Trigs 103 continued - Mellor plus 2

 Wednesday 15th September 2021

Mellor Moor        SD 657 312     223m

Knightfield Gate   SD 629 326     73m

Hoolster Hill         SD 627 294    124m

Mellor like most of our towns was not designed to accommodate private cars. Many of the streets are lined on both sides reducing them to one way traffic with constant jams with vehicles coming in both directions. It is such a shame because this is a valuable example of that Lancashire village yellowy sandstone building. I spent ages trying to find somewhere to park ending up in a modest residential estate. Even here most people have more than one car and often park on the road outside their houses. I tried not to be blatantly outside somebody's view from their front window but even that ended up with a compromise. Before that I had found a spot on an updated council estate. A resident emerged in friendly manner and told me that it was wheelie-bin day and several vehicles had been hit by the refuse trucks coming round that corner. I then saw a shell suit clad youth across the road climbing up his fencing to get on top of the open and full wheelie-bin where he proceeded to jump up snd down to compress the contents - that didn't look like a good omen, I had visions of the rest of the gang break-dancing over my car. I moved off.

A short walk out of town took me up to Mellor Moor trig with panoramic views all round. The huge expanse of the BAE* complex dominating  to the west. There is a redundant Observer Corps post and also a topograph. An informative plaque enlightened me. My father was in the Observer Corps during the last war but this post, one of 1500 dotted around the country is from the later period of the Cold War. Here personnel would be underground in a claustrophobic bunker to report on radiation levels etc. in the event of a nuclear attack - mmm!

A  mixture of lanes paths and quiet roads lead me to the second trig. During the whole of this walk I experienced a more than usual ambience of silence and peace.

After leaving the road at Balderstone a complex of paths radiated from a private house. As I was trying to sort this the owner emerged and tried to direct me. I had a feeling he had sent me on the wrong path but I couldn't face going back and loosing face so I decided to improvise. I descended to a stream in woods. I climbed the steep bank after crossing using tree roots but the way was blocked by barbed wire. I dropped back to the stream and found a footpath  which eventually brought me to another barbed wire fence. I used my length of  15mm. rubber  pipe insulation slit down its side to cover the wire and managed to climb over to get me back onto my route - good job I had been in the Scouts and learnt to "be prepared."

At the A59 my 2015 1:25 OS map showed no road through the BAE complex from north to south but my  2020 1:50 map showed a yellow public B road going right through to emerge just to the east of Salmesbury Hall. Only two or three vehicles used this mile of road as I walked its accompanying cycle track.

Trig number three was on private farm land and twenty yards the other side of yet another barbed wire fence. This had obviously been breached before, the wire being a bit floppy. I covered the barbed wire again with my rubber sleeve then extended my walking poles and wedged them under the wire at a width of four feet pushing the wire upwards enabling me to climb through between the barbed wire and the fencing wire below.

After all that I descended to my legal path erected my chair and took lunch. The rest of the walk back to Mellor on quiet roads and paths was uneventful. This had been a particularly pleasing day where I had used some ingenuity to overcome obstacles and experienced an overwhelming sense of peace.

Leaving the road to climb to the trig above Mellor

Mellor trig. Observer Corps bunker and topograph in background

Informative plaque (and below) but difficult to read here - summarised above

Much of the morning had this inversion lingering

Zoom to BAE

St. Leonard's Church, Balderstone

I had emerged from the black gap in the wall in the background to cross the A59. The foreground road runs right through the BAE complex.

Trig number three and its unofficial access

On the way back (egress)

This is actually a posh marquee erected by the adjacent hotel to provide for large functions. The windows are glazed, not open.
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* BAE - BAE Systems plc is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company having much to do with construction of fighter aircraft amongst many other pursuits.

Trigs 103 - Laneshaw Bridge, Gib, Knarrs Hill, Sheep Hill

 PLEASE NOTE THE "READ MORE" SIGN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST TO SEE ALL THE REST  - A NEW IRRITATING BLOGGER FEATURE

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.

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

Trigs 103 - Delf Hill plus 3 - shocking!

Tuesday 31st August 2021 

Butter Haw (Mickleber Hill)     SD 930 529     178m

Pinhaw Beacon (Robert Wilson's grave)                          SD 944 471     388m

Delf Hill (Stanbury Moor)        SD 977 357     445m

Wolf Stones                               SD 971 394     443m

I was proud of my careful study of the map showing a route straying slightly from the pubic footpath but avoiding field boundaries. Pride comes before a shock.

Mickleber hill was enclosed in a 100 yard diameter circle by a fence and TWO electric fences. The trig was about thirty yards away. Experience tells me that such fences are often not switched on. There was no barbed wire on the fence proper and I reckoned with a bit of stretching I could get under the first electric wire then straddle the fence and the second wire. I was well embarked on this manoeuvre and involved with both electric wires when I started receiving shocks from both of them. One had become caught round my boot and I had to extract it with bare hands thus adding more shocks until I managed to get clear, still of course on the the outside. As I reflected I reckoned I had been insulated until well into my involvement before  I grounded myself with my walking poles  -well that's my theory anyway.

It looks like this campaign is being redefined as unspecifically "visiting" these trigs and photographing them, but not necessarily touching.

A short drive took me to the car park marked on the OS map for the ascent of Pinhaw Beacon. This trig stands exactly on the Pennine Way long distance path and I must have bagged it when I did that walk in 1987 but I was rewarded by this visit. There is a superbly constructed toposcope beautifully engraved next to the trig - it was  done by one Douglas Goode, I'm not sure who he is - more persistent Internet searching may discover. The toposcope is dedicated to those who have died of Covid and to all the National Health workers who have been, and are involved.  Goode has included a sonnet and information about Robert Wilson's grave located nearby and marked on the OS map.There is some information in a Craven Herald article:

CLICK HERE

It seems Robert Wilson was a keeper of the beacon in 1805. Running short of food in his hut he set off in a snowstorm to re-provision and perished. Details can be read (I think) on the photo below. 

I spent some time trying to find Wilson's grave but after tiresome struggling about in deep heather gave it up as bad job.

When I had parked at the car park there was just me and one other car. Three quarters of an hour later when I returned the car park was full, a party of ramblers were just setting off.

I was able to park at the  dam wall of Ponden reservoir. I seem to be cherry-picking parts of the Pennine Way recently and I followed it again up to High Withins of Brontë fame, see photos below. I have passed through this ruin several times  but today diverted to the trig on Delf Hill above. Here there were  carpets of purple heather in bloom in all directions, a sight that always uplifts my spirit. I descended by a slightly different route before rejoining the PW and then, having carried my food and flask all the way there and back lunched in the car.

Ascent to Wolf Stones, after a short drive was from a tiny lay-by within thirty yards of the footpath leaving the road. Further up this narrow road with limited chance to park was another small lay-by which I used with Bowland Climber when we were walking the Brontë Way.

I met A couple on the way to Cowling embarked on the Pennine Way and then a chap on his own. All my recent encounters on the PW have underlined my view of what a truly classic walk this .

Because this day was split into a few shortish sections I had thought I would not be walking far but when I checked back home I found I had done about ten miles in all and I was well tired and am still stiff next morning as I sit and write this up.

SUGGEST CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE, ESPECIALLY THE TOPOSCOPE ONES

Trigs OS 103 - east of Burnley

 Monday 23rd. August 2021

Marsden Height           SD 861 361.  270m

Walton's Monument     SD 894 373.  338m

Extwistle Hill               SD 874 339.  242m

Delf Hill                        SD 899 337.  378m

Many trig points have little to offer other than the likelihood of  visiting some obscure location that you wouldn't have done otherwise. Today all four gave me a bit extra.

For Marsden Height I was able to park exactly opposite the short footpath leading to the trig. It was a narrow, dark passageway needing care with large stones strewn underfoot difficult to see  and threatening an ankle twist. Emerging into a rough field the trig was as nondescript as they come. Looking more closely I saw someone had tried to remove the bronze mounting for the surveyor's theodolite but without success - it was so well embedded. That summed up much of what I have read about the history of the making of our best in the world OS maps and the thoroughness and attention to detail that was employed at a time when the Empire was at its height and we saw ourselves as invincible, but the trig point only appeared from 1936 onwards when a re-triangulation of GB was started, but the traditions had lived on.

For more info on trig history CLICK HERE

A drive on narrow roads took me to a lane end I had researched on Google Earth for parking to visit Walton's Monument. I had not taken into account the steep drop off the road taken by this lane end and its rough bouldery surface and I wasn't risking damaging the car. I eventually parked partly up onto the grass verge  with some vulnerability opposite a gate leading to the trig. I was there and back in twenty minutes.

The bonus monument was erected by an eccentric land owner in 1830 for a purpose that is not all that clear if you click on the link below. In so doing he managed to trash a much more ancient menhir to stand his monument upon - goodness knows what was in this guy's mind. Anyway it provided me with quite a good photo with Pendle Hill topped with cloud looking down at all this from the horizon. Pendle is similar to Ingleborough being visible from so many points - I reckon Bowland Climber and to some extent myself have a plethora of photos including this  worthy hill.

CLICK HERE for link re W's Mon.

The next two trigs involved another drive but then a pleasurable four mile walk linking them together. For Extwistle Hill I had to trespass a little and if you look carefully at the OS map (very carefully - see map below) the trig is not located in the only field I could access within reason - it was just over the wall in the next field.  That demonstrates how precise these OS maps are. I  was able to poke the trig with my walking pole and honour was satisfied. I held the camera high and pointed it down to get as much of the trig in the photo as possible. From where I parked the car this had been a westward there and back walk,  then continuing eastwards to take in Delf Hill.

Part of that walk coincided with the Brontë Way which Bowland Climber and I completed in sections  in 2018. Again this trig was plonked in the middle of some moorland with old quarry workings surrounding and little else to say, but I wasn't there long because the trig was home to a wasps nest and they were buzzing all around my head as I took a hurried photo and plodded off to descend a little to get out of the cool breeze and erect my chair for my elevenses, I spent longer than normal enjoying the luxury of this newly discovered piece of furniture - I am sure now that this is going to be a winner on future day walks.

I descended further through the quarry workings watching some youths on trail bikes performing suicidal ascents and descents that their mothers would not have approved of. I returned by a private water board  grassy track providing impeccable walking, entered and exited by padlocked gates which I had to climb.

Trig points rule!

The rocky path on the way to Marsden Height

Marsden Height

Hammer and chisel defeated. I think the casting has a long tube going down into the concrete - it had of course to be ultra stable for the accuracy of measurements required.

Some interesting moss/lichen accumulated on one side of the pillar

Walton's Monument and distant Pendle Hill

Walton's Mon. trig

On the way to Extwistle Hill - perhaps beyond the point of no return - pity.

Pokeable distance with my walking pole

Looking back on part of the walk coinciding with the Brontë Way

Delf Hill - home to wasps. I didn't stay long

The dot of the trig is on the other side of the wall. My exact route entered the field at the buildings bottom left and then diagonally to the corner of the adjacent field.

Red route is the Brontē Way and/or Blackpool to Sea 

Trigs 103 - Singing Tree plus three

Wednesday 18th  August 2021

Thieveley Pike      SD 872 271     449m.

Merrill Head          SD 884 297    329m

Black Hameldon    SD 914291     479m

I'm sure you'll all be thrilled to read that I've ticked off another three of the 66 trig points on OS 1:50 - Sheet 103. That leaves another 49 still for your enjoyment.

Feeling masochistic and annoyed with myself for missing Tuesday, the only good weather day this week I set off for an hour's drive just to do these three trigs each only around one kilometre from a road. All three were visited in low cloud, eighty yard or less visibility and with on and off drizzly rain.

Thieveley started from one of those typical Pennine farm buildings on a lonely road side with piles of stone, other building materials and broken down vehicles from projects long abandoned. A path involving four stiles and two gates within one kilometre rose gently through rough moorland with reeds predominant. There were several places where disused fencing wire had been left half concealed in the vegetation, something of which I am particularly wary having broken my arm as a result of something similar. Within  five minutes I found my current waterproof boots were no longer waterproof and I spent the rest of the trip with wet feet.  My son speculates that this is my ideal kind of day - the more suffering the better - he may be right. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I did have a sneaky feeling of guilt for using the car to drive between, and only walking less than three miles overall. I had a small reward at Thieveley trig, it was inscribed with a woefully cribbed version of "Once more unto the breach..."which I suspect was put up before England lost in the final.

Having walked close to the Singing Tree ( a sculpture that blows music in the wind) on my  Berwick to Castle Cary walk and dithered before deciding it was too far off route, and having driven close by several times within the last few months I decided to have look in between the first two trigs. See photo below and also a shaky video I took, mainly so I could capture the sound. If you want to know more and see some splendid photos  CLICK HERE

Thieveley Pike - you can just see the quotation top left of left side and see close up below. The surrounding terrain sums up the atmosphere of this dreich day

On the way back - a makeshift sheep shearing station. There were daggins of wool scattered far and wide around here. In my youth in Bradford I had friends who worked with wool in its raw state and the word daggins was often used. I was mildly surprised to find it under "dag" in my Chambers dictionary. 

The Singing Tree. I'm thinking of entering some of today's photos for Photographer of the Year

Merrill Head - exciting?

Looking back down to my car from Merrill Head - this could be my entry for the photo competition.

At the lay-by parking for Black Hameldon Hill. I've not seen one of these before on my recent travels in this area

Hameldon Hill.  There was a good but splodgy track all the way. Heather was well in bloom and seemed to glow in the strange light of this dismal day.A quick touch, turn around and off back -easy? For a couple of minutes I couldn't find the path I had approached on.

You will see that I have made no attempt to edit this. At least you do hear the sound now and again against the roar of the wind. The first few seconds are priceless

 

More models - Citroen and Alfa

My return to model making, a pursuit I followed as a youngster and teenager demands certain parameters. The subject must be something I have a feeling for be it nostalgic or for the aesthetic attraction of the design. 

The last completed model qualified on both counts. Unfortunately I made a hash of the painting and out of the dozen or so models I have now completed this was the worst relative to my satisfaction with the result and I have held back from posting photos about this..

The Citroen Traction 11CV was produced in 1934  and used throughout WW2. The Traction had  advanced features including a monocoque chassis and front wheel drive, both ahead of their time. The body design was pure French élégance. The occupying Germans valued the Citroen and adopted it as a useful staff car. But the French Resistance also  made use of this icon so for me this was a model with qualifying pedigree.

Here is a photo of one obviously restored and looking its best.

As I was working on my model I was reminded of Saturday 30th June 2007 during my French Gorges walk - here is the entry from my journal for that day. Recalling all this has again brought a tear to my eye.

Saturday 30^th June: St Saturnin les Apts to Sault

A long climb to start with to the deserted and overgrown village of Travignon; this is an atmospheric place reminiscent of an Inca town buried in the jungle; there is a strange complex mediaeval looking system of wells above the village forming what was the fresh water system.

Waymarks disappeared, and the route description in my guide only inspired modest confidence in my progress, but this was eventually confirmed correct by a wayside memorial to four French Resistance fighters killed on this path during the war. I felt very moved here, being so close to what must have been a tragic scene with these men being gunned down by German troops in this remote spot.

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WORK IN PROGRESS

Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider 1300

All these parts have been primed with a grey spray primer

Chassis painted. Engine built up and painted and installed. I added the plug leads (not in the kit) made from very thin copper wire painted. Colour etc. obtained from Internet photos.

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Two photos of the lower part pf the Citroen before I trashed the paint job on the main bodywork. These photos show my deliberate "weathering" effects of rust and grime on the underneath of the chassis.