I found this upsetting, so may you ..read more

I keep dipping into Mark Sutcliffe’s Cicerone guidebook. I almost didn’t today, I am late up having not slept at all well (nothing unusual there), the day’s sunny start was changing and the forecast suggested rain later. But a sudden spurt of enthusiasm has me breakfasted and in the car by 10.30. I know that’s late by most peoples standards but what does it matter, there is plenty of daylight since the clocks changed. A little rain won’t hurt me.  A quick whiz around the motorways and I’m parked on the Tockholes road and starting the walk by 11.30. I nearly came to do this walk a couple ..read more

An afternoon up on the fell.  First stop Craig Y Longridge where I do some easy low level traversing. There is only one other climber here, a friendly bearded wonder from Southport, he is trying far harder things than I. As part of my training programme, those were the days, I rest every few feet. To justify this I  do a little bird song identification with the help of Merlin. At the far end of the crag where I hide out there are trees and bushes, I often see wrens, blackbirds and goldfinches. Leaving my phone recording for five minutes brings up Robin, Goldfinch, Chiffchaff, Blackb ..read more

  I’ve used various alliterations based on Fair and Fairsnape in past titles, so lets just keep it simple today, Fairsnape Fell. The last time JD and I were up here was nearly four years ago – time for a revisit. I was pleased with his suggested pick up time of 10 am, even more so this morning with ice on the bird bath. We were parked up in a little layby under Saddle End Farm at 10.30. The hoards all use the narrow lane below Fell Foot as we were to see later. It was steadily uphill for a long stretch but the sun was warm, there was no wind and the Skylarks were singing. Since my last v ..read more

If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise. I had heard of the Pendle Sculpture Trail for years but never searched it out. Launched in 2012 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the trial of the Pendle witches. The Pendle area is steeped in witchcraft heritage and legends.  I have previously walked the 50 mile Lancashire Witches Walk from Barrowford to Lancaster Castle, where the witches had been tried, again commemorating the 400 years. Along that walk are a series of cast iron Tercets (like a Haiku) embossed with stanzas from the walk’s poem, written b ..read more

I hear the sound of Curlews in the air as soon as I leave the car. That haunting call across the rough fields. https://bowlandclimber.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/XC245943-Kulik_wielki_Numenius_arquata_Poland_Jarek_Matusiak_20150518_03-Flight-call_-song.ogg It had been a toss up this morning, Belmont or Bleasdale. I have unfinished business on Great Hill and Spitlers Edge, but how boggy was it going to be up there. Let’s play safe and use the lanes of Bleasdale Estate for a drier round. Spring is in the air, but only just after the last couple of days’ hailstorms. Blossom adorns the little ..read more

                                                                                               Al. Today.  This morning the day begins well as I sit listening to a beautiful Blackbird serenading his belle. My spirit is uplifted. Then the phone rings – my climbing friend, Al, had passed away in the night. I’ve expressed my vulnerability here before, po ..read more

I find myself walking along a slippy rocky ledge just above the fast flowing River Roeburn. I have long since lost the path if ever there was one. Then it all stops at a steep landslide. Go back or try to climb out into the woods above.  Chapter 8, of Cicerone’s Walking in Lancashire, ‘The Enchanted Valley’ of Roeburndale had promised so much. I have battled with the paths down here before. This time coming in from the south with detailed instructions from the guidebook it should be a doddle. I’ve had my lunch in the little Methodist Chapel at Lower Salter and I find the ladder stile int ..read more

‘ March “comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb” is an unreliable axiom at the best of times, and these are unusual times climate wise. Looking back at my walks this March, and there haven’t been many, they have been brief interludes between rain storms. The fields and roads in the NW are still under standing water in many places. Yesterday, Good Friday, after a sunny start the storm clouds gathered, there was distant thunder and we were treated to some hefty hail showers. The lion is still roaring. We only have a couple of days for the March lamb to lead us mildly into April. An optim ..read more

This post has been two weeks in the writing, not that that makes it any better. It’s been a strange time. Monday, having my haircut with Phil, a traditional barber, we all come out with the same style, fine by me. Most of our conversation was about mutual friends who have or who are shortly to depart our presence. With a humorous twist I can’t go into details here. After my recent soaking on Longridge Fell I decided on some indoor culture for Tuesday. There were some interesting exhibitions at Abbots Hall Gallery in Kendal. I drove up in horrendous wet conditions on the motorway, found somewh ..read more