Pendle Hill footpath near Barley

A Pendle Hill walk

It feels a bit odd writing ‘Pendle Hill’, now I know (thanks Wikipedia) that Pendle is a tautological word. A mix of cumbric (Pen) and old english (Hyll), with a modern ‘Hill’ added for good measure.

‘Let’s climb Hill Hill Hill!’. Which feels incantation-like, resonating with the witchery of the early 1600s (and the sad outcomes of that).

Paul Shorrock has a great write-up of a walk on Pendle Hill (and a different route to the one we walked) on his blog. As he says, people have walked up this hill for thousands of years. And for a ‘hill’, it feels pretty exposed and remote. Probably more spookily atmospheric when the sun isn’t shining though 😉

A 557 metres it’s not hugely high but on a warm day, as it was when we were there, it’s a fair pull up the stepped approach from (lovely) Barley and on to the summit. And poor old Brodie girl found it a slog. She would have dragged me up those steps a couple of years ago. Alas, she’s in 2nd / mooch gear most of the time now.

I hadn’t spent any time in this detached part of the Forest of Bowland before this jaunt but I can see why the area is an AONB. it’s, well, an area of outstanding natural beauty for sure. It was walking mate Jenny who wanted to climb Pendle Hill so thanks to her for getting us away from the hills on our collective doorsteps and somewhere new for the day.

Pendle Hill footpath near Barley
The view of Pendle Hill from just above Barley

And it was great to walk with friend Bob, who was walking the furthest he had (I think I’m right in saying) after a year or more of gruelling (and successful) chemo. Go, Bob! In fact Bob walked further than me.

I bailed out at around 5 miles of the circular walk (we followed this one on Happy Hiker), whilst Bob, Taru, Sarah and Jenny (with Scout and Zeus) walked over 9 miles.

I had an eye on the clock, wanting to get back to see son Joe, who was heading over for the night. I think Brodie would have completed the 9 miles with no problems.. but she wouldn’t have been in a rush to do so!

Pendle Hill view from Black Moss reservoirs
Pendle Hill view from near Black Moss reservoirs

I’ll let the photos tell the rest of my enjoyable day.

Pendle Hill walk and stile
Some of the stepped stiles were tricky for the two older dogs (Brodie and the chilled chap, Zeus)
Pendle Hill stepped path
The stepped path up Pendle Hill, slow going in the heat (and busy too).
Pendle Hill Trig Point
Pendle Hill Trig Point – hidden behind Bob, Taru, Jenny and Sarah (and Scout). Brodi heard the word ‘lunch’ and was ready for off ..
reservoir views from Pendle Hill
Reservoir views from Pendle Hill (Black Moss in the middle and Lower Ogden (I think) on the right).

Fell Wood near Newchurch In Pendle

Cows in field above Newchurch In Pendle

So, Pendle Hill: no numinous feelings or encounters with the supernatural.

That said, as I installed hound in the car and we headed home, my nose started to bleed.
It may have been the very cold mint choc chip ice cream I had at the car park cafe though.

Update: and since writing this post (and from the walk day itself) I have had an increasingly painful left knee. So much so that no other long walks have been possible and it’s off to the bone doctor for me this week (2 July)!


Quick kit review: Hydro Flask

A few weeks back the team at Tiso sent me a Hydro Flask  – a 32oz ‘Wide Mouth Stainless Steel, Vacuum Insulated Bottle’. That’s a bit of a mouthful (excuse the pun): essentially, a big flask. A chunky beast of a flask which is much larger than some of the other flasks I have. It’s not what I’d use for hot drinks (preferring flasks with integral cups). But for carrying water it does have a good ‘use case’ (as we web folk might call it): it takes enough water for both me and Brodie Dog to share. On really long walks I’d use a hydro bladder, but for a only a few miles, this is light enough to sit in my daypack side pocket and serve both hound and hiker well. It served us well on the Pendle Hill hike and on a couple of short local hill walks since.

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