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Contents :: PENDLE WAY :: Day 3


		INTRODUCTION
		DAY 1
		DAY 2
		Day 3
		DAY 4
		DAY 5

THE PENDLE WAY IS A WONDERFULLY BEAUTIFUL TRAIL OF HISTORY

NATIONAL TRAIL GUIDES UK

Day 3 :: Mostly Scrub :: Laneshaw Bridge to Reedley:: 12.5 miles

We started the walk today bright and early outside the Emmott Arms at the crossroads in Laneshaw Bridge, and walked into School Lane, downhill for a short distance and crossed the River Laneshaw on the road bridge. Immediately upon crossing the river we turned right at the side of a house and walked along a road called Carriers Row. We walked to the end of the road, passing a row of terraced houses and then passed through a wooden kissing gate on our left. We then followed the banks of the River Wycoller through fields, noting a sign that warned against walking too close to the unstable riverbank.

The riverbank was very sandy and showed obvious signs of collapse all around. Trees were dotted sparsely along each side of the river. We passed through a gate stile with a marker post containing the usual Pendle Way sign. We crossed a stream over a small wooden footbridge and we then walked away from the beck along a field of rough pasture, heading uphill.

We came to a crumbling grey stone wall and after crossing it turned sharp right to walk beside it. The boggier parts of the path were paved. We passed through another gate stile and continued on an easy path on the other side, heading for a small woodland. We reached another stile opposite a house called the Old Pump House, which was on our left.



Former chapel in Carriers Row		River Wycoler

We then joined a gravel track through a small wood, onto a road where we turned left, and through the hamlet of Wycoler, each property being a converted barn. The hamlet was extremely attractive and seemed an obvious choice for retirement. In the hamlet was a pack horse bridge over the River Wycoler dating to the 13th century and a clapper bridge. There was also a ford. On the other bank of the Wycoler was the ruin of the old manor house featured in Charlotte Bronte's Jayne Eyre, known as Ferndean Manor.

There were scores of tourists visiting the many attractions in Wycoller. In addition to the Pendle Way the Bronte Way also passed through Wycoller and there were many offshoot paths of the Bronte Way signposted in many places.



Wycoller packhorse bridge and ford		Wycoller clapper bridge

We left Wycoller by taking the narrower non-vehicular road out, walking upstream along the Wycoller, passing another ford and clapper bridge. This clapper bridge was quite famous, being made up of a single large stone. We continued on, coming to a fork in the road, and took the road going left. We passed a small cascade on the Wycoller beck, beside which we were walking and continued on uphill along a tree lined road. As the beck moved onto our right hand side there was a small waterfall, which we stopped at momentarily.

We eventually arrived at a footbridge on our left and Parson Lee farm on our right. We ignored both, passed through a gate and continued on along a small track through the grass, which soon mounted an embankment and we then followed above the Wycoller Beck as it meandered through the soft ground below us.

We walked steadily uphill until reaching a gate at the top of the rise where we turned left on a good track alongside the wall boundary. After about 100 yards we took a narrower track to our right, rather than following the good track which continued on. A pair of mountain bikers kept passing us on the even parts, and we kept passing them on the uphills.



Going left from the main track		Distant view of Pendle Hill

The track finished shortly at a gate and we crossed onto a good green track through fields of rough pasture. We continued on this path for quite a way, observing ahead of us and to our right the distant Pendle Hill, and before it the deepening valley of Turnhole Clough.

We suddenly found ourselves becoming enclosed on each side by grey stone walls, until we came to a gate and after passing through we were in open land once again. On our left was Brink Ends farm. Ahead of us was Turnhole Clough. Our path changed to a narrow gravel track as we aimed for the clough and we were most surprised to see a large modern stile metal bridge spanning the clough, completely out of character for the area.

We passed over the bridge and took a path winding steeply uphill on the opposite bank, close to its edge through rough pasture of grass and ferns. Ahead of us now and to our left was Boulsworth Hill. The path curved to our right and continued alongside Saucer Hill Clough.



Bridge over Turnhole Clough		Turnhole Clough

The path became a little muddy as we continued forward and upward, but soon reverted back to stone. The path went on for some considerable distance and we could see it faintly alongside a plantation of trees on the distant horizon.



Pendle Way above Turnhole Clough		Viewing our path well into the distance

The path joined a surfaced road and we continued on for a long way until coming to and passing in front of some barns at Spoutley Lumb and then Boulsworth Dyke farm. At the farm we left the track which led into the farm and walked ahead along a still good, but lesser track.

The plantation above us now loomed nearer and the climb up to it seemed a lot less. Pendle Hill, still ahead and to our right, now seemed a lot closer. We progressed forward, our path now undulating up and down and eventually we drew level with the plantation on our right and a waystone on our left. We passed by and shortly attained the summit of the hill and as we descended we noted a marked change in air temperature as it was now a lot windier and cooler.

Within minutes we could make out the distant Coldwell Reservoirs and as we traveled down our path we seemed to approach them very quickly. We were now traversing Deerstone Moor.



Boulsworth Dyke		Coldwell Reservoirs

Our path took us to a gate in a wall on our right and we took this to pass between two fences and walk along a pleasant green path with a view on our left to the Upper Coldwell Reservoir and on our right of the Lower Coldwell Reservoir. We continued to a gate onto a road and turned right, walking along the road and alongside the Lower Coldwell Reservoir. We passed the Coldwell Centre on our right and took a footpath accessed via a stile on our left where the road bent to the right.

We then followed an awkward path, hardly defined at all, through the grass and steeply downhill to a water board fence. There were obvious signs of water board workings going on and the path seemed to have been diverted around them. After wandering around the bottom of the field for awhile we noticed a stile tucked away at the side of a new fence and walked to this along a short, sodden path. We passed through and turned left along a Waterboard track but where this turned left we crossed on a stile to take a rough path along the side of the bank, heading for stiles visible in the distance.

This was a very awkward path to walk, as there was much landslip and the path was exceptionally uneven, so that there was a constant danger of a bad ankle injury. Further the path was, for the most part, under water. At one point the only way to identify the path was to look out for marker posts and we strayed from the path a number of times.



Catlow Brook		A marshy part of the path near Catlow Brook

We came to a footbridge across Catlow Brook, but our path continued on this side and we progressed on, reaching a rough track climbing upwards. This then led down to a more stable surface and we crossed the brook and our path bent round to the right to reach a road at Catlow Bottoms. We passed over a stile next to a gate and turned right, passing over a ford (actually we used the steps at the side of the ford) and we then walked uphill passing the farm buildings and converted barns on each side.

On a small hill on our right, after passing the buildings was a pill box left over from the war. Opposite was a stile leading to an old rubbish dump. The path passed through this. There was a stile taking us from it to a field but it was invisible from within the dump. We had to trespass to navigate around the back of the dump before we realised we were not actually trespassing but were in the correct field. We saw the stile we should have taken, completely buried in a mass of nettles and briars.

We walked to the far corner of the field and climbed some steps and a stile to our right to pass along a narrow track fenced off from the field. This came out at Southfield Farm, where there was a large methodist chapel, Southfield House. We left the farm by taking a path through an avenue of lime trees at the far end. The path continued as a good graveled track leading downhill and towards Walverden Reservoir. This quickly came into view. We passed through a stile by a gate and turned to our right, following the wall downhill and passed beside a gate onto a drive alongside an old house on our right. We walked down the drive and into a car parking area at the bottom, where we then passed over a rotten wooden footbridge that contained a warning not to use it. We used it anyway, taking extra care.



Southfield House		Pond at foot Walverden Reservoir

After crossing the footbridge we walked along a track beside a mossy wall beneath a canopy of trees and then up some steps to reach a kissing gate. We passed through and walked along the wall on rough grazing land until reaching the far end of the dam, where we then took a path diagonally right across the field and uphill. As we reached a line of trees on our left we were deflected uphill and funneled in to the narrowing field top where we passed through an open gate and turned right by a house and entered its drive.

We turned left along the drive to a road and crossed this to take the stile opposite. We walked swiftly uphill and then down along a wall with Nelson Golf Course on our right.The path went on for some time before reaching an estate of modern housing where we turned left onto the golf course. We passed between rough grass and onto a fairway. Crossing this we passed to more rough grass and then another fairway.



Looking back at Walverden Reservoir		Nelson Golf Course

After this fairway we passed between stands of trees to reach a track beside a wall with pasture on our left, passing through several stiles to reach a large open field and a view of a housing estate forming part of Reedley. We crossed this diagonally until reaching the top of Moorside Avenue where we left the field by a gate stile and walked down the road to cross another road and then reach a main road. Almost opposite was Reedley Road, We walked down this for a long time before reaching the A682 at the bottom. On the opposite side of this was Robinson Lane, which we would be taking tomorrow. For now we turned left and turned down a side road to retrieve our parked car.

Day 2

Day 4

Author - Roy McKee