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| The Tacklers Trail |
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Date : 12th December 2010
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Leader : David Hughes |
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Report by : Phil Bedson |
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Photos © : Phil Bedson |
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| Witton Weavers this way!! | |
Eleven Hyndburn Ramblers met up at the entrance to Sunnyhurst Woods to take on The Tacklers Trail, a 9 and a half mile circular walk which is part of the much longer Witton Weavers Way. Dropping down the sloping driveway towards the Visitor Centre the frost on the grass and the trees was very much a sign of how cold it was. The trail ran alongside a watercourse which was interspersed with small manmade waterfalls and ponds, all a legacy of the extensive re-modelling of the park in 1902 in commemoration of Edward VII acceding to the throne the previous year.
With the low sunlight streaming through the trees we made our way uphill to exit the woods at the corner of Earnsdale Reservoir where a brief stop was taken to look at Darwen Tower on its perch across the valley. Taking an enclosed, and very icy in places, lane it wasn’t long before we emerged onto the lane just North of Ryal Fold. Crossing here, a gate led us into the woods at Roddlesworth where the path dropped down through the trees where, at a juncture of paths, we took a right and a left to arrive at a footbridge. The small rivulet the footbridge crossed was just yards from where it merged into the Upper Roddlesworth Reservoir. It was here we took a break whilst looking over the expanse of ice.
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left:
In Sunnyhurst Woods |
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right: Footbridge |
The clear path through the trees was easy walking and some wonderful icicles hanging from a rock face momentarily broke our pace as we decided whether they were part of a waterfall or, as it transpired, not. The trails through these plantations are indeed numerous and there were many people thereabouts doing a whole assortment of activities from cycling and horse-riding to running and walking the dog. Arrival at Hollinshead Hall ruins was a cue for a bit of exploration (okay so the majority read the info board) and a quick visit to the Well House proved to be most intriguing. Having re-found the way out the leader led the way along a small path to the road crossed earlier which was re-crossed onto a concessionary path created to keep the walker away from the traffic. The way from here soon turned into a bit of a drag uphill passing Turn Lowe up to a gate with views back to Winter Hill a good reason to pause for breath. On passing through the said gate some handy benches up against a wall made an ideal lunch spot and everyone promptly found a seat.
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left:
The Well House |
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right: Towards Turn Lowe |
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The tracks over the moors were thankfully frozen solid otherwise we’d have been up to our ankles in mud although this in itself presented its own difficulties due to the odd patch of ice which nearly caught a couple of us out. As we headed east the views opened out a little and one could distinctly see Peel Tower at Holcombe in the distance. At a stile there was a sudden change of direction to the North and, as we rounded the lower slopes of Black Hill, we caught our second sight of Darwen Tower in the distance. As we progressed over moorland and through the odd small plantation the undulating ground meant we were to never glimpse the edifice again until we were within the last kilometre. As we got closer it was strange to see the Tower without its ‘hat’ which had been blown off a month previous during some fierce winds. We were soon upon the building and whilst some settled down for coffee others went ‘up top’ to take in the views. |
Our approach to the Tower |
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It was obviously going to be all downhill from here, from a terrain point of view of course, and our next point of interest was very near the end of the walk and was called The Sunnyhurst. With everyone squeezed into the small tap room the discussion about the walk ended with everyone thanking the leader for a wonderful day out before it had ended!! Reluctantly leaving the confines of the building the group entered Sunnyhurst Woods again to drop downhill to the spot where the bandstand stood. From here it was easy to re-trace our route from first thing in the morning back to the start point. We’d tackled the Tacklers Trail and come out the winners.
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| The Tower from Darwen Moor | |
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTURES IN THE GALLERY
| OS EXPLORER 287 |
WEST PENNINE MOORS |
START POINT |
SD 680 230 |
| WALK LENGTH |
10 mls / 16 km |
TIME WALKING |
4 hrs |
| MAX HEIGHT |
384 mtrs |
MIN HEIGHT |
169 mtrs |
| HEIGHT ASCENDED |
543 mtrs |
HEIGHT DESCENDED |
543 mtrs |
This map is for reference only and MUST NOT be used to do the walk.
Please use the correct OS map for all these walks.
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