Darwen Tower

This is a walk we did in September 2006. Great weather and great location. It was very hot though and quite steep onto Darwen Moor. So i cut this walk short as it was a planned 8 miles and i didnt think i had it in me! still did about 4 miles and we met some new friends! Amy especially loved the group of very friendly horses that came over to her from a nearby field :)

The Tower itself is cool. you can walk to the top but its VERY windy and i could barely hold on to the camera! definatly a walk i want to do again!

pictures as follows: 1. our horsey friends, 2. Darwen Tower looking like something out of a Flash Gordon film 3. Darwen town from the tower. 4. Amy and Henry take a break on the way up 5. The top of Darwen Moor.

Whalley Nab

ok so not really much of a 'fell' walk but a steep little hill to climb anyway.its less than 200 metres High is Whalley Nab,but the small steep hills I sometimes find almost as hard as the biggies. We did a 7 mile walk all around Whalley yesterday and what a beautiful day it was. Whalley is a large village not far from Pendle Hill. Its a very posh and scenic and well kept village too. We got to walk by the river calder,walked through several woods,fields of sheep and through the village itself. we saw squirrels and rabbits aplenty... but as Amy said 'at least we havent had any cows to worry about' just as she said that i saw in the near distance a whole field of the buggers! we dont like cows and they certainly dont like Henry! thing is we were 5 mins off the end of a long walk..





They can be quite intimidating.they moved at first one or two and then most of them towards Amy and Henry. I told Amy to get going ahead and run. before she could do that one of them came right up to her. She chased it away! I told her i would get between them and the cows. they move right up to you but are reluctant to really go for you.. but you never know! i was surrounded by the buggers almost! but with Henry and Amy further away they slowly lose interest.

the pictures at the top are: 1. me and Henry at Spring wood picnice site(the start of the walk)
2. Whalley Nab. 3. Amy and henry sat on an old bridge over a stream. 4. looking from part way up the nab down to the village high street. 5. the river calder.

BBQ on Longridge Fell

This was one of the best walks we have been on in a great location.The walk starts off at Jeffreys Hill car park 260m up and then after a short walk to the top of Jeffrey Hill itself. you walk through the heather moorland to the top of Longridge Fell at 350 metres.

Then the walk changes alot. you cut into woodland which you had been skirting, descend down a rock strewn stream and then keep going down through lovely woodland. It was here half way through the walk that we found a perfect spot for some lunch.

I was with Amy,Henry and our friend Terry who had come prepared! Sausages were on the menu and Henry couldnt resist pinching some before he was supposed to :)

You then walked back up towards the top and back to the car. the walk is 6 miles in 3 hours.

Here are some pics. They include pics of the dinner,the long walk up to the top of Longridge Fell and pics of Longridge Forest.

ps. Note the cuteness of Amy and her pink hat! what this doesnt show is how it fell off into some mud and I dived in like a hero to save it or how many times I nearly fell over into the same patches of mud ;0)

Clougha Pike and Grit Fell

This walk i did on my own for the first time in a blazingly hot sun! probably the hottest days walking i have done... and I was woefully prepared. how about 1 bottle of pop, 1 small packet of crisps and.... well and nothing really... and to make matters far worse I had been stuck in a traffic jam on the M55 for 3 whole hours before i got going towards Jubilee car park!! I got there in the end at about 11.30. roughly the time i expected to FINISH my walk! Bear Gryhlls would have been ashamed of my lack of preparation! ;)





The walk was about 1 1/2 of climbing from 250 metres at the car park to 430 metres at shooters pile before i turned right and climed again to 467 metres at the lonely summit of Grit Fell. then back another 1 1/2 to Clougha back itself (413m) and then down towards Quernmore and back road walking towards the car. my feet were on fire, I was burnt to hell and my ankles were killing as it was such a rocky, bumpy walk... but I loved it!

I was a sorry site at the end and dived into a post office for a drink!!

Picture info from the top going clockwise!

1. The long slog to the stone structure called 'Shooters pile'
2. My good self at the pile.
3. The top of Grit Fell. a few rocks.not much else and Wards Stone the top of bowland in the background.
4. The view back after descending part way from the Pike.
5.top of Clougha Pike with wind shelters. i got a top signal on here to ring me mum! :)

Walk of 02.06.07 - The Two hills! Parlick and Fair Snape.

(ABOVE - PARLICK PIKE)

This was Garys first walk with me and what a place to start. The weather as you can see was gorgeous, the sky filled with paragliders and it was hot!

We crossed the top of Parlick (432m,1430 feet),then headed up and down the fantastic Blindhurst ridge before the easy climb to Fair Snape (510m,1710 feet).

Wish i could say the ascent of Parlick was easy but this is the 2nd time I have climbed it and both times I have stopped 2 or 3 times! After the top of Fair Snape we then eventually found the path down to Higher Fair Snape farm and eventually back to the car at Fell foot farm. a total of about 6-7 miles.

(ABOVE - GARY AT THE TOP OF PARLICK) (ABOVE - LEE AT THE START)

(ABOVE LEFT - FAIR SNAPE) (ABOVE RIGHT - PARLICK IN THE DISTANCE)