I'm really getting into the hill walking round here. I was saying to GO just the other day, I remember complaining about how steep Ladder Hill in Wheatley was, but compared to some of the "mountains" round here it was a "molehill". I find that I can walk for miles and miles on the flat but the minute the gradient goes up I start to struggle. This is why I have tried to incorporate lots of hill walking into my repertoire. They are difficult, they are killers but they are always worth it. None more so then the Pendle Sculpture trail we went on this past weekend. It was a warmish, sunny day. I had picked up a few walking books and leaflets from the Tourist information Centre in the middle of Tod and had seen the Sculpture trail leaflet, I had seen it a few weeks before and I decided to check it out.
| http://letswalkinpendle.btck.co.uk/thependlesculpturetrail |
"The Pendle Sculpture Trail has ten ceramic plaques. Each has its own unique symbols which represent each of the Pendle people who were hanged 400 years ago in the biggest witchcraft trial in this country."
We downloaded the guide, parked at the suggested car park in the village of Barley and set off, the get to the trail its about a mile through the village, past the green and two very full pubs. I did feel sorry for the villagers having all of these ignorant tourists descending on the weekend of the bank holiday. I have to admit that I did feel slightly smug, as I have just left Oxford where the bank holidays mean that you, a local/resident, can not do anything with out having to queue or barge through groups of tourists. We carried towards the trail passing by the two reservoirs, over looked the entire time by the Pendle Hill. "One day..." I muttered to myself. I have decided that one day I will ascend that hill, not by car, by foot. I know it won't be a quick journey but I am determined that it will be under my own steam. Just got to do a bit of research on the walk first. For warned it fore armed and all that.
As we walked through the village and then off towards the trail, I thought I'd better phone home, just in case I didn't get back in time to Skype. "The guide book says it takes three hours to complete the trail, we'll probably take four hours, if you don't hear from us by then we're lost". We all laughed, (it turned out it only took us just over two hours and we stopped for a snack break) only the day before I had heard in the news about a lady who had gone of the path on the Appalachian trail to pee and got so lost, that she wasn't seen alive again. It made me think, its never a bad thing to let people know where you are.
We made it the start of the sculpture trail, we both knew it was in the woods on the hill, but neither of us had thought about what that would mean to two slightly unfit walkers. I strode off at speed, I am obviously the more experienced walker, I made it about 100 yards when I had to stop and catch my breath. In my defense..... It was a hot day, in fact the hottest I have ever experienced north of the M25. I gathered myself and set off at more of a leisurely pace, and soon we have made it to the summit and so began the treasure trail. The sculptures were clearly plotted on the guide, but what they looked like in 2D and what they looked like in real life made quite difficult to determine whether we were looking at a sculpture or a dead tree, some were obvious, others were so well hidden we couldn't find them.
Quaker Tree
Witch Finder
Ceramic Column
Reconnected 1
Reconnected 2
The Gate Way
Life Circle
Living wall
Two bats (look up)
Tree Roots
Spirits of the Wood
Spider on the Web (couldn't find)
Sleeping bat (look up)
Three Bats in Flight (look up)
Owl
Then the
As we walked through the village and then off towards the trail, I thought I'd better phone home, just in case I didn't get back in time to Skype. "The guide book says it takes three hours to complete the trail, we'll probably take four hours, if you don't hear from us by then we're lost". We all laughed, (it turned out it only took us just over two hours and we stopped for a snack break) only the day before I had heard in the news about a lady who had gone of the path on the Appalachian trail to pee and got so lost, that she wasn't seen alive again. It made me think, its never a bad thing to let people know where you are.
We made it the start of the sculpture trail, we both knew it was in the woods on the hill, but neither of us had thought about what that would mean to two slightly unfit walkers. I strode off at speed, I am obviously the more experienced walker, I made it about 100 yards when I had to stop and catch my breath. In my defense..... It was a hot day, in fact the hottest I have ever experienced north of the M25. I gathered myself and set off at more of a leisurely pace, and soon we have made it to the summit and so began the treasure trail. The sculptures were clearly plotted on the guide, but what they looked like in 2D and what they looked like in real life made quite difficult to determine whether we were looking at a sculpture or a dead tree, some were obvious, others were so well hidden we couldn't find them.
Quaker Tree
Witch Finder
Ceramic Column
Reconnected 1
Reconnected 2
The Gate Way
Life Circle
Living wall
Two bats (look up)
Tree Roots
Spirits of the Wood
Spider on the Web (couldn't find)
Sleeping bat (look up)
Three Bats in Flight (look up)
Owl
Then the
