RIBBLETON REVISITED

 NOW YOU SEE 'EM,  NOW YOU DON'T !

             7.5 miles

SCARLET PIMPERNELS :- 

 Anthony,  John W,  Danny,  Vic,  Paddy.    

                                      Exit Paddy

                                      Enter  Paddy     

                                      Enter  Martin

                                       Exit Danny

                                       Exit  Martin and Paddy

                                       Enter Mike and Danny

                                        Enter Martin

                                        Exit Martin

This is very confusing John ! Yes I know but bear with it and all will be revealed ( perhaps not quite all).

We had all met at the car park opposite Preston North End's Stadium when Paddy discovered he had his wife's keys in his pocket. 

Exit Paddy He set off in a cloud of dust  only to return as promised a few minutes later.

Paddy returns .....keys delivered.... and off we go.

North along Deepdale Road and a right turn towards Sainsburys.

Just behind Sainsburys a linear park follows Eaves Brook behind Holme Slack and towards Brookfield Park.

Not the most salubrious brook in the area.

Apart from the ubiquitous litter the path took us through some acceptably pleasant  urban parkland.

At one point behind Holme Slack estate major work seemed  to involve drainage but who knows ?

Soon the path crossed Cromwell Road and opened up into the small but well tended Brookfield Park.

Here the "Litter" included what appeared to be a perfectly good bike which had been dumped in the brook.

We stopped here for a sunny coffee break.

Flasks back in rucksacks we continued through the park before rising up to the embankment of the old Preston to Longridge Railway line.

It wasn't more than a couple of minutes before we took a right turn to follow Sion Close to Ribbleton Avenue.

Across this busy road and into a narrow wooded area leading us to Grange Park where we would be joined by Martin for lunchtime. It was at this point that Cromwell's troop arriving from the Hurst Green area first clashed with the Loyalist during the Battle of Preston

As we followed the well made footpaths we were amused by this lttle feature.

Was it a gardener with fond memories of boyhood and homemade catapults or simply one with a naughty sense of humour ?

We now arived at the ruins of the old Ribbleton Hall where the tumbled brickwork offered ample seating.

I think our two companions are waiting to be turned into greek or roman statues here.  Both undoubtedly "Classics".

Enter Martin........ who had quite naturally assumed that Grange Park would be accessed from Grange Estate whereas it was actually accessed from Moor Nook Estate,

SADLY THERE WERE SIGNS OF VANDALISM IN THIS LOVELY PARK !!

He looks a dubious chacter - could he be a vandal ?

A this point Baroness Orczy really came into her own.What happened at this time was was rather like lifting a rock in your garden. All the little creatures scurry off in different directions. So did our walkers.

Exit.... Danny to find Mike who was to join us for the rest of the walk.

Exit..... Anthony to wait at the meeting point for Danny and Mike.

Exit......Vic who decided to follow Anthony

Exit..... Martin to drive to our next refreshment stop.

Exit.....Paddy who decided to go with Martin. 

Suddenly your writer found himself standing there all on his lonesome. 

Oh Dear !    Ah well,  better follow the leader (Anthony)

Enter Danny and Mike.

Danny has found Mike and here they come to join the rest of us as we start the steep descent through the woods to the bottom of "Brockholes Brow"

Alongside the path as we descended were these charming little flowers... Wood Anemones I think

John had told Martin that we were heading for "Brockholes Nature Reserve" WRONG !  Anthony firmly pointed out that we were not going anywhere near it.  Panick phonecall.... No answer .. Why ?  Further confusions were afoot  !!!

We arrived at the foot of Brockholes Brow and the River Ribble then took The underpass rather than cross the dangerously busy A59. 

The Bridge  - "Ha'penny Bridge"  was  it seems was so called because that was the charge to cross in centuries past.

Immediately after the underpass we took a sharp right turn to begin the seemingly interminable plod up the slope that is Brockholes Brow.

 Once at the top a further call to Martin still gave no result.

We now crossed the A59 to Follow the track past the old cemetery. About half way along this track a phone call from Martin informed us that he had never been to Brockholes but had been asked by Paddy to take him back to the cars. He said he would meet us at the gates to the new cemetery.

Enter Martin

Is this the highest point in Preston ?

One of the cemetery gardeners told us that if we went to a certain point we would be standing at the highest point in Preston. Not entirely convinced we went anyway.

Then we went to see the headstones of quite a few Jesuit priest who had lived and served in Preston,

Two of the names on the next headstone were well known to one of those present  having beaten the ******* out of him when he was a pupil at the Preston Catholic College.......... Yes dear reader that pupil was your writer.

No hard feelings. That's the way it was in the 50's.

Exit Martin. At this point Martin left us to return to his car,

Leaving the New Cemetery we followed Stuart Rd. and Cromwell Rd. until we came once more to the Preston to Longridge rail track.

Children living in Ribbleton in the 50's would know of the "39 Steps" which crossed the railway and headed through farmland to Holmeslack and on to Fulwood..

New steps are now in place BUT 39 ?   probably never were that many.

Onward to Blackpool Rd and Morrisons store where Vic was intrigued by the outdoor launderette.

And so back to the Deepdale stadium passing Martin's house on the way.

One is tempted at this point to use a Shakespearian quotation from "A Winter's Tale".

"Exuent  (Exit) pursued by a bear" .   but that would be a "Bare Faced Lie "

THE END

JW

P.S. THROUGHOUT OUR JOURNEY WE WERE ACCOMPANIED BY THE CHEERFUL FACES OF THE COUNTRIES MOST UBIQUITOUS WEED. DANDELIONS , THIS HUMBLE AND USUALLY DESPISED PLANT IS ,HOWEVER, A MARVEL OF NATURE, IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD IT IS USED AS A FOOD, COFFEE SUBSTITUTE, DYE, MEDICINE

 ONE OF ITS ATTRIBUTES IS AS A DIURETIC, hENCE IT'S LESS ATTRACTIVE NAME OF "PISS-A-BED"

AND ,OF COURSE, IT IS USED BY CHILDREN TO TELL THE TIME, 😉