Arriving on the outskirts of Darwen, we were reassured that (a) was not the case as the tower was visible from the motorway.
The cars were parked in what appeared to be a rather 'posh' cul-de-sac, boots were donned and sun-hats brought out of winter storage.
A short walk brought us to the entrance to Sunnyhurst Wood. The name is something of a misnomer; Is it a wood? Not really. Is it an urban park? Not really. Is it country park? Sort of. The truth is that it's a bit of all three and certainly a popular venue for the dog-walkers in the morning and the children-walkers in the afternoon.
As we passed a family group, a young child enquired of his dad, "Who are those men?" "They're called 'ramblers'!" was the reply. What an ambiguous answer!
Having enjoyed the delights of Sunnyhurst Wood, we emerged at the far end of the wood to our first proper view of the Jubilee Tower, looking for all the world as if Darwen is about to enter the space age! (Click here for more info about the tower)
Our great and noble leader announced that we were not taking the short, steep way up but a longer, gentler ascent from Roddlesworth.
The advantage of this route was that, after about an hour into the walk, we arrived at the Roddlesworth Country Cafe. Morning coffee was taken and after a short rest we resumed our journey and the ascent to the summit.
Following this route, it was obvious at one point that there had been a substantial moorland fire the previous day. The stench of burning heathland hung the air. News of this fire had caused some speculation as to whether or not the area would be' Out of Bounds'!
Fortunately it wasn't and we were able to continue our walk to the summit and the Jubilee Tower.
Lunch was taken sitting at the base of the tower, admiring the view and identifying numerous landmark. As we were about to begin our descent, we noticed that, rather surprisingly the tower was open to the public and that it was possible to climb the spiral staircase to the viewing platform. This gave us an even better view of the surrounding area and the numerous walkers who had taken advantage of the school holidays and the fine weather to trek up to the tower.
The short, steep descent took us back into Sunnyhurst Wood and eventually to the cars where Martin confirmed that summer really had arrived by producing his large bottle of 'Ben Shaw's Shandy - 'Suitable for children - less than 0.5% alcohol by volume'! No wonder we ramble!
 |
| The entrance to Sunnyhurst Wood |
 |
| Walking through the wood |
 |
| The Vistiors' Centre |
 |
| 'The Old England Kiosk' a functions venue in the park |
 |
| The Fish Pond |
 |
| Emerging from the wood and our first view of the tower |
 |
| The tower with Earnsdale reservoir in the middd distance |
 |
| Coffee Time! |
 |
| The ascent from Roddlesworth |
 |
| Evidence of the moorland fire the previous day |
 |
| The view from the top of the tower |
 |
| Beginning the descent |
 |
| I’m a Troll fol-de-rol and I’ll eat you up for supper! |
 |
| The route |
 |
| The height profile |
2 comments:
Read the report. Looks and sounds like a good walk. I hada v e r y s l o w walk with two of my much older sisters and a host of grandchildren, nephews, cousins nieces etc. .
Post a Comment