05/05/2019

The bagging of Boulsworth hill.

Another Bank holiday weekend and we are not wanting to waste a second of it..Anytime off work is precious time. Today we set off for pastures new..The borough of Pendle over the border in Red rose country. When I say pastures new that is not strictly true as we have visited the area once before. On that occasion we climbed the mighty Pendle hill in snow..A day I look back on fondly. I don't know why we have not returned to the area as it has a rich tapestry of landscapes.....tucked away in a quiet corner...I have a pack of 8 walks for the area...we chose an 8 miler called The Brontes in Pendle circular walk..Ok lets do this.....

The starting point for the walk was to be the village of Trawden..Never been here before, I always find new places confusing..we drove around for a few minutes looking for somewhere to park..Parking seems really tight around these little streets..We eventually squeezed into a spot alongside a row of terraced houses...No yellow lines...we should be fine. We followed the line of the old Tram tracks uphill, before we knew it we were free from the village. Striding out across fields towards the hamlet of Oaken beck..Until recently only one house in this pretty hamlet was occupied but the attractive cottages have been recently restored..A century ago there were two shops and a small pub here to support the outlying farms.

We dropped back down into the valley to visit the stream, a beautiful spot amongst the trees. We came across Lumb spout waterfall, a tranquil hidden gem..i took a few photographs of the ribbon of water as it cascaded down through a gap in the rocks. In its heyday it was a popular beauty spot, I believe there was even a small café there..The ruins can still be seen..All quiet nowadays, just the tinkling of the water and the bubbling call of the Curlews could be heard...A place to sit and soak it all in.

Ahead of us now looms the huge brooding bulk of a hill that is Boulsworth...This hill is the reason I chose to do this walk. Standing at 1696ft its the biggest hill around these parts. easy to climb though as the path wasn't that steep, in fact we hardly broke into a sweat..We met a group of 3 people that were coming off the hill..An Asian fellow a coloured chap and a small lad..we stopped for a chat as most walkers do when out on the hill..they were locals that knew the area well..i could instantly tell that they loved these wild hills..could have chatted for ages but the summit was calling me.

Just before we reached the top we decided to shelter from the wind behind a rocky outcrop for a bite to eat and a hot drink..With our backs to the rocks we surveyed the view to the south..Calderdale and Stoodley pike held my gaze for awhile as I recalled memories from our Pennine way walk a few years ago..Green tea drank and a quick piddle and we moved on..refreshed.

Soon we were stood by the summit trig point [Lad law]..This time looking north..Thats Burnley down there to the left..Then Pendle hill looming large behind Colne..Ingleborough and Pen y ghent..in the distance..This really is a first class view..We headed back down on a decent path passing the Abbot stone.At the bottom we joined the Pennine bridleway.

Nice to be on flatter ground as we followed this track for a mile or so..up and down, twists and turns, a track like this is a joy to follow..Now we were heading for Wycoller..apparently the name comes from Wic air meaning the dairy farm among the Alders..There are still Alders there today lining the river..Apparently there are seven bridges along this stretch of river ,ranging from an ancient packhorse bridge to one single slab of stone that is believed to be over 1000 years old...its certainly quite a spectacle and im guessing everyone that passes by cannot resist walking across it..i know I couldn't.

From Wycoller it was back over high ground again to Trawden..passing the Pulpit stiles where it is said that preachers such as George fox and John Wesley would have addressed their congregations...Back in Trawden we needed a pint in the Trawden arms, [like you do]. After which we returned to the car..the second I opened the door a scruffy looking Nesbit came out of his house..can I park my car in front of my own house now he ranted..Do what you like mate I said..I took my time, even lacing my shoes up when they didn't need lacing up..he was watching me out of his window..I had another swig of my drink and did my shoe laces up again.. ..It had been a good day.