A tour round Longridge

Longridge Civic Hall, our meeting place for today's walk, proved difficult to find for two of our walkers. Due to lack of signage they drove past it. Setting off from the car park, we headed for Berry Lane, then downhill to Inglewhite Road. Major roadworks were in progress causing the closure of the road, but thankfully it was still open for pedestrian traffic. On passed the road works, we crossed Sainsburys car park then turned right towards our first destination, Longridge Cricket Club.

         The cricket club is on the edge of the town, on the corner of the road to Chipping.

As there was no match being played today, we availed ourselves of their picnic benches for our morning brew.

Lords Lane leads uphill from the Chipping Road, to a couple of farms on the hillside. It is a popular rout for walkers and dog walkers. We met a very sociable young lady out walking her equally sociable dog. In fact I would say that the dog was more sociable, as its owner did not start jumping about with excitement or start sniffing at our legs. Although the dog displayed all the excitement of, and looked like a young spaniel puppy, she said she was eight years old and not a thoroughbred spaniel.

Moving on a little further, we came to this intriguing sign at the start of a farm track. Perhaps the sign should have said well hidden barn, as there was no sign of it from where we were.

It is said that when their is an abundance of berries on the trees, it is a sign of a harsh winter to come. This mountain ash was teeming with berries. Best start digging the gloves and woolly hats out.

This plaque on a large rock in Smiths Sports Field, provided some local history information about the railway that once ran through the field. It was built to transport rock that was quarried just over the hill.

This is the nearby tunnel through which the empty carts had to be hauled back up to the quarry, as the tunnel was too small for the engine to fit through.

                            Martin has met up with us and is joining us for dinner.

After dinner, a short but steep climb took us to the brow of the hill on Higher Road. Turning right then left led downhill alongside the historic Quarryman's Arms to a lovely view over the reservoirs and the valley beyond.

                                                            We are being watched.

A discussion arose between myself and another about the species of the tree in the picture.We decided to consult our J.W. who is the authority among us on things botanical. He suggested it was a cotoneaster. We both phoo phoo'd the idea, it's too big we said, cotoneasters don't grow that tall. After referring to Plantnet J.W was proved right.

This old building on the road to Hurst Green has been tastefully renovated, so as not to spoil the character of the building. A plaque on the adjacent building indicates the age and former use of the building.

                  Leaving the road, we cross a couple of fields to written stone farm. 

                        The written stone is a feature on the Ordnance Survey maps.

                          Right lads, you've had long enough, we must press on.

We arrived at a small housing development where a large community of ducks had made their home on a small lake nearby.

    Don't lean too heavily on there John. Leaving here as we made our way up to Higher Road, we met up with the young lady with the dog, who we had encountered earlier in the day. She said she was a Wigan girl, and that her dad had a caravan on the nearby Beacon Fell View caravan park. She asked if there was a footpath back the way we had come that leads uphill, back onto Higher Road. J.W was able to help her with the aid of his O.S map App.

Through the aforesaid caravan park we made our way, until arriving at the site office, where we had to take a left turn, negotiate a stile in a state of disrepair, (are the owners of the caravan park trying to deter people from using this public right of way) and continue along the perimeter of the site.

                                              No complaints about this sturdy stile.

This bulky piece of machinery caused some discussion as to what it could have been. J.W suggested it could have been used for crushing rocks, and with no one coming up with any better suggestions, I thought it wise to keep my peace, in case J.W had an App for redundant Victorian machinery.

After passing through Smiths Playing Fields again, we were soon back at the Civic Hall.

                                         Thanks for an interesting walk Vic.