A Pleasington Walk. 🥾

Welcome back to Lancashire for this walk which is a couple of short train journeys away from my hometown of Clitheroe. We don’t use the train often enough and hope to remedy that when finding future hikes. This walk is featured in the Guide To Lancashire Pub Walks by Nick Burton, a handy little pocket size publication. We did a few of the walks mentioned during the first lockdowns , when the pubs weren’t even open. Happily not so the case now. 🙂

Anyway we caught a train from Clitheroe to Blackburn and then went on to the village of Pleasington from there. The whole journey took about 40 minutes including connection time. The walk took us up The Yellow Hills to see The Wainwright Memorial and then through woodland and Witton Park. Refreshments at The Railway Hotel in the village , at the end.

Pleasant Pleasington sign at the Railway Station.

We walk past Pleasington Priory.

And a house with Stone Lions guarding it.

And then through a field of cows. They were pretty calm until a farmer appeared on a quad bike, then they started chasing it around the field.

We escaped the cows!

A friendly Cat on a drive-way.

Fly Agaric, though not the best specimen.

Looks like we are on the Witton Weavers Way.

After walking through some woodland we ascended the gentle slopes of the Yellow Hills to come across the Wainwright Memorial , a fitting tribute to the Blackburn born Fell Walker, writer and illustrator Alfred Wainwright.  As a young man Alfred would walk in these hills above Blackburn. On a clear day he would be able to glimpse upon the fells of the Lake District, they would eventually entice him to Cumbria where he recorded his hikes in his famous Pictorial Guides.

The Wainwright Memorial was unveiled in 2013.

Intrepid Hikers.

No distant views as wasn’t clear enough. The Yellow Hills are named after the yellow blooms of the Gorse bushes that grow here.

A Polypore Fungi.

Crow Wood.

Autumn colours appearing.

We walked on to Witton Park, following woodland paths downwards through Billinge Wood and Crow Wood. The Crow Sculpture I had hoped to see didn’t appear to be there ( unless we somehow missed it !) , though there was an information board near where I thought it should have been. And there were plenty of real crows, magpies and other wildlife in the woods.

Crow Sculpture Information Board.

Nuthatch.

Grey Squirrel.

Witton Park.

Butler’s Bridge over the River Darwen.

Witton Park is vast, covering 480 acres. It is Criss crossed by various walking trails and has a visitor centre. We will have to return oneday as we didn’t come across the centre and only saw a small part of the grounds on our walk. After crossing Butler’s Bridge it was a short meander up past the Priory and back into Pleasington.

Pleasington Priory was opened in 1819.

The Railway Hotel.

Railway Flowers. 🚂🚂

Waiting for the train back to Blackburn. Pleasington is a request stop , so be prepared to stick your arm out. 😁

Map ~ OS Explorer 287 West Pennine Moors.

Book ~ Guide To Lancashire Pub Walks by Nick Burton.

Distance ~ 4 Miles/ 6.4km.