Trail n Rail

GO has caught the bug, he liked to spend his free time outside, walking, this is something I have always enjoyed and have made GO tag along.  I could never tell whether he was happy or just doing it to keep me quiet.  Well I now know that he enjoys it.  Checking out his local activities app he mentioned something about a walk, "by that park you liked". I wasn't paying attention, I was distracted.  A few weeks later I was asked at work what I was doing at the weekend and a big red flag flashed in front of my eyes.  I knew we were walking, I vaguely recalled something along the lines of Bolton to Ramsbottom.  This didn't sound like a good idea, I was still breaking my new boots in.  I was afraid.

It turns out the trail was from Bury Bolton Street station to Ramsbottom a much more manageable 5miles. There were a lot of people, all kitted out for a proper hike.  I whispered to GO that we'd be in the back and we'd just stroll along.  GO had different ideas, we set of in the lead pack and stayed up front for the entire trail.  It's funny how fast you walk when you are not gossiping. Many people came and went but we were the only two to remain in the lead pack the whole way and for that I am so proud of us.  Even the "hard part" was quite easy, the hills of Tod have cracked me.  The best part was the free steam train ride back to the car at the end.

 

   

 

Whoops

Who knew the Yorkshire sun could be so strong.  Eight mile hike along the canal and I'm left with horrendous burns on my face and chest and blisters on both feet. Turns out the optimal break in your new boots walk is a mile or two.  Well, hopefully they are all broken in now.  My feet are.

Solo Walking

I went for my first solo walk in Tod since we moved here. In the Southern Shire I regularly walked along the lanes and in the woods one my own and enjoyed the solitude.  Since moving here I haven't found a walk that I felt I could do, I wanted somewhere that I could walk to from the house, without much equipment and one that was long enough to make me feel that I had accomplished something.  I bought guides, joined forums on the web, one day I had a chat with a neighbour who suggested a walk up the lane across the road. I tried it and I was blown away by the route.  It was a circular route of about 2 miles with an elevation of 230 feet, compared with my Wheatley walks which were about 2.5 miles with an elevation of about 80 feet, I felt I had worked very hard.  Some points I was unable to walk up in one go and would have to pause, but  I never gave up and the views at the top were spectacular.  I will walk it again, perhaps varying the route I take and the length of time I spend out walking, until I reach my pre move fitness level, but for now I am happy I did it.

Sculpture Trail - Fat Girl Walking

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

Top of the World Ma - Fat Girl Walking

One thing I've wanted to do since I started walking last year was to walk up a mountain.  I'm not deluded I know I need to work up to it and until now my only bit of practise was Ladder Hill in Wheatley.  Today GO and I did out first moor walk, it wasn't a long one.  We had no equipment (it was all in the car), we just wanted to get out and blow away the cobwebs.   

We walked along the canal that led to the reservoir, Saddle worth Moor.  I wanted to walk to the highest peak, but soon realised that would require a longer walk and I needed to get back to Skype the familam.

GO and I decided to walk for thirty minutes as far as we could get and then turn back.  It would be an hours walk, we wouldn't get lost if we kept the canal on our right hand side.

This was really useful for keeping a track of where we were but I spent most of the walk needing a pee.  It was ok for GO who took a "hedge ticket" when his bladder got to full I just had to hold it.

We're planning to walk the moor again, this time preparing for a longer hike, bringing food and perhaps shelter, and making a day of it.

How atmospheric

Oh my word it's so foggy.

It was quite spooky.

you never know what is coming towards you

50 flights in and out of London were cancelled today due to a blanket of thick fog that lay over the UK.  As worrying as this news was, I wasn't concerned, it didn't affect me.  

Well I was wrong the fog was so thick at some points I could barely see five meters ahead of me.  It did however have a haunting beauty about it all, especially set against the back drop of the gorgeous autumn colours.  

I stopped the car and took a few photos (it's becoming a bit of an obsession these days) and decided that I'd go for a walk and try to catch some moody shots.  

All was going well, until the sun started to set and visibility was almost none.  I carried on snapping away at cobwebs and ghostly trees, when I heard heavy breathing, I turned around to be greeted by a big, smelly dog.

It jumped up at me wanting to be greeted.  He was harmless, but very smelly.  

For the rest of the walk I could hear dogs all around, it was very disconcerting not knowing if or when they would appear out of the fog.

Time to head home, a nice cup of tea, some warm fluffy socks and a blanket were calling.