Pendle Hill (not The Four Inns!)

Walkers:- Linda Batey, Tony Gask, Sheena Hendrie, Lorna Marsland, Iain McCallum, Neville McMillan, Lester Payne, Derek Seddon, Dave Shotton, Chris Thickett, Dave Wylie

Support and sustenance:- Pat and Richard Holt

The plan for this meet was rearranged owing to a seeming shortage of participants for the Four Inns walk and also in view of generally unpromising weather in the preceding weeks. The resulting meet was a walk over Pendle Hill in the Clitheroe/Nelson area of Lancashire, with the previous weekend's Hot Pot in New Mills providing an ideal opportunity for the distribution of a hastily-produced forthcoming meet change of plan (Thanks go to Frank Williams for advice and a copy of the "Paths Around Pendle" tourist map which was very useful.)

We left Barley car park in dry weather (despite a poor forecast) at about 10 a.m., passing the Ogden Reservoirs and following Ogden Clough, where we were caught up by Dave Wylie (who had had difficulties negotiating Burnley), and stopped for elevenses next to the stream. (Note for future meet leaders - it appears to be better to keep Ogden Clough on the right in its upper section (heading SW to NE below Barley Moor), as it's hard going if you keep it on the left as we did, even though my map showed paths on both sides!) We eventually struck uphill and followed a stone slab path over Barley Moor to the summit at the Big End (a.k.a. the Beacon, used as both a Bronze Age burial mound and a signal-fire site), getting some good views at the top.

Going down past Hookcliffe Plantation, we crossed over a patchwork of fields to Twiston Lane (the Downham-Lower Gate road), getting good views of the north side of Pendle Hill. We followed the lane towards Witches Quarry, and were met at the nearby lime kiln by Pat and Richard Holt who provided very welcome refreshment in the form of tea and scones (with cream and strawberry jam) from the back of their camper van. We had a look at the quarry which has recently been re-opened for 'low key climbing' after a 15 year ban. It didn't look all that inviting but it is supposedly of good quality limestone with over 70 routes on it - perhaps another day? The party then followed the road through Twiston to the Twiston Crossroads (I've since found out that this was formerly the site of the local gibbet, last used for a public hanging in the 1840's, for those with a taste for the macabre). There was a heavy downpour on this section, the only rain we encountered on the walk. From the crossroads we followed the Black Moss Road, and then took a footpath which led us through the gap between the Black Moss Reservoirs and back to Barley for about 4 p.m. where most of the group stopped at the café before heading for home.

Thank you to everyone who came on the walk, and especially to Pat and Richard Holt for the tea and scones.