Tuesday 3rd. August 2021
Stanhill SD 724 280 203m
Small Shaw Height SD 860 248 409m
Standing Stone Hill SD 951 303 398m
Bride Stones SD 932 267 437m
It is a problem finding somewhere to rest or stop to refresh on walks. I have plodded miles vowing to stop at the next place I may find to sit in reasonable comfort. If I sit down on the grass I find it difficult to get back up with my two bionic knees and in any case it is not comfortable.
I bought a folding chair. Today it was tested.
Weighing in at 1.1kg that extra weight is worth it for me on day walks. For multi day backpacking I think it would have to be left out especially if a tent etc. was also being carried. It is easy to assemble - the tubings are interconnected with shot cord and it self-snaps into shape, you then attach the fabric at four points. It seems to be well made but being lightweight it will need to be handled with care and it remains to be seen how durable it is, but I used it twice today with no problem and I am looking forward to more comfortable munchy stops in future.
I was continuing my campaign to visit all 76 trig points on OS sheet 1:25 Blackburn and Burnley. Where I can group a number together to make a circular walk so be it but others that are isolated and those not too far from the road can be accessed by driving in between so I was able to visit these four today with a fair bit of driving.
Stanhill was in the middle of a field adjacent to a public footpath. There was a gate with a "Private - keep out" sign but the it was just a grass field with no crop and I sneaked through. Views of the surrounding Pennine Hills and industrialised Lancashire in the valleys made the visit worthwhile. I was there and back in less than hour.
A tedious drive took me to a very minor road with a track leading off into the moors for Small Shaw Height. A decent path through sheep pasture was followed by a section of reeds and marsh. The trig had an isolated atmosphere overgrown with high reeds and I guessed this remote spot is rarely visited. I set up the chair and had a coffee from my flask and then a local guy came by with two dogs on his daily walk - he said he was surprised to meet somebody here.
Back at the car I continued down the lane which became steep and overgrown with rosebay willow herb which I ploughed through with that shrubbery obscuring my windscreen every so often. There were also cobbled drainage channels diagonally every fifty yards and I had to take care with the car as the road descended ever more steeply. I was glad not to meet anybody coming the other way.
The sat nav took me to the start for Standing Stone Hill by another suspense filled narrow road climbing and descending with hairpin bends and no passing places. At Colden there is a farm shop and I asked permission to park and sat in the sunshine on the wall with a coffee. Here I met an elderly guy with his daughter three days out on the Pennine Way and another know-it-all guy anxious to let us know of his walking and climbing achievements (sounds a bit like me). This cul-de-sac road carries the Pennine Bridleway. I planned to walk to the end of the tarmac and then take a path to my trig but I found an inviting lane branching off the road leading more directly to my trig. I met a chap metal detecting and we chatted - I had to ask the obvious question, "have you found anything" the reply was negative and we parted as he continued in the hope of finding his golden hoard.
The trig was surrounded by a mind blowing extensive expanse of Pennine moorland with ranges of hills at all points of the compass one after another fading to ever lighter colours. The chair was deployed. One likely outcome of my new luxury is that my lunch stops may be much longer in future.
I carried on to the east to pick up the Pennine Way proper. A quarter mile stretch across some marshy terrain was paved with those huge flag pavings taken it would seem from the old mills. I was once again impressed by the quality of the walking on the Pennine Way which I find myself encountering again in various locations since I walked it back in 1987. I branched off the PW to descend steeply back down to the farm shop on the Pennine Bridleway meeting another Pennine Way venturer heading north for Ickornshaw - made me feel quite envious. A short drive followed to investigate Bride Stones. There is a bonus in having a trig point or similar project when it takes you to places that are unexpectedly rewarding and so much the better for being discovered for oneself rather than being told about them by others. Bride Stones proved to be a fascinating gritstone edge with the trig plonked on top of weird looking lumps of gritstone looking like so many Tele Tubbies mingled with other bizarre shapes. At one time Ordnance survey allowed people to "adopt" their trigs - from what I have seen not many were so adopted but I always look and here I was rewarded - see photo below.I was able to take a circular route to observe most of what was on offer here
All four of these trigs were worth visits in their own right. The chair, as far as it goes, was a success, so all in all 'twas a good day out in the summer sunshine.
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| Stanhill trig. Quite pleased with this photo. |
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| A complex bit of walling - note the wooden wedge holding the chain |
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| The start of the track into the wilds for Small Shaw Height |
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| Sheep pasture to start with then... |
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| ...marsh |
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| Lonely wild and atmospheric Small Shaw Height succumbing to the reeds |
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| Battling through the rosebay. |
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| Seen on the Pennine Bridleway near the farm shop just out of Colden |
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| The alternative lane and track leading more directly to Standing Stone Hill |
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| Pennine Way millstones. I don't think they were there in 1987 when I came from the other direction |
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| Bride Stones |
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| Zoom to Stoodley Pike |
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| Pennine Way = green diamonds |
That looks like a brilliant piece of kit, Conrad. Some of that ground is familiar - Calderdale Hike territory.
ReplyDeleteGood to see you exploring the wilds of Lancashire and giving them a good write-up.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed by the chair, I expected to see a butler appear stage left with "your drink Sir"
Count me in on further Trig points, if you haven't done them all by then. The more trespassing the better.
Phreerunner - I am optimistic about its future use. We will see. Calderdale Hike? you've been everywhere.
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BC - The butler only happens when you've paid mega-bucks to salmon fish on the River Tay and he comes out mid-river in chest waders with a very large single malt on a silver tray, much as you were hoping for in vain for me. We less well-off walkers just have to know our place. I don't think there is any danger of me mopping up the remaining trigs on 103 before we get together again. Have a good trip.
Fantastic looking chair that Conrad, and at 1.1kg not too heavy either. Well done for ticking off four more trig points, and congratulations on the trespassing!
ReplyDeletePaul H - I used to have a hat known as "The Hat" which had been on many travels and adventures - almost a part of me, until it had to reluctantly go into retirement I can see this latest acquisition becoming known as "The Chair."
ReplyDeleteHi, Conrad, that looks suspiciously like a Helinox folding chair - we love ours to bits whether just in the garden or if we take them cycle-camping. I am envious of your visit to Oswaldtwistle, I've always loved the name and I did hear there was a great fabric shop there (Aberkan?) which would provide the excuse. However I've a sneaking feeling it might disappoint - possibly one of those places best left to one's imagination?
ReplyDeleteKendal Gs - I did intend to identify the chair so here is the link, ssd to say it came via Amazon - Trekology Vizi Go Portable Camping Chair:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07NT77GT8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I did the whole driving part using sat nav resulting in me having little concept of where I had been and certainly no specific memory of Oswaldtwistle, BUT I do so agree with you about the value, in some cases, of leaving mysteries unsolved. I read a book years ago called The Complete Practical Joker (not that I am too keen on practical jokes) but there was a guy who bought a Victorian dentist's chair at an auction; it sprouted levers and contraptions all over. He had it crated up and then invented an address at the other side of the world then sat back and giggled at his thoughts of all the people who would have frustrations in handling and trying to source the address for this monster article - there is no way he wanted to know the outcome.
A few weeks ago you saved me some Googling and told me the identity of the blue crop I'd seen the day before (linseed, if I remember correctly), and you've done it again. I'd been meaning to look if the shop at Colden still exists, as I'll be heading in that direction in the not too distant future.
ReplyDeleteA fine looking chair. What a way to enjoy lunch at a trig point!
Gayle - there is no way that either of us are copycats but we do seem to keep coinciding with venues. I will be interested to find what your mission is in the environs of Colden.
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