The Meanderthals: THE WALK : A-BRIDGED VERSION

DUNSOP BRIDGE 5.5 Miles

Walkers :- Anthony, Mick, Martin,
Danny, John R, John W.

Grey, drizzly skies promised a wet, dull day. Unfortunately they kept their promise and it stayed dreek and dismal all day. Were we downhearted ? Of course.....................................not !

Immediately after leaving the car park the gates of Thorneyholme Hall led us into a magnificent avenue of trees

Just before the Hall a bridge took us over the river Hodder but not into the grounds of the hall itself. A small gate opened onto a narrow and overgrown path between the riverbank and the garden wall.

A rather clever wood carving just over this wall amused us all.

"Thinks.......Do I need to put my waterproofs on ?"

Once past the Hall the fields opened out before us. Fields of rather WET grass. Once again, in the middle of August, the ground beneath our boots was waterlogged and sodden and it wasn't long before we encountered our first "Beasties"

One of a small herd of young cows trots over to watch as we climb over the stile.

Soon after leaving our curious friend we arrived at Mossthwaite were a gentlemen was working in the yard but happily broke off to talk to us for a while. He showed us the foxhounds saying the owner (his boss) of the farm was the "Huntsman" of the Bleasedale pack.

From here a well metalled track took us further up the Hodder Valley till Knowlesmere Manor and it's spectacular chimneys came into view.

The gentleman who told us about the foxhounds also told us that several generations of the "Peel" family had built and occupied the Manor and that the present incumbent was Mrs Peel. He also averred that the oil fired heating cost a fortune and only about a third of the house was used.

From here it was only a matter of minutes before we reached "Giddy Bridge" which wasn't even faintly amusing - didn't so much as raise a chuckle !

We continued along this tarmacked track for another few hundred yards to where a stile allowed us to drop down through the fields to a rather unusual bridge which your writer had previously christened "Diddy Bridge". As we left the road, however we edged cautiously past a group of cows which were not to be moved and included a number of calves. This can be a somewhat risky undertaking.
"Diddy Bridge" proved to be something of a mongrel amongst bridges with concrete and brick supports at either end and a sort of suspended plank-way between. Crossing it instilled rather more "Giddy" feelings than it's previously encountered namesake.

"Diddy Bridge"

Anthony takes the wobbly walk across "Diddy Bridge"

On the day on which "Team GB" won Olympic Gold for "Synchronised Diving" "Team Meanderthal" try some synchronised "Prattin' About."

The ground continued to be very wet as we climbed away from the river heading for the road between Dunsop Bridge and Newton. As we angled across several fields towards the next stile a large group of cows blocked our way. Though we tried to skirt around them they were determined to to investigate the strange group invading their space.

Bovine Bovver Boys (girls actually)

At the road, a right turn and a short walk took us to the point were we planned to leave the road and take to the fields again. This gave us a rather confusing choice.

The planned cross-field track was blocked by a large concrete midden pit.

Second choice was a barely recognisable footpath.

Third choice was a dauntingly "posh" road up to an impressively "posh" house.

Mick takes a rest

at the "posh" gates to the "posh" house.

We chose this route but as we arrived at the "posh" house the clipped bushes and hedges and the beautifully manicured lawns "daunted" us again so we retraced our steps a little way and took to a marked footpath (No marks on the field though) back to a point further along the road. In some ways this was rather fortuitous as it led us to a sheltered spot where we stopped for lunch.

Do not be fooled by the bright patches. The sun was NOT shining.

A further short stretch along the road till we arrived at a group of building called "Boarsden". Here we left the road again to tramp through increasingly wet fields back to Dunsop Bridge. In one large field we encountered our final group of "beasties". A herd of young but hefty looking bullocks which excitedly galloped around us as we warily steered our way along the river banks keeping a watchful eye on them. In following the banks we came across a second "mongrel bridge" but we were not to cross it.

We were to encounter two more bridges before our walk ended. The first being a standard L.C.C. footpath bridge. A final photo opportunity for Danny (Oh no it wasn't !)

The second was the aqueduct taking water from Stocks reservoir to Blackpool.

The next few fields we crossed were almost certainly watermeadows with an abundance of wildflowers and absolutely no firm ground underfoot. Beyond these the ground remained wet and even rougher.

Our walk was almost over but one further challenge remained. A tiny rivulet which would normally have required just a stride to cross had been swollen by the continuous rain into something of a torrent. We crossed it in several different ways. JW boldly (Foolishly ?) ploughed through it. Others took different approaches.