You may have been down some of these lanes with me before, several times in fact. Hopefully there is always something new to be discovered. I’m staying local and taking it easy. My follow up with the eye surgeon was all good news but he advised me to avoid over exertion and keep using the drops. So a gentle walk around Longridge seemed more sensible than going climbing. I take a shortened, six and a half miles, version of my Around Longridge Walk trying to keep it rural.
Several lanes are encounted – Halfpenny, Green Nook, Shay, Pinfold, Happy Alley, Lower, Tan Yard, Forty Acre, Mile or Lords, Clay. A wonderful selection of names reflecting their historical origins.
There are no blocked paths or awkward stiles today. I am free to enjoy and photograph the flora lining these lanes. The one disturbing thought is that there are very few insects out and about. We have had a miserable early summer and today is cold and overcast, not conducive to fluttering butterflies or other insects for that matter. What is going on?
Halfpenny Lane, an old toll way towards Preston. Nobody remembers Halfpennies these days, nor Farthings, ‘fourth’. A house at the far end has called itself Farthings. 
Whittingham Road is a race track. Past the new housing developments I escape down Green Nook Lane with its more pleasing stone cottages.
Cutting across industrial Shay Lane I’m into the football fields, no matches today. Onwards over that dodgy wooden footbridge which won’t survive much longer and through infant maize plantings. The path created across the set aside wasteland takes me through uncut meadows which if left alone should provide a rich habitat in the future.
Down Pinfold Lane, don’t forget the ancient cross base in the field. Chiffchaffs, Goldfinch and Robins keep me company, but I don’t see the Little Owl that lived here. There is little to see across the disused reservoirs apart from Black Headed Gulls and Lapwings on the island. A new wire perimeter fence has appeared to keep the belligerent dog walkers out of the reserve. 
Up towards the church on Happy Alley (Church Brow) and then across the fields bordering Alston Reservoirs. I take the easy option of walking up past the ecolodges onto Lower Lane, where I lived in the long and distant past. Soon I’m off the busy road and walking up Tan Yard leading to the quarries but the name suggests an ancient tanning operation. 
A new diversional track utilises those modern galvanised gates with the obligatory yellow latch. It’s up here that one can look out over the Ribble Valley and the reservoirs supplying Preston. Pendle is just out of screen. 
The first cows of the day soon disperse as I approach. Phew. And I’m into the caravan park. My path is choked with Himalayan Balsam, sweet smelling but so invasive.
I emerge onto the housing development originally passed by the indolent planners as a ‘tourist attraction’. The change of government is obviously welcome but I do fear for our green spaces. Time will tell. There is nobody bouldering at Craig Y so I move on around the Upper Dilworth Reservoir. The grebes unfortunately have not been successful this year, another worrying sign. 
The view from new built Bowland View is obviously good.
Then on down Mile Lane, no more than half a mile, from Billingtons. 
The Chipping Road is busy and I’m glad to escape onto Clay Lane, there was once a tile operation going on here making field drains. It was also the drove route into Longridge and then the halfpenny toll towards Preston. That’s where I stop today, content with an easy walk.
***
Here are a few of the flowers I noticed today.
***
…and then I recognise the country lane I meet, Whins Lane, the original medieval road between Whalley and Padiham before the turnpike road was built lower down in what is now Read. Along here are the posh houses of Read boasting large gardens and views south across the valley.
…and march on along past the sawmill thinking to myself that it would nave been better to have taken to the fields and woods above the lane. After a quarter of a mile I realise I should have done and backtrack to find the rather hidden stile. 
I emerge at Priddy Bank and weave through the private properties. 
It’s all down hill from here but beware, don’t take the stile directly ahead but keep to the right side of the fence to avoid very boggy ground. A wooden stile brings you out of the field into rough ground for the descent to Sabden, which is seen in perspective to the road dropping down from the Nick of Pendle. Silver birch trees dominate this last slope. 
The river is flat calm for a stretch and then along come small rapids. I would think that at the moment the water is medium height, the whole aspect changes in flood conditions. Pendle looks on from afar.
Another from a leaflet in the series of Walks with Taste in Ribble Valley, this time setting off from the centre of Clitheroe. I’m becoming lazy with route planning and relying on someone else’s choice, Ribble Valley BC this time. It promised “starting from Holmes Mill, wandering through the grounds of Clitheroe’s Norman Castle to the River Ribble for an easy riverside ramble” 
Too good to go back to bed. I’m motivated to get out there and do a walk. This one springs to mind. 
The path now continues back along the true left bank of the river. I’ve seen Kingfishers here, but not today. One is soon away from the razzmatazz of the picnic area only to find oneself on the busy little road to Clitheroe’s Waste Recycling centre. Past this there are only a few houses before the road ends and one is back into fields close to the river. I notice a reminder of the Covid restrictions and on the water Canada Geese are protecting their young whilst fishermen discus the best spot. 
Moving on. I cross the access road to Lower Fairsnape Farm and take a short diversion to visit a bird hide marked on the map. It is a shed with a few observation slots looking out onto the fields. Information is provided about the area. The farm is working alonside the RSPB to improve the environment for wading and ground nesting birds.
I haven’t done ‘that local walk’ this year. The fields, to be honest, have been too wet. It was a walk I repeated many times during the lockdown, remember that? It has always been one of my favourites taking me straight into the countryside. From my front door up the road and into the fields. Across them to Gill Bridge, up the lane and into the Derby Estate. Through Ferrari’s Country House grounds and back on the road past Little Town Dairy and the Derby Arms.
