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Tuesday 7th September 2021
Gib 275m SD 986 459
Lane Head,
Laneshaw Bridge 240m (239m) SD 914 410
Knarrs Hill 334m SD 936 424
Sheep Hill 359m SD 916 436
I spent a long time looking for parking on Google Earth for Gib finding only vague possibilities. On arrival there was an open entrance to an apparently unused scruffy builder's yard directly opposite the public footpath leading to Manor House (farm.) The car was telling me it was only fifteen degrees, but within minutes the sweat was rolling down my brow. The rest of the day was around twenty-nine degrees. The posh sounding name of Manor House belied its appearance.
Whilst the house itself had character the surroundings were a shambles of disused farm equipment and domestic rubbish and general squalor. My path passed though a gloopy farmyard to the rear. A track then lead for a couple of hundred yards onto the outtake land. This track was piled up on both sides with perhaps thirty or forty rusting, broken down tractors, Land Rovers and the odd mangled and unidentifiable chunks of farm machinery. I have never seen anything like this before and couldn't resist lots of photos and even being re-motivated as I returned from the trig. The track took me onto a field which I skirted, uphill on two sides to avoid cattle in the middle. They looked on quizzically as I took my obligatory photo of the trig. I am sure they were thinking sympathetically that I was a slightly deranged and harmless old geezer not worth the effort of intimidating in this hot debilitating weather.
A drive down to Laneshaw Bridge followed and I found a shady spot to park in a residential road. Lane Head trig was a short walk from the town centre up a lane and through a few spring loaded gates to find my trig unexcitingly in the middle of a field. I returned part-way then branched off on the Pendle Way and/or Pennine Bridleway footpath. As I left the road onto a private tarmac path I noticed a sign pointing to **** House which I immediately recognised as the address of an old friend, Mike Dickson, from my formative years in Bradford over fifty years ago. That old bunch of friends have dwindled and we have not kept much in touch and sadly Mike passed away at a tragically younger age a few years ago but I wondered if Mavis was still resident. I called in and we had an unexpected and enjoyable reunion and Mavis accompanied me for about half a mile across the fields before turning back. Some readers here will will remember those old Bradford times.
A steady climb over good grassy fields took me past Knarr's Farm and onto the nearby trig situated on a pointy pimple at the end of an elevated ridge with splendid views all round of this attractive and individual Pennine landscape.
On Warley Wise Lane I recognised features from my Google Earth trawling and realised how limited that is to identify potential parking spots unless they are particularly obvious.
At The Back Lane End pub the path passed though their rear car park to gain access land for Sheep Hill. Lunch was obviously under way in the kitchens detected by mouthwatering aromas and I was looking forward to erecting my chair at the trig and having my sandwich break. A good but narrow path not marked on the map took me to the trig through blooming purple heather. A local chap out for a walk obligingly offered to take my photo. I did use my chair and munched my ploughman's sandwich and a Bakewell tart accompanied by my flask of coffee all enhanced by this peaceful location.
I retraced some way from the trig to pick up return footpaths downhill to Laneshaw Bridge and a for the first part a tiresome drive to and through Colne before getting onto the splendid deserted A 682 to Gisburn and Long Preston - I purposely avoided returning by the M65 and M6 after recent bad experiences of awful tail-backs. But that was not avoided to start with when driving through Colne. It seems that cars have now reached saturation point in many places with grid-lock after grid-lock, and cars restricting passage parked on both sides of urban roads.
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| All the trigs on 103- Blackburn and Burnley. The red buoys are unvisited and the persons are visited. Ignore al the other marks. I have concentrated on visiting all the ones furthest south and east (i.e. furthest from home) and the remaining ones will not involve as much driving. |
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| Start/finish at Laneshaw Bridge, bottom centre |
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| Leaving the road for ascent of Gib - Manor house up the track |
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| Manor house, and below, all the tractors etc to the rear |
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| The cows look on with a sardonic smile, slightly bemused at my activity I think |
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| Out of Laneshaw Bridge, on the way to Lane Head |
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| Lane Head |
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| On the way to Knarrs Farm |
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| Typical of much of the walking today |
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| Knarrs Hill |
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| Getting higher |
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| Back Lane Ends pub. My path went up the side onto access land for Sheep Hill |
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| Sheep Hill - terrific view down to the lower cultivated fields |
I expected a post from you after the good weather this week and you have just obliged.
ReplyDeleteObviously, I am not familiar with your routes, few will be, but you are making progress with ticking off the obscure ones.
That 'tractor' lane is probably worse than my most littered lane near Osbaldeston earlier this year.
You did well to remember the name of that farm of your former Bradford friend and top marks for visiting his widow, I'm sure she would have appreciated it.
I'm reduced to cycling and sitting with ice packs on my heel, so I'm jealous of any, no matter how mediocre, visit to trig points. Keep it up.
You’re making such good progress - looking at that trig map you haven’t many left to do! I agree about traffic. Driving almost anywhere is tortuous.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I haven't come across that silly 'read more' feature yet.
ReplyDeleteWell done, you are tucking into this project in an impressive way!
BC - Sorry to read of your continuing affliction. I duppose rest is the only treatment.
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Ruth - I plotted all the trigs as you see on the map and also listed them on a spreadsheet including OS Grid ref., height in metres and a record of my visits. I have now found a discrepancy n the numbers between the two sources and am pondering on how to find the error or errors without too much tedious cross referencing. I suppose all will come to light eventually.
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Phreerunner - Like the prompt for comments it is low profile and easy to miss but I hope it s not permanent - we will see.
Outtake! Gosh! A word I've neither uttered nor written in a lengthy life. I'm not interested in what it means, only in what field of human endeavour it belongs to. I bet, nevertheless, you'll be tempted to tell me what it means. So many things I say - deliberately - that are ignored.
ReplyDeleteKnocking on Mavis's door - in an imaginary scenario where your and my roles in life had been reversed - would have required great courage on my part. I over-intellectualise, you see. Time passes and friendships fall into decay. I'd never be confident that I'd be welcome. In a fictional passage Mavis would look out through the window, see me walking towards the house, pause, then walk on. And she'd possibly reflect on the conversation that might have ensued. Instead we read "unexpected and enjoyable reunion" which hints at nothing in particular. If the reunion was unexpected was nothing unexpected said?
Talking about acts of courage, I'm full of admiration for your experience with the electric fence in the previous post. Especially the revelation that you go round the countryside checking whether such fences are "on". I'm well aware that these devices are intended to warn cattle not to electrocute them, but even so. Farmers aren't exactly in the first rank when it comes to maintenance of their bailiwick and who knows what risks walkers may be taking. Remind yourself of Thurber's aunt. Not least, "straddling" seems to imply vulnerability for the crown jewels.
RR - Perhaps I invented the word. It is not in my Mac's dictionary nor can I find it in my weighty Chambers other than the meaning associated with film making, anyway, for me, it is the opposite of "intake."
ReplyDeleteI was aware of the possibility of enlarging on the conversation but without some elaboration it would not have been of general interest and there is also a requirement, as you have often said, to keep the length of blog posts within reason.
This particular campaign necessitates forays onto private land every so often and for me that presents an interesting challenge with two possibilities - firstly, trespass, trying to keep a low profile and being prepared to be humble if challenged. If being humble achieves one's objective then so be it. Secondly one can go and ask permission which may then lead to an interesting encounter (making things happen.)
Although I have a greater recall for the works of Thurber than much of the literature I have read I don't remember your reference to his aunt, unless she was the one who "came from haunts of coot and tern?"