Ramblers

 Brock Bottom is a well known local beauty spot and a splendid starting point for this lovely and varied walk. The first part, by the riverside, is notorious for mud, so a dry spell before the walk is a must.

Starting from the car park, our little party of six, none from Bolton this time, but three from the Lancaster group, started to make our way along this pretty river, walking a good, dry path until we arrived at Walmsley Bridge. Here, we left the river and climbed up a lane, later entering fields via a footbridge and walking towards Bowman House Farm. Then it was more lane walking and on to another farm, this time Clarkson’s. Approaching the latter farm, we had to cross a large field of cows plus two young but quite intimidating bulls. I was reminded of the words of one of my neighbours, a college trained farmer. The first thing that they were taught was never to turn your back on a male animal. We didn’t! (more…)

If you look South from Longridge, you will see the large Winter Hill TV mast. Move your attention to the East, at the top of the next hill and you will notice the Darwen, or Jubilee, Tower. This prominent landmark was the target for this month’s walk. The tower was built to commemorate the local landowner’s decision to allow free access to his land for all.

As the Bolton group were in charge today, we had to start from a civilized starting point, Roddlesworth, with its café and toilets. (more…)

This popular and enjoyable walk was undertaken a few years ago, so we decided it was time to re-visit the area again. Not only is this a scenic area, it is also steeped in local history largely connected to the commerce of the canal era.

First, a little bit of history. The Lancaster Canal was originally planned to link up with the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which involved a large aqueduct across the Ribble. However, due to a lack of funds and the future competition from the railways, this structure was never built. The resultant link consisted of a canal spur from the L&L Canal to Walton Summit, followed by a tramway, which crossed the Ribble at Avenham Park, across the wooden bridge that still exists today and on to the canal basin at Corporation Street. This canal spur was the focus of our walk. (more…)

For this month’s walk, we ventured a little further from home to explore the pretty landscape to the north of the county around Abbeystead.

Starting from the car park at Stoops Bridge, we entered the estate of the Duke of Westminster, following the Wyre Way, a good path which crossed the Marshaw Wyre a number of times. To our left appeared the imposing manor house, one of the Duke’s many properties. Pheasants were a regular sight, reminding us that this is a shooting estate. (more…)

The walk for February consisted of a seven mile circuit to the East of Chipping. Unfortunately, three of our regulars were non-starters, due to undercarriage problems, but I’m sure that they will be back soon. However, we had a good turnout from the Bolton group which brought us up to Read more…

During the extreme weather a year ago, we enjoyed a pleasant and quite challenging walk from St Annes to the Tower. This year we decided to repeat the experience, making the walk a little longer by starting from Fairhaven Lake. Our party of nine, including the welcome appearance of the Read more…

Having trodden new ground last month, this month’s walk was on more familiar territory in the Ribble valley. Jim was back in charge and he chose a pleasant ramble along a selection of marked footpaths in the Gisburn Forest. Meeting as usual in Longridge, the five of us managed to Read more…

Haigh Hall and its surrounding country park are situated to the North-East of Wigan and provide a variety of pleasant walks with links to the local industrial heritage. Bill, from our Bolton group, kindly offered to lead us on this walk, in a part of the county that is somewhat Read more…

This month’s walk was taken from our back catalogue, having walked it some years ago with Sylvia and Pete. The turnout was a little unbalanced, with two from Longridge and three from Bolton. Starting from the car park by the jetty, (I did consider a start from Fleetwood and crossing Read more…

This month it was Veronica’s turn to lead us and she was flying solo, as Neil had to act as clerk of works on a patio project. The walk started from the Scorton Picnic Site car park, from where we joined a footpath along the left bank of the River Read more…