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| Mud! (Not So) Glorious Mud!! |
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Date : 01st February 2009
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Leader : Phil Bedson |
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Report by : Phil Bedson |
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Photos © : Phil Bedson |
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| CLICK HERE FOR ROUTE DETAILS |
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| The general ground conditions for the day! | |
A very cold, crisp morning saw six members of Hyndburn Ramblers meet up for this midwinter walk, Ribchester being the destination.
Upon leaving our starting point at Ribchester’s main car park all remarked just how biting the cold was as we made our way to the edge of the village to turn up Stydd Lane. A short way up we came to the beautifully ornate Stydd Almshouses, endowed by a John Shireburn in 1726 for five persons, primarily Roman Catholic widows or spinsters, to live separately with coals and allowances. These terms were strictly adhered to until the late 1980’s. Carrying on we came to the equally beautiful Stydd Chapel which was originally built in 1136 by the Knights Hospitallers of Wakefield. It has a Norman doorway and windows on the north side whilst the south doorway is Early English. The chapel was restored in 1925 and again in 2005.
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left:
Stydd Almshouses |
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right: Stydd Chapel |
We continued on up the track where our route then veered off over fields and on into a small wooded area. We followed the woodland path down through the trees and over a very shaky footbridge to pass some ruins next to the stream. Between us we thought they were the ruins of a mill as we identified the wheel pit and mill pond and there was evidence of where the stream had been diverted. Upon leaving the woods we soon came upon Dutton Hall and all agreed it was a lovely building.
Turning left up the road for a short distance we took a stile onto a field path leading to Grindlestone House farm and, after going down the lane a short distance, we headed east over fields towards the moated Bailey Hall. We skirted around the edge of this unkempt looking building to go through another small wood where another bridge took us to a set of steps up the hill! It was then on over fields to the western fringes of Hurst Green.
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left:
Dutton Hall |
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right: St John the Evangelist |
Passing the church of St John the Evangelist we made our way up a field path before taking a track up towards Doe Hill. After a brief stop at this vantage point above the Ribble Valley we continued over fields to Lower Hud Lee Farm where we found a nice sheltered lane which was an ideal spot for lunch. The leader at this point noted we were a little behind schedule which was mainly due to the state of the claggy ground in that it had been like walking through molasses all morning. It was also trying to snow.
After lunch we headed over a field path towards Carlinghurst and then onto the road. Crossing the road we crossed yet more claggy fields before emerging on the main Longridge - Hurst Green road at New Row. It was here that the leader made the decision to cut short the planned route due to time taken and the impending weather conditions, it was still trying to snow but with a little more vigour. So it was that a more direct route to Ribchester was worked out and before long we were on the track to Moor House. Passing the building we continued over fields to the cross Stonygate Lane, on the line of the Roman Road out of Ribchester, and down the track to Old Buckley.
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left:
Along a (mud free) track |
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right: Wooden bridge in the woods |
After passing the buildings there was no real indication of where the path ought to be and, indeed, navigating across the next few fields coupled with the ground conditions here was something of a task.
Having prevailed this ordeal we reached Ashmoor House where we followed a track through a field before turning off to join a footpath through what was probably the muddiest field of the day. It was sheer luck the mud virtually stopped just as we reached a small stream where we were able to wash our boots of the field accumulated on them. A short track took us back to the road and it was but a couple of minutes before we were back at the car park. After changing our footwear and depositing our backpacks we headed for a pint at the nearby White Bull. We left in a heavy snow shower and perhaps the decision to cut short the route was justified.
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| The long and steep steps | |
| OS EXPLORER |
WEST PENNINES 287 |
START POINT |
SD 649352 |
| WALK LENGTH |
8.32 mls / 13.3 km |
TIME WALKING |
4 hrs 15 mins |
| MAX HEIGHT |
149.79 mtrs |
MIN HEIGHT |
21.36 mtrs |
| HEIGHT ASCENDED |
258.76 mtrs |
HEIGHT DESCENDED |
258.76 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.
The yellow dotted line shows our intended route!
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