks at last. We climb up to Hoolster Hill which has a large equestrian centre. A handy bench is ideal for an early lunch stop. 
Now things improve as we turn into Alum Scar Lane which becomes an enclosed track through the woods. This old highway served the alum quarries hereabouts from the early C17th. Alum was manufactured form shaly rock and used in the cloth dying industries. There is further detailed information here.
We enjoy the stunning scenery of the deep gorge which neither of us has visited before, see where a straight line will take you. The track drops down to an arched bridge over the stream, this bridge has been rebuilt in recent years as the old one was crumbling. For some reason I never took a photo of it. If we had known about the quarry we might have explored further downstream. 
Climbing out of the valley we are rewarded by wide vistas over the surroundings. Preston skyline is prominent. 
Strangely up here there were plantings of a type of bamboo, we are no wiser as to its purpose. 
We are now heading down into the steep sided valley of the River Darwen. There are plenty of awkward slippy stiles today. 
Pleasant walking alongside the Darwen, under Hoghton Tower, a stint in the golf course and then hilly fields back to Pleasington. 
A day of two halves but a pleasant and surprising afternoon, and we didn’t stray so far off our straight line.
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All the straight line ventures we have undertaken have been rewarding. Perhaps forcing oneself to take a route through places you would normally plot to circumvent brings up interesting encounters. For me the link to Fred Page’s bio. was fascinating.
I had a chuckle at “The next hour is not my finest navigationwise.”
The wallet and credit card leads me to my recent similar experience.
A couple of days after our last Garsdale walk I went to my rucksack to retrieve my flask. That item is as much part of me as are my limbs, it having done most of the Munros and serving as a faithful companion on many many other trips. It was not in my rucksasck!
I thought, ok, I’ve done well to keep it for so long. I went on line and paid £14 for a replacement. A couple of days later I was aware of something loose in the car and found the old flask rolling about under the passenger seat.
I almost feel part of that old flask.
Getting across BAE was stressful but eventually was simpler than I expected. I have a dim distant memory of you doing something similar.
I think this is the post you remember:
https://conradwalks.blogspot.com/2021/09/trigs-103-continued-mellor-plus-2.html
Yes that one was the one I illuded to. Covering some of our route yesterday. I have a suspicion that cut off Balderstone is on a different time scale to the rest of the NW.
Very interesting. Alum was the first chemical works in Britain according to the link you provided. It also included epsom salts! I hope they never got them mixed up.
Yes alum was very important in the textile dying trade.
I love this idea. You never know what you might find. Those OS marked paths that are rarely used are often a challenge. I should take some secateurs when I try again.
Ŵire cutters would be better. All in a day’s walking.
I read a psychologist recently, who said that when you put something down, car keys/wallet whatever, to say – out loud! – “putting the whatever on the shelf/table etc.” This apparently makes you remember where you did put it. I had a key ring once that bleeped if you whistled with a few yards of it. Wonder if they still do them?
I’ll happily give that a try.