The Meanderthals: CUERDEN VALLEY

Before writing up this weeks walk onto the blog I hope you will forgive if I briefly return to last weeks Roman Ramble. Those of us unfortunate to suffer the ministrations of 50's grammar school regimes would have been introduced to "LATIN". and will probably remember this ditty.

Latin is a language

as dead as dead can be

First it killed the Romans

and now its killing me

However, Martin was something of a latin scholar and remembers this somewhat cleverer ditty.

Ceasar ad sum iam forte

Brutus ad sum tu.

Ceasar sic in omnibus

Brutus in is at

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DOGGONE IT ! 5 Miles

Off the Lead :- Martin and John

After some initial confusion we left the Cuerden Hall Car Park shortly after after 11am. Scintillating walk this was not going to be but there would be moments

Not the least confusion was the machine issuing parking tickets . The lady before us said she had battled for ten minutes before she finally got one. Our own efforts were scarcely any quicker.

As we left to set off on our walk I began to suspect that those wooden owls are breeding. The flippin' hooters are everywhere.

Well for done another conservation triumph. 😏

Immediately out of the car park and just before the cafe a right turn took us down a steep narrow path which joined a wider more solid path as it left the immediate area of the hall and descended to the River Lostock.

As it levelled out a bridge crossed the river and took us to a "T" junction.

Turning right we soon began to encounter dogs . Some of them were taking humans for a walk. Some seemed to be roaming free. Some of the humans were being looked after by 1, 2 ,3 and even FOUR dogs.

One of the delights of our walks are the trees we meet on the way. These two magnificent specimens were far too tall for the camera to take them in. They outshone all the trees around them.

Having made a late start we were soon ready for coffee and found a suitable bench next to ditch running with clear water. The ground all around was still waterlogged after the heavy rains during the winter.

Shortly after coffee time this young lady stopped to chat and proudly show off her brand new folding bike.

We now came to the road from Clayton Green to Leyland . We walked just a short distance along before we crossed it and continued along the Cuerden Valley Trail.

Here a good, well surfaced path followed the banks of the River Lostock as we headed for our turnaround point. Lisieux Hall.

To one side a notice told us not to take this path.Though one look and you would hardly want to.

All the way along the valley there were fallen trees. Some freshly downed and others well rotted. Here some fungi make a very attractive display along one old branch.

The "Park" is looked after by "Friends". Unpaid volunteers and we agreed that they were doing a remarkable job.

Our slow ambling pace meant that it was lunch time long before we reached Lisieux Hall. And a well sited bench in a comfortable spot overlooking a meander in the river gave us an excellent sun filled spot to stop and eat.

Trees, along with swans (remember the canal walk ) beg to be photographed.

According to someone on the TV this has been an excellent year for our wild bulbs. We couldn't agree more.

Rucksacks packed and sticks gathered together we ploughed on towards our destination. Then rounding a bend we found that we had arrived at a spot we had visited on at least two previous walks.

The ruins of Lower Kem Mill, a bleaching and Dyeing works. We wondered if it was tucked away out of sight and sound because of the needs of what we now refer to as "Health and Safety" concerns in the nature of it's production methods. But maybe it was more to do with the need for lots of water.

We spent a little time exploring these ruins and then came to a decision.... The sky had darkened. A chill breeze had struck up, and there were even spots of rain in the air. Lisieux Hall would have to wait for another day... We headed back.

At one point on our walk we discovered that Fungi were not the only things growing out of the trees. Several trees had ferns sprouting from their joints.

......and the snowdrops were not the only harbingers of spring either.

The Corona Virus has not been kind to anyone over the last year but one thing has been a joy. All but a tiny minority of our fellow walkers, invariably complete strangers, were happy to exchange greetings or even stop for a chat.

As we walked back we arrived at our "outward" coffee spot and decided to finish our flasks off there..

This sparkly chatty and cheerfully garrulous lady stopped to chat and quite enthralled us and no Martin has not been lulled to sleep. He was watching the dog at his feet

We learnt that the was the first girl in the country to go to university to study electrical engineering,

Her father refused to let her finish the course because she was a girl and as such did not need an education

Before she got married she had to buy her husbands clothes because his parents didn't like him and refused to do so.

She quickly discovered that she didn't like him either and left him and has been single for the last 60 years.

Wow ! a real tour de force. All this said in a cheerfully matter of fact way that led us to believe it was true. Her age was indeterminate but she obviusly lived in a different era.

our walk was almost over by now as we turned back up towards the Car park. Back over the first bridge we had crossed and climbing up towards the modern cafe on the top of the slope. (We did not visit it.)