Wycoller

Saturday 25th June
10.5 Km (6.5 miles) - 2hr 37 mins
Map : OL21 - South Pennines.

 

A trip into Lancashire and a wet Saturday afternoon !  Let's start with an apology for not keeping this blog up to date.  We have been out since the last walk recorded here, but lethargy has set in (plus, a small matter of the RFU - but that's a story for another blog, perhaps?) and I didn't update with details of that walk.

After an apology, it's always good to have a rant !  About twelve months ago I bought new boots. They were Hi-Tec and, let's be absolutely honest and straight talking as a Yorkshireman should be.  "THEY ARE THE WORST BOOTS I'VE EVER OWNED".  Within 300 mtrs of starting this walk my feet were absolutely soaked and I feared for "trench foot" by the end of the 10k.  The problem seems to be the tongue of the boot which (although it appears to be sown in) let's in water. Result is squelching around the Pennines for a couple of hours and sore feet through walking in a puddle of water for that length of time.  Time to start saving up for a new pair.

This walk started near Wycoller, just outside Colne on the Yorkshire/Lancachire border (GR : SD 925395). A couple of hundred yards up the road and the first problem, as I headed for Great Thorn Edge, was the lack of a stile, although it was marked on the map. As mentioned above the walk headed through pasture land and the wandering back and forth trying to find the stile in knee high grass meant my feet were thoroughly soaked,

Indeed this was a wet walk.  It drizzled throughout the whole two and a half hours and, by the end I was literally soaked to the skin - even my underwear was wet !! From the farm a good, metalled track struck out across the moor. I presume the views must be fantastic as you gain height but sadly all I saw was mist. Eventually, at a crossroad of paths (GR : SD 924385) I turned right to circumnavigate Germany !!  Obviously the name of the farm, rather than the country.

Just after Germany I made an error, missing a turning and almost ending up in Trawden. However, a quick re-adjustment took me up Lodge Hill before regaining the my planned root and dropping down to Beaver (GR: SD 928373). Skipping (well, as near as I get to skipping) over the stile I was faced with "Blair" the Bull. After a couple of seconds of facing each other we each determined the other was O.K and he let me pass.

One of the joys of this walk was the number of Curlews and Plover darting around and as I dropped through meadowland they all seemed to come out to see what was about.

A the bottom of the descent I picked up the Pendle Way which climbed unerringly to the highest point of the walk at around 320 mtrs. The Pendle Way suffers, as do many other of the pathways, from "mountain bike spread".  As each succesive group of bikes comes along they appear to steer just to one side of the last set of tyre marks, the result is a four foot wide patch of rutted mud, which on a day like today was wet and clinging mud.

At the bottom of Turnpole Clough I had a change of heart and route.Originally, I had planned on reaching Foster Leap and the Pendle Atom (a panopticon - see the pictures). However, faced with a pretty steep climb and the incessant rain I decided on the Bronte Way which leads straight off the moor to Wycoller itself.  A short stroll through Wycoller and I regained the car and (thankfully) some dry clothes!

This is a walk I want to do again when the weather is bright and clear.  I'm sure the views will be magnificent and the photos will reflect this rather than the group of ducks that feature in this set !

Pateley Bridge & Brimham Rocks

Sunday, 5th June
15 km (9.3 miles) 3:20 mins
OS Explorer 26 : Nidderdale

This was almost a repeat of a walk we did back in January when we started from Patelely Bridge and hugged the side of Nidderdale returning via the riverbank.  This time however we continued the walk ending up at Brimham Rocks.  This is a weird and wonderful place where the rock has been eroded to form extraordinary formations with huge boulders teetering on the merest of foundations.
The walk was pretty stiff, with the ascent from Pateley Bridge itself quite a trek and the final climb up to the rocks themselves being a real gut wrencher. As with all effort the reward was in the achievement and sitting amongst the rocks and having one's lunch - why do sandwiches taste better when eaten ourdoors ?
The second reward for a long climb is that the return is, invariably downhill and this was the case here as we descended to Smelthouses and Low Laithe to pick up the River Nidd which was followed all the way back into Pateley Bridge.
On returning home I happened upon an old book which had belonged to my Grandfather called "Striding through Yorkshire", the author is A.J. Brown and the book appeared to have been published in a revised edition in 1949 !  Here is his description of the Nidd "She is the Persephone of the rivers, desired alike by Pluto and Ceres" No, I've no idea what he means either !
I can find little about Alfred J. Brown other than he was a Bradford born writer who wrote for "Country Life" magazine. He eventually moved to Goathland on the North Yorkshire Moors and is buried in Sleights near Whitby.  His writing is certainly from a bygone era and I must sit down and read the book in full !
As always a selection of photographs from the walk