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~Gorple Reservoirs & Pendle Hill~

24th and 26th December 2012

Pendle Summit

Pendle Summit

Scroll down for photos and a description of the walks....

Gorple Lower Res

Gorple Lower Reservoir

I cannot expect viewers to cancel appointments or postpone important tasks in favour of looking at this report of two walks in immensely dull and damp conditions. The first of two "Christmas" walks took place on Christmas Eve and I was accompained by Dave Dimmock - famous for his Wildlife in Airedale blog. See link at the foot of the page. *

Gorple Upper Reservoir

Gorple Upper Reservoir

We walked past "Lower" and then circumnavigated "Upper". Dave had a mishap whilst crossing a stream and ended up sat in it. This was unfortunate, especially for him. Luckily his camera was not damaged. We might have walked over to Widdop Reservoir, but as much of the lower part of his self was wet, we shortened the walk and headed back to the cars. The route is shown below. Dave' Splash, should read Dave's Splash and is a new feature, close to Gorple Bottom.

Gorple Walk

The blue dots show the route and the red arrow is roughly where the mishap occured. If you don't know this area, it's between Burnley (east) and Hebden Bridge (west). The BS - Boubdary Stones in the upper left area, mark the Lancs/Yorks county boundary.

The Pack Horse Inn

Refreshments: The Pack Horse Inn

Greetings: Nil

Socks: Wet

~~~~~

Burnley Weather

The Weather for Christmas week as per the BBC website. One certainty about these forecasts is that the fifth day is never right

Barley Roadsign

Pendle Hill in cloud

Barley Roadsign
Pendle in Cloud

And so to Boxing Day. Peter Ratcliffe joined me for the traditional Christmas Day walk up Pendle Hill, a day late. We parked in Barley car park and started the walk at 09:20hrs.

Salt Pie Farm Pendle Ascent
Salt Pie Farm
The Track

We walked round Lower Black Moss Reservoir and past Salt Pie Farm before heading up The Track. Track route chosen, so that we would have the strong SW wind at our backs on the summit plateau.

P&R Pendle Summit

Pendle Summiteers

The Stile

~~~~~

Fell Wood Black Moss Res
Fell Wood
Black Moss

Hints of brightness on our descent, would we be treated to a sunny interval?

Pendle Ascenders

Boxing Day Walkers

Late starters populate The Steps. And at 11:21hrs we got our sunny interval - the first shadow-casting rays of sunlight since the break from work, nearly five days ago.

Pendle Hill in sunshine

Pendle Hill

And so to The Cabin for a "Rambler's Breakfast"

The Cabin

The Cabin, Barley

That's 53 ascents of Pendle this year. In 2011, I reached 54. I will climb to the summit on New Year's Eve for reasons which will become clear and therefore the total of 54 (at least) will be attained. Anyone who wishes to join me on NYE, please get in touch and pack waterproofs. There are no hazardous streams to cross.

Dave Dimmock's "Wildlife in Airedale"

Contact Me via email

Of the Pendle walk...

Walkers: P & R Ratcliffe

Time taken: 2hr 10mins over a distance of about 5 miles.

Route: Barley, Lower Black Moss, Windy Harbour Farm, The Track, Summit, The Steps, across the fields and back to Barley.

Weather and conditions: Rain, wind, cloud on top, sunny interval near the end.

Refreshments: The Cabin, Barley.

All photos copyright Richard Ratcliffe 2012 ©

Take me back to the start ....

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