Pendle & Clarion House Walk . 🏠

It’s another walk through ‘ Pendle Witch Country’ with a couple of stops full of history and hospitality.

Walk 14 from Lancashire Year round Walks by Nick Burton. OS Explorer Map OL41. 5 and a half miles.

We parked at the pay and display car park opposite The Pendle Heritage Centre in the village of Barrowford. From here the author has devised a circular route that joins The Pendle Way with its Witchy Waymarkers , taking explorers across rugged countryside to Roughlee where The Last Clarion House resides.

Pendle Hill seen from the car between Gisburn and Blacko . At 557m , Pendle is just short of being a mountain.

Daffodils at the pay & display car park in Barrowford. Spring has sprung!

For those of you who have never heard of Pendle Hill, it is probably the most famous natural landmark in Lancashire. Steeped in history and known for its wild rugged beauty, Pendle is included as a detached part of the Forest Of Bowland AONB. Rising above the green pastures of the Ribble Valley & Clitheroe to one side and the borough of Pendles industrial towns and scattered villages to the other, Pendle Hill dominates the landscape on most of my local walks. It is from where George Fox was inspired to rally people to join the Quakers after his vision at the summit, and it is from where the alleged Pendle Witches were marched in shackles to Lancaster for the infamous Pendle Witch Trials.

On the Pendle Way path by Pendle Water.

Passing Old Oak Cottage.

Distinctive White Gatepost at Water Meetings Farm.

Heading up hill through woodland.

And onto open hillside. Looking back toward Blacko Tower.

We cross a very muddy field.

Squelch Squelch !

A crossroads of paths. We go downhill from here.

Heading down to Pendle Water and the village of Roughlee.

And some substantial Stepping Stones.

Beware, Hugo crossing. We were impressed by his balancing act.

Which was better than mine….

We pass a fairy house in Roughlee.

And on the side of the road, a witch. Alice Nutter.

Alice Nutter was one of twelve people accused of Wtchcraft from the Pendle Area in the seventeenth century. The alleged witches were denied access to lawyers and hung together at Gallows Hill in Lancaster on 20th August 1612. Most probably innocent victims of the mass hysteria and superstition of the time, the Pendle Witches have never the less caught the imagination of visitors to Pendle over the years. Alice herself was a member of a wealthy landowning family in Roughlee. Her lifesize statue made from steel and brass can be seen walking in chains by the side of the road.

Roughlee has an impressive waterfall on Pendle Water.

Dam Head is one of several former mills in the village.

From Roughlee we walk up Jinny Lane in search of a special refreshment stop. In a nearby field , a herd of Highland Cows watch us languidly.

Eggs for Sale.

Time for a brew?

The Last Clarion House.

Open only on Sundays , Clarion House is the last of its kind left standing. Built in 1912 for mill workers and their families to escape into the fresh air on their one day off ,this cosy meeting place still welcomes walkers and cyclists who happen on this special place. The Clarion movement had caught on at the end of the 19th century, a socialist ideal for working class folk who wanted to get together with like minded people. Walking clubs, choirs and cycling clubs sprang up as well as club houses and refreshment rooms like this one. It was lovely inside with benches to sit on, vintage socialist paraphernalia decorating the walls and a welcoming roaring fire. And it’s all run and looked after by friendly volunteers. For a more detailed post about The Last Clarion House, check out Michael’s Blog Here.

Roaring Fire. 🔥

2 mugs of coffee and a KitKat £2.

Dogs on leads are welcome.

Benches outside Clarion House.

Leaving Clarion House we head through a field full of Jacob Sheep and lambs.

A witchy house sign.

Not exactly a Witch? She peers over the wall at Noggarth Top Shop and Pendle View Gardens.

Pendle Hill from Noggarth.

A cute spindly 🐑 lamb.

Back on The Pendle Way.

We come across an abandoned farm.

And it’s abandoned burnt out farmhouse. Still beautiful and now the home of …….a barn owl, which flew silently out from the bedroom window. 🦉

The fields were sodden so we detoured the short walk back to Barrowford along Pasture Lane , passing the White Bear Inn.

Pendle Heritage Centre, Barrowford.

Back in Barrowford I take a quick look around the Pendle Heritage Centre which has a museum, tea room and walled garden. Situated by Pendle Water in a grade 1 1 listed manor house and farm buildings, the centre includes exhibitions about life here through the years and The Pendle Witches.

Museum gift shop window.

Inside the museum.

Manor house kitchen.

Mullioned windows.

Pendle Witches story.

Walled Garden.

Hope you enjoyed my muddy walk through Pendle Witch Country. 🧹