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This is a challenging 10 mile walk!

We set out with a plan of walking up onto the moors from Waterfoot, steeply climbing up towards ‘Top o’ the Leach, along the Pennine Bridleway past Cragg Quarry and Rooley Moor Road, across the moors to Lee Quarry in time for the prize-giving at the Singletrack Weekender and then back along the disused railway track behind Stacksteads. The weather was beautiful until we stepped off the Bridleway and headed for what we thought was Lee Quarry along a rather indistinct path across the moors. Val went up to her knee in a rabbit hole, which thankfully resulted in a very dirty leg and nothing worse. As we got closer and closer to what turned out to be a working quarry, we got caught in a nasty storm. When we got ourselves sorted out, we arrived in Lee Quarry after everyone had gone and the sun started to shine as we reached the low level walk!

We were never actually lost, but we had definite difficulties pin-pointing exactly where we were and where we were heading for. Once again our poor orienteering skills let us down. However, there definitely needs to be a properly way-marked and laid out bridleway/footpath from the Mary Towneley Loop to Lee Quarry.

This walk was held over from last week. We were going to do it on Father’s Day. We even got as far as Barley Car Park. Unfortunately Sam took a little the worse for wear, so we went back home.

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This walk is taken from Walks into History: Lancashire by Brian Conduit (ISBN 1 85306 971 X). It’s Walk 8: Pendle Hill and 17th Century Witchcraft and measures 6 miles. You start from the car park in Barley and the walk takes you to Roughlee, Newchurch in Pendle and Lower Ogden Reservoir. The book tells you the history of the Pendle witches as you go round. Its a lovely walk, walking along a river, then up to a ridge that overlooks Nelson and Brierfield, then across country side until you climb up to excellent views of Pendle Hill. Then you walk down to the reservoir through the delightful Fell Woods and back to Barley.

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We went over to Pennine Lancashire’s other major mountain biking centre, Gisburn Forest, for this week’s walk. There was an Enduro race making good use of the forest trails. You can access the Gisburn Forest trails from either Tosside or Stocks Reservoir, which is near Slaidburn in the Ribble Valley.

I’ve created a special page for Gisburn Forest on the Adrenaline Gateway website where you’ll find downloads of walking guides, the mountain bike trail map and the Enduro course. Enjoy!

We walked on excellent, very dog friendly (no stiles and Penny was able to spend a lot of time off the lead) paths for around 3 hours. There are many trails to choose from (we walked the red (or is it orange) trail plus a small hill climb to have a look around). Its the only walk so far where we didn’t see Pendle Hill. Still the forest setting is unique in Pennine Lancashire!

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And they say it always rains around here! Another beautiful, hot, sunny day with barely a cloud in the sky! This walk is courtesy of Mr Roy Chetham and can be found here. We started (and finished) at the Mill Hill picnic site in Huncoat, because the car park there is usually quiet and it meant we got all the major climbs out of the way at the beginning of the walk. We cut off the bit around Peel Park, as we enjoyed it earlier in the year and missed out a visit to the stocks and peace garden in Huncoat because we had the dog with us. We reckon we managed 8 miles out of the 9, so we’re definitely improving.

Apart from the fact you have to cross Burnley Road twice, we were all agreed that this was one of the best walks so far! Hameldon Stocks and the walk along the canal were the main highlights, although Hameldon Woods and the area around Mill Hill ran them close. And the buttercups…fields of gold indeed.

Just after Peel Park we stopped at the Whitaker Arms on Burnley Road. Hand-pulled Old Peculier! The walk nearly stopped there… Then, nearly at the end of the canal walk, we turned off at Shuttleworth Hall Bridge and made our way up to the farm shop for an ice cream. This is the farm shop that we use regularly and its a hidden gem, well worth finding out.

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Fantastic day – got sunburnt again! We set off to go from Goodshaw Chapel to Lumb and back, travelling along the Rossendale Way, but when we saw how close we were getting to Crown Point and the Tree Panopticon, we diverted and came back by Clowbridge Reservoir. The work that has been done on bridle ways around this area must be praised. Thank you and well done.

So, we have a new walk that explores where Rossendale and Burnley meet. It’s around 6 miles – you may be better off starting and ending at Clowbridge Reservoir, where there is a pay and display car park. We were warned that in poor visibility it could be difficult to find your way across the moors. Not a problem on Sunday, which was bright and sunny!