Paythorne Walk.

We got out for our first longish walk this year, a year which we started off by catching covid. Oh joy! Luckily for both Wil and I, our experience of the virus was pretty tame. We both had colds, runny noses and sneezed alot. We watched alot of Netflix. The End. Though I must admit, it was good to take our boots off when we finished this hike, it tired us out more than we care to admit….

Again I dipped into Nick Burton’s Lancashire Pub Walks guide for inspiration.

Paythorne is a small village ( well more of a hamlet really) between Gisburn in the Ribble Valley and Hellifield in North Yorkshire. Theres not much there except a pub, a tiny Methodist church and a large Caravan Park. At the moment there is definitely some sort of dispute in the village regarding a proposal to extend the caravan park. Everywhere you look there are orange signs saying ‘ Say No To More Caravans ‘ , I think there are more signs than houses.

We parked in the village car park opposite the pub and set off. The walk is one of bridleways, fields and country lanes and is 6 or so miles long.

The Buck at Paythorne.

Sign for the large Caravan park at Paythorne.

A Bridleway through twisted thorns and Holly trees. I have decided to call it Hey Holly Lonnin. 😁

Gorse can flower all year round.

I do love an old freight train carriage. Growing up my sister, cousins and I were lucky enough to have one to play house in, until our Grandad gave it to the chickens!

Quite a bit of road walking.

Just liked the name. 😁

Another farm ~ with chickens.

Curious Shire Horse.

The cutest 🙂

The Cockiest.

Hen Harrier Sign for The Forest Of Bowland.

I – Spy ~ a white pheasant. It is possible that these white coloured birds are bred for pheasant shoots as markers, to identify the whereabouts of other pheasants. Therefore they are usually safe from the bullet, unlike their more common cousins.

View of the River Ribble.

Sham Castle 🏰 ruins. These were once the kennels that housed the Lords Ribblesdales hounds.

Hugo saying that living with us is much nicer than living in a sham Castle. Really!

Gisburne Park estate is used for weddings and other events, hence the light bulbs everywhere.

Fields.

Woody path.

Paythorne Bridge.

Back into the village.

Tiny Methodist Church. Grade 2 listed dating from the 1800s.

The Route.

Thanks for dropping by. ☺️

Weekend Wanderings. 🥾

Well it’s been another weekend of walks and wanders. I can’t promise any different blog content really , Im not the crafty or cooking sort and I’ve really slowed down on my reading. Definitely looking forward to a change of scenery, whilst still appreciating how lucky I am to have so many local walks on my doorstep. The grass is always greener hey….

There are a couple of good walks groups on Facebook that I have been following over lockdown. Both have been quite informative and inspiring when it comes to planning where to go.

• Lancashire Walks With Frank & Lee.
• Ribble Valley Walking Forum.

Fairy Bridge over Swanside Beck.

One route I found via the forum was a circular walk that can either be started in Sawley or Chatburn. It takes in an old packhorse bridge and the ruins of Sawley Abbey. The Fairy Bridge was so cute. What a beauty. 😊

Hugo takes on the Fairy Bridge.

Pink primrose.

Fresh new garlic leaves.

Sawley Abbey.

A popular Clitheroe walk takes in Brungerley park with the Ribble Valley Sculpture Trail at its heart. Recently some of the art works have had a well needed spruce up and a local community group ‘ The Hawthorn Placers’ have been brightening the walk further with colourful painted slabs. ❤️

Brungerley Park.

Newly cleaned Otter sculpture.

An explosion of White Butterburs.

Kingfisher sculpture.

There are lots of painted slabs to find. Should keep the kids busy in the Easter Holidays. 🙂

Colourful art depicting April Fools Day.

And Easter.

I have started tracking our walks on a free walking app called Relive. It makes handy little map videos of your hikes.

Relive App.

Hope you’ve had a good weekend. 😊

A Wander To Wiswell. 🌼

After studying our O S maps, ( Wil is better at this than me 🤗) we found another walk from home, using footpaths we were not previously aware of. For this dear lockdown 3, I am grateful…

We plotted a route to the village of Wiswell and back via Barrow village and Standen Hey community woodland. The weather on Sunday was clear and bright, spring was definitely detected. On our walk we heard woodpeckers drumming, curlews calling and saw buzzards soaring. I noticed a solitary tortoishell butterfly and spied sunny clumps of primroses and celandines.

Heading out of Clitheroe to cross the busy A59.

And on into fields in the shadow of Pendle.

Hugo was happy to find a brook.

Plank bridge.

A huge house, actually newly built.

And into Wiswell village.

Hugo at the watering hole.:)

Wiswell.

Wiswell is a small village that lies at the foot of Wiswell Moor. Pronounced Wizzel, the settlement is possibly named after Old Molly’s Well , which became known as Wise Woman’s Well or Wise Well. We didn’t see the well though. Anyhow we sat and enjoyed a flask of coffee in the village centre a while. A greenfinch merrily chirruped in a nearby Conifer.

Greenfinch. 🙂

The Freemasons public house ~ definitely on our list for future pub walks.

Heading away from Wiswell to Barrow.

Early plum blossom?

Berkins Deli in Barrow.

We got a bit lost in Barrow trying to find footpaths that had been either blocked off or diverted because of new housing development. Eventually we found ourselves on the right track, crossing a train track..

Safely across.

An unsuccessful selfie with Hugo.

Onto a familiar path, the old Roman road and stone cross base.

Community woodland.

Primrose.

Celendines.

Catkins.

Crocuses.

Alpaca 🦙 on the outskirts of Clitheroe.

This walk was a little over 8 miles , started off chilly and ended up quite warm.

Os Explorer Map West Pennine Moors 287.

Bolton- by- Bowland walk. 🥾

The Coach & Horses pub.

It looks as though for a little while longer, local walks are on the cards. Actually I don’t mind too much, we have been discovering more of our beautiful Ribble Valley by way of  dusty walking books, barely ever glanced through before.

The following images are from a route found in a Walks Around Clitheroe publication by Terry Marsh ~ Walk 8 ~ Bolton-by-Bowland.

Bolton-by-Bowland itself is a charmingly pretty village boasting two village greens, a lovely looking pub with a pumpkin coach sign and an attractive church.

Along the surfaced drive of Bolton Park.

Sheep in the parkland. Nearby Bolton Hall was  the ancestral  home of  Sir Ralph Pudsay ,who had 25 children. 😯

Not a captivating photo, but tumbling lapwings ducked and dived over this waterlogged field.

Footbridge over Skirden Beck.

Young bulls after Hague Farm.

Pendle Hill in the distance.

After Rodhill Gate Farm, an ancient highway ascends for some distance.

We are basically walking up a stream. 😆

A fallen tree provides the perfect rest stop.

Wil waiting for me as usual.

Still heading up the gully.

Wil waiting for me as usual. 😁

Just after this photo, Hugo disturbed a hare in the grass. Not that he tried to chase it. Hugo prefers smelly dead things. Yuck!

We did get lost a bit, then found our way eventually.

Priest Biggins Farm. A do er upper!

Grey Alder Catkins.

Tree Lichen.

I like this sign. There was also a deer statue in the farm yard. Sika Deer live in the area.

Approaching the hamlet of Holden.

Spring colour ~ Crocuses. 🙂

Holden Beck.

We walk along the road a short while, heading back to Bolton by Bowland.

Glorious yellow Winter Aconites.

St Peter & St Paul church.

Stocks on the village green.

A Yew Tree Cottage, with a giant yew tree.

Map of our walk.

I think we will return to Bolton by Bowland , I suspect there is alot more to discover. 🥾🐑❤️

It’s Cold Outside.

Brrrrrr, it’s been so chilly recently, but also as I said in a previous post, perfect walking weather for dogs and shoes. No mud!

I hear the temperatures may be in double figures by Monday. Advantage being new growth will  peep through what is at the moment cold hard earth.

For now some photos of a walk from home around the meadows and lanes of Waddington civil parish.

We find a footpath through fields, off this road signposted Bashall Eaves.

One of a flock of lapwings. Lovely to see. 🙂

A beautiful old house called Bashall Hall.

Bashall Hall buildings and fallen tree.

Hide and sheep.

A cold looking Pendle.

Friendly flock.

Frozen brook.

Icicles. ❄️

Fairy Bridge.

Hazel Catkins.

We settle for a brew and sandwich on a mossy bridge.

Hugo sat nicely ( on ice!) because we are eating and he’s waiting for crumbs.

Heading to Waddington.

Snowdrops in a little wooded area by a stream.

Cold as ice..❄️

Fairy door.

The Lower Buck. An excellent stop off in usual times. They have roaring fires in there.

Once back home, time for a brew and thaw out. ❤️

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Downham Walk. 🐑

One of Clitheroe’s neighboring villages is Chatburn and from there it’s a pleasant walk into Downham, a picture postcard village used as filming locations in various TV programmes and also in the classic film ‘ Whistle Down The Wind’. Sunday was bitterly cold, so we chose this walk as there are two brew stops, if so desired..

Christ Church, Chatburn. We started the walk from here.

There is a recentish opened enclosed roadside path to Downham. It makes the walk there so much safer.

It passes Greendale , open for takeways again as of the weekend.

Cute sheep. 🙂

Instead of carrying on to Downham we took a detour to Downham Mill, which is down a track on the right,off the road to Rimington. In the past like nearby Twiston Mill , it was a medieval water powered cornmill. Both mills are no longer mills, but do have ponds and millstones.

Downham Mill.

Old Millstone.

It is possible to walk past Downham Mill and over the fields to Twiston. Instead we took a footpath on the right before the mill, which lead us over some hilly fields to the village of Downham.

Hugo having a mad do.

Star on waymarker.

Jelly Ear Fungi.

Pendle Hill with snow covering blends into the white sky.

Downham brook.

The ice-cream shop on Hare Green.

Open for brews, cake, sandwiches….and ice-cream. Brrrrrrrrr!

Sheep doing lunch.

The toilets in the car park were actually open. Yay!

Downham dwellings.

Up at St Leonard’s Church in the village there are nice views of Pendle Hill, still blending into the sky.

Sun dial in the churchyard.

Cemetery snowdrops.

Pendle from the porch.

The Assheton Arms from the churchyard.

Hide and seek sheep.

We walked back to Chatburn , passing this unusual breed of sheep again. Anyone know what they are?

Thanks for dropping by..

On The Riverside.

Today was one of those days when I really wish I had taken my camera out with me, instead of just my phone. This frosty walk along the river from home to the village of Chatburn gave lots of photographic opportunities of the feathered variety. I counted Grey Herons, Little Egrets, Canada Geese, Moorhens, Kestrel, Goosanders and Wagtails .

We don’t often walk on the left hand side of the Ribble on this route for some reason, so it was nice to see the surrounding countryside from a different perspective. Clitheroe’s industrial landscape appeared sporadically in the distance.

Mute Swan.

Mary Horner’s attractive carved bench was particularly striking. Was she a shepherdess I wonder….

Alder catkins.

A type of polypore fungi.

After a brew and sausage roll in the village of Chatburn we chose to walk back home on the road, though another great way to get back to Clitheroe is of course along the other side of the river.

Thanks for joining me on a Winter’s day stroll.

Autumn walk to Dunsop Bridge. 🍄🥾🍁

We joined my sister and kids for a walk along the river Hodder into Dunsop Bridge, a village that claims to be at the very centre of the UK. Lots of Autumn colours and plenty of fungi finds too. We parked by the stone bridge over the river just outside Whitewell.

River Hodder.

Pheasant.

A Lonk Tup.

A mushroom that looks like a small fried egg.

Bridge over the Hodder.

My sister navigates a wonky bridge.

Riverside.

One of two stone otters by the river outside Thorneyholme Hall.

Another bridge, near Thorneyholme Hall.

Honey Fungi, possibly.

Thorneyholme Hall, currently empty I think.

More unidentified Fungi.

And more amongst the leaves.

https://www.ribblevalley-e-bikes.co.uk/ opened in the village over Lockdown.

Anyone know what this is by the bridge?

Fun in the leaves.

Shaggy Inkcap.

Hello Ewe.

On our way back we crossed over the bridge. However if you have a dog, you may have to carry your pooch over, due to the holes in it. 🙃

Another Hodder view.

Autumn colours.

Walking back to the car.

This walk was a very enjoyable 4 miles, with a brew and biscuits bought from Puddleducks Tea Room in the village,which is presently operating as a take away. I think we will return 🙂

Downham & Twiston Circular Walk. 🥾

Another blog post, another local walk. This one is from the picture perfect village of Downham, where in fact many years ago, I went to primary school. The hike is a 4 mile circular route and was a very peaceful one, we saw only one other person out walking until we arrived back in the village at the end for an ice cream. 😊

We set off from the large car park in Downham, following the brook down through the village. You may recognize Downham from the TV series Born and Bred which was filmed here.

A stone bridge over the brook.

All the cottages in the village are owned by Lord Clitheroe’s estate, so the whole village is tenanted.

There are quite a few Stiles and kissing gates on the walk.

A brood of ducklings. 🙂

We head uphill through farmland and find a well placed bench.

Some locals are keen to see us off though.

A pretty wildflower meadow. 🌼

Hugo cooling off in Twiston Beck.

Twiston Mill Pond, though we couldn’t see the pond for the reeds!

Heading past Twiston Mill , which was a busy cotton mill in the past.

Old squeeze style replaced by gate.

You can continue here to Downham Mill, but our route took us elsewhere. I would like to do this walk though too.

The walk carried on past a couple of farms. Here’s a view of Pendle.

Dog Roses and Elderflowers.

Cows grazing as we approach Downham again.

On a rocky outcrop above the village , a 🐝 on mother of thyme.

And Biting Yellow Stonecrop.

Back into Downham. The cottages are stunning and no overhead cables or satellite dishes in sight.

Picture postcard perfect.

The Assheton Arms, Downham’s lovely pub. A couple of days after our walk we heard that the company who owns it has gone into administration, so not sure about it’s future. 😦

Downham pre school, which once upon a time used to be my primary school.

Hugo waiting for ice cream.

We ended our walk at the little ice cream shop on Hare Green, which also sells brews, cakes and sandwiches.

I downloaded this route here. 🥾