Wednesday 26th January 2022
Whins Brow SD 636 533 424m
This campaign is now close to finish. There are only two more left. I had intended to combine this with Totridge Fell which starts further south down the road in the Trough of Bowland. During a chat with Bowland Climber I stated that intention and he suggested that visiting both in one day may be on the tough side and I respect his opinion highly. So just the one today. The final trig for this campaign is on Crookrise Crag where we climbed back in the fifties and sixties long before I met BC but he also has climbed there many times over the years and we have agreed to have a nostalgia trip and visit that one together to finalise this campaign.
Weather forecasts nowadays are generally highly accurate but today I was cheated. Clearing clouds and sunshine were promised but I walked from 10:00am to 1:00pm in dismal conditions although the cloud did lift above the summit ridges. For photography these conditions are often better than bright sunshine. BC had suggested that I may carry on a few hundred yards from my turn to the west from my track for the final stretch to my trig. That would take me to a splendid view looking steeply down into the Brennand valley and that small detour was included and most rewarding it was - see the panorama photo below.
Although the track had been good all the way to my trig I have an aversion to returning by the same route if it can be avoided. I guessed there would be some kind of path following the boundary fence to bring me back down further north up the Trough road and so it was, making for a pleasant little circular including dramatic views of the huge expanses of this Bowland wilderness.
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| Car parked a few hundred yards south of Trough Barn. Here I was able to walk a short part on the side of the stream before getting back on the road |
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| lime kiln. On my return two chaps had pulled up in a car and were searching inside with torches. I am pretty sure they were looking for a geocache |
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| Trough Barn and the start of the track from the road |
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| Ruined farm building |
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| Entry to access land |
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| The dramatic view down to the Brennand valley (click to enlarge). Somewhere up towards the skyline lies the Salter Fell bridleway where I have had several encounters over the years |
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| Whins Brow trig |
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| Back down on the Trough road and the boundary stone. I'm not sure what boundary this is |
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| This route top left. Last-but-one will be Totridge Fell, bottom left |
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Ducati 916 model update
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| Rear suspension and chain drive |
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| Engine detail. More bits have been added since |
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| Engine now married up with rear end |
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| Rear wheel fitted. Notice the burnished colouration where the exhaust becomes hot - a triumph of my slowly developing air brush skills using transparent red and blue, and black paints very carefully (click to enlarge) |
Classic Bowland scenery and those green fields down in Brennand.
ReplyDeleteThe stone marks the pre1974 boundary between Lancashire and West Riding of Yorkshire.
This trip made me realise how little of the ground I have covered in the Bowland hills. I'm looking forward to the other one down the road and I really will try to pick some decent weather.
ReplyDeleteI only climbed on Crookrise once (I seem to remember the route involved going up through a close-growing tree). Father arrived and watched for a few minutes. Later he was to comment that given I'd taken up rock-climbing as well as motorbike riding I had scant regard for life. He also seemed to suggest he was OK with this state of affairs.
ReplyDeleteMany years later, in a restaurant in Soho, he announced he was was going to marry T. Somewhat puzzled I asked if he was asking my permission. Or what? "Well... er... it would affect your inheritance, you know." And all of a sudden I was back in the ethos of nineteenth-century literature. So many wills, so many expectations. I may even have felt slightly insulted. The second para may be regarded as a non sequitur.
RR - I feel even more insulted; he never consulted me.
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