BLEASDALE

MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR ?   4.8 Miles

Walkers :- Anthony, Vic, Mike, Danny, John W.  ..... Martin

With a veritable maze of narrow country lanes to negotiate and perhaps insufficiently precise instructions from today's leader (J W ). We were rather late getting started as our target car park, near to St Eadmer's Church, proved difficult to find. (For some !!!)

Once we were all gathered together we set off soon passing the only church in England dedicated to St Eadmer.

As we passed the church there was some discussion as to precisely where Bleasdale Circle was to be found. The leader was quite confident as to it's location and the general rule is that the leader "Leads" (at his peril 😟😟)

Not much further along the track and signposts pointed across the fields to the Circle.

We crossed the very wet fields heading towards a small wood which encloses the early Bronze Age site.

Bleasdale Circle is a Wood Henge about 4000 years old and when excavated early in the C20 contained funerary urns.  One of which contained an incense burner.

An excellent place for a coffee break.

We very soon found, however, that it was less than ideal as a cold wind filched it's way through the trees. Before we left Vic discovered some bones which could easily have been 4000................................................... minutes old.

Leaving the Circle and squelching back across the wet field ...

As we followed the track, with a superb backdrop of the Bowland Fells, we found more bones. A sadly long departed hare.

Danny follows the country code as he waits for Vic to catch up. "Leave all gates as you find them".

It was dawning on us that we were walking along footpaths in a private estate. The footpath signposts were non-standard and not always well maintained.

Not sure where this signpost is pointing but on the horizon is the col between Parlick and Fairsnape fells.

The drystone wall, alongside which Anthony is walking, is a superb example of such walls.  Further evidence, perhaps , that there is money available for maintenance. Not yer average hill farm structure ?

Bleasdale Fell, on the horizon, brought back memories of long days in our youth, when we would explore the deeply incised valleys cutting through the vast plateau that constitutes the Bowland fells.

Although there had been little rain overnight there was still plenty of surface water, The fields seemed to be "Leaking" onto the paths.

The small brooks we passed were full of chestnut brown water as, peat stained, it  drained from the fell tops.

Our route so far had been arrow straight (with the odd kink) towards the fells. but with the biblical three score years and ten fading behind us and the tentacles of the "Octopus" years creeping over the horizon, the lure of the fells was resisted.  It is not entirely ruled out yet though. 

So we turned west to follow the EDGE of the fells.

Almost immediately we passed a signpost pointing to Fiendsdale a delightful moorland valley leading to Langden Castle in the very heart of the fells. Nostalgia tugged strongly but our resolution was set in stone.........

.......... for now anyway 😕😕

The fellside farms we passed did not quite fit in with the image of the challenging farming style one might expect. Another reminder that we were walking on an estate dedicated to field sports. Seemingly very lucrative.

The wildlife we encountered wasn't quite what we expected either.

As we passed the next farmyard one feature caught our attention.

A very large yard entirely cobbled, Not the usual sterile concrete.

It was at this point that our velocipedal archaeologist made a historic announcement . He had discovered the source of the title "Trough of Bowland" and here it is - a ten metre long farmyard water TROUGH ! 😄😄😄😄😄

By now we were approaching the road junction close to Bleasdale Tower where we had suggesting meeting up with Martin. Key to this was communicating by phone but in this remote area this proved difficult. All the roads around us were private estate roads with very few road signs. Martin was struggling to find us. We decided to have lunch in the wood by the side of the road in case we spotted Martin driving past.

 Across the road from here was a postbox set in the wall. It seemed to be a very old one.

King George. But which one ? There was no Regnal Number.  Can anyone help ?

Sadly missing Martin's company ---- but when lunch was finished we continued down the road. To one side of the road was a packhorse bridge. Unfortunately it was on private land and we were unable to approach it. Look carefully and you will see it in the next photo. (Not always crystal clear on telephoto.)

We could only stare at it from a distance.

As well as the field sports the estate also dabbles in "Glamping" and we passed one of their sites.

Looking quite sturdy (which they no doubt are) the walls and roof of each unit were in fact canvas.  Wow !

Dragging wheeled suitcases across fields is hardly practical so transport is provided.

"Hold on fellas. It says this way !" Could we possibly get lost again ?

The roads we were walking on were private estate roads. We could tell when we left the estate as the condition of the road surfaces deteriorated noticeably.  Hmmmm .....

Then over the fields St Eadmer's church came into view and a few minutes later we arrived at the car park. But not before passing this lovely tree.

What a happy surprise...... Martin had found the car park and was waiting for us. Chilled Shandies or Ginger Beer were dispensed. Thanks Martin... ONCE AGAIN !

THE END

JW