Barley in Pendle. 5 miles. Walkers Anthony Vic and Danny

Our numbers were rather diminished for this walk. The weather forecast was not good, but as sometimes happens, bar for a few drops, it stayed dry for us, and it was a lovely Autumn day.

Leaving the car park we crossed the Green, over the bridge and turned right with the Pendle Inn to our left.

After passing the Barley Mow we turned up a private road on the right that led up to the Lower and Higher Black Moss Reservoirs, were the road got quite muddy due to work being carried out, and heavy machinery having churned up the ground. The entrance to the Sculpture Trail where we have on previous occasions stopped for our morning brew, was as good a place as any today also
 

                                    The sky over Burnley was looking black.

After having climbed up a long steep hill on the road to Rough Lee, there was an even longer one down into the village.

Reaching the T junction at the bottom of the hill, we noticed that we were being watched from a high balcony overlooking Pendle Water in the valley below.

John and Martin had arranged with Anthony to join us for dinner. Luckily, Anthony was able to get a phone signal, so was able to tell them exactly where we were. After 5 or ten minutes, our pals arrived.

                          Ample seating was available by the village bus stop.

                     Alas, it's time to move on, in our quest to find some witches.

On previous Halloween walks in Rough Lee, we have come across some imaginative examples of the villagers enthusiasm. Perhaps because today we are earlier than usual, or maybe because of the weather forecast, there was not much to see today, except for the permanent memorial to Rough Lee's very own Alice Nutter

There was a veritable cascade of water coming over the waterfall by the road as we left the village

As the river crossed under the road a little further along, we left the road to follow the river.

In a field beside the river there was a selection of ducks, who must be used to being fed, as I had brought some bird seed with me and when I took my rucksack off they came waddling over. The field was on a slope, and higher up the field were two geese, who,

hearing the commotion of the ducks, made haste to join in the feed. 

Also up the field were three sheep, who not to be left out, also came running down, and seemed to have an appetite for bird seed.

      On reaching this bridge, we crossed over the river, to continue on the opposite bank.

As we neared the end of our walk we passed through this former mill hamlet with it's quaint

old cottages. The mill at the far end was up for sale, but only as a single dwelling. It had great potential but looked like it would need a lot of work and money spending on it.

                                                      The End

                                                          DK   

DUNSOP BRIDGE

 DOWN IN THE VALLEY  7+ Miles

VALLEY VENTURERS :-  Anthony, Vic, Paddy, John W

                                           Danny,  Martin,  Mike.

"Journey to the Centre of the Earth" ? We really can't compete with Jules Verne but read on....

Already to go as we fasten up prior to leaving Dunsop Bridge's almost "Pretty" car park

Just opposite the car park is, reputedly, the telephone box in 

the geographical centre of England.  (it has been disputed !)

The early morning sunshine cast long shadows as well as the promise of a great day for a walk.

Amongst a large herd of "White" sheep were a few "Black" sheep. Not naughty ones of course but possibly welsh Mountain sheep

Hello what's this ?

"That's a funny looking sheep"  thinks Vic

Well !  well !   Not often we come across a Giraffe on our walks

  .... But I'm sure a Giraffe could be quite happy in this lovely area.

The track soon led us to a bridge over the River Dunsop which we crossed to join the United Utilities tarmacked service road which we would follow to the head of the valley.

The road would gently rise along this remarkably scenic valley.

Coffee time had arrived and what better place to sit and drink in a forest than on a log pile

With the sides of the valley sheltering us from the cool breeze it was a great place to sit in the,  by now,  warm,  Autumn sunshine.

Can't stay for ever though. Time to put our flasks away and plod on.

As we left our coffee site two cyclist came by.  Mike stopped them to ask about the possibilities of a future bike ride for the Meanderthals.

We continued up the valley which continued to charm us with it's superb scenery.

Ahead of us we could now see "Middle Knoll".   Here the valley would split the right hand branch becoming the Whitendale and the left the Brennand.

LOOK ! A pair of boots abandoned by the river. Has something dreadful happened here ?

A large articulated lorry was loading up with logs . It had passed us, empty, earlier on it's way up.

 As we approached the water intake for the United Utilities the river assumed a slightly less than natural look.

The river now held a concrete fish ladder.

Middle Knoll now loomed before as we looked for a suitable place to have our lunch.

Some of us found a sheltered spot by the river to eat our butties.

While others found a sunny spot amongst the buildings and were rather reluctant to move as they  "Snoozed " in the warm sunshine. ( Your writer is exaggerating their level of comatose restfulness.)

Leaving our picnic spot the road began to rise up quite steeply and two of our party decided to amble slowly back to our starting point and wait for us there in the rather quaint cafe - - "PUDDLE DUCKS" (that's the cafe NOT the walkers !)

Halfway up the steep slope the incongruously pretty Brennand Valley opened up to our left.

As we reached the top of the slope the road split and we began to drop down into the Brennand Valley.

John seems to think there is something worth seeing over there.

Almost winter and the gorse is blooming along the valley side.

Vic spotted this fungus lurking in the long grass. It is almost certainly "Fly Agaric" .  Known to be poisonous though very few deaths have been accredited to it. Used in the past as an insecticide.

"Well,  we'll close the gate and keep it out then."  says Danny

The track led down to small bridge which in turn took us to " Brennand Farm"

Down we go to the aforesaid bridge

We had now turned our faces to the sun and our backs to the wind.

A couple of walks ago we passed a farm where they were building the very trendy and luxurious "shepherds huts". Here we found an original one. It had obviously been here a long time as the wheels had sunk into the grassy earth.

Now here's a novelty.  "Super Dan" trailing behind us. His energy gone his batteries flat !...........

.....................................................................................................................................

.......... He had stopped to replace the batteries in his camera !!

It wasn't long before we reached the junction of the two valleys and began our return journey back to Dunsop Bridge . As we were now retracing our steps, photo opportunities were restricted

Oops... Missed an "M"    (unless of course Lower Brennand WAS a long way away)

Back down into the main valley

The route now was simply a gentle downhill stroll back to our start. This was quite enjoyable with the sun low in the sky turning the world to silver and the wind comfortably at our backs.

Over the years it has been almost obligatory to take a "BRIDGE" photo but

with increasing age I feel our focus has shifted........................

ENTER the now almost obligatory CAFE PHOTO 😃😋😉👍👍

A very pleasant scenic walk in the very heart of England

THE END

JW