The Meanderthals: Longridge Fell

"City Slickers" to "Fell Top Slippers"

Thursday January 22nd - 5.5 miles

WALKERS :- Paddy, Harry, John R, Anthony,
Mike, Martin, Vic, John W.

After three consecutive Urban ambles we returned with a little trepidation to the countryside meeting at John W's in Grimsargh to travel a few miles through Longridge to Jeffrey Hill. Our slight hesitancy was caused by a covering of snow on the fells. Snow of itself has never been a deterrent but the sodden state of the ground beneath it might have made walking treacherous and tiring. Nothing daunted, by 10 o'clock we had parked the cars and were tramping slowly through the snow heading for the woodland on the horizon. The usual magnificent views to be enjoyed along the "Long Ridge" were sadly obscured by a damp haze which filled the Loud Valley below us. The snow, which turns the ordinary into a magical wonderland, worked it's charms on the group who were smilingly in awe of the beauty of their surroundings, (OOh ! That a bit OTT John ? -- Naw !) The crunching of the snow beneath our boots and the "cuck cuck cuck " of the red grouse simply added an auditory dimension to the wintry delights of the day. After a mile or so we turned away from the fell edge and rose slowly to the drystone wall which forms a sort of spine long that part of the fell, Over the wall and a left turn saw us following a track alongside the wall untill we came to gate that led us back through the wall where the Triangulation Post on Spire Hill could just be seen gleaming white in the distance. Arriving at the post - Coffee time. Before setting off again Martin fitted his "Ice chains" to his boots. Anthony already had them on. Off again and a few minutes later we plunged deep into the gloomy forest as we followed a narrow rocky footpath downwards. . This eventually swung to the right and widened into quite a broad forestry track and then led us out of the trees and onto a "Proper" woodland track. The footpath almost immediately swung off to the left and disappeared into the trees. We took the decision to enjoy the open levelness of the maintrack for a little while longer knowing that we could pick up the footpath a little further on. Just before we rejoined the footpath we met three young ladies walking their dogs. One of the young ladies turned to John W and said "Do you remember me ? You taught me to play the guitar and YOU WERE GOOD" (Aw c'mon fellas I HAD to put that in ) She is now a police officer in Blaccburn. And so onward. We left the Track to drop steeply down the fellside through an area which looked like a wasteland covered in stumps with saplings beginning to sprout all over. As we came to the end of the wasteland our path was blocked by several large fallen trees. Long legged Paddy and Mike clambered over them but those of us vertically and arthritically challenged had to divert at the expense of bush grabbed headgear and rucsacs. A few minutes later we encountered a most magnificent tree which almost demanded that we had our lunch beneath it's sheltering limbs . It also offered its roots a seats What a generous beech tree, (The beech is sometimes referred to as the "Mother" of the woodlands.) The next section of the walk was along a tarmacced section of road and then a right turn leading us back up to the fell top. Here we passed some quite eccentric looking farmhouses each one unique in it's appearance and decorative imaginativeness (is that a proper word ?) Now we began to struggle. The path became narrow and tortuous as we plodded upwards. Worse was to come as we lost the path and had to battle though rough, snow laden heather which hid deep clefts and foot tripping barriers. It was a real challenge but at last we reached a proper track again. From here it was simply a matter of following the track gently upwards to where we rejoined our original route and followed it back to the cars,

An inspiring, beautiful walk but definitely challenging.