Walking in the Forest of Bowland and Pendle. Terry Marsh

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СКАЧАТЬ between a wall and fence the track goes past the church, and then, as the wall bears to the right above Littledale Hall, you keep left, heading towards Gill Plantation. At this point the route continues eastwards for another kilometre or so before simply turning round and coming back on a lower path, little more than 100m below. Alas, no right-of-way links the two paths, but because the onward walk is delightful, and the point where you turn around to come back makes an ideal place for a picnic, to tackle this elongated extension is no hardship, and gives, as you go further into the dale, a fine sense of moorland remoteness.

      So, just after passing below the plantation the track meets a gate. Keep to the right of the gate, walking beside a wall and then a fence to a gate in a corner giving onto a narrow path between a fence and rhododendron. Keep alongside the fence, cross an in-flowing stream, and press on along the top edge of a wooded slope.

      The on-going path gradually drops away from the fence, moving towards the dale bottom. At one point you cross a field track with the return path just a few strides below you, but press on, crossing the track and climbing briefly before resuming a more level course. Eventually the path descends towards a footbridge and ladder-stile. (Walk 5 joins the route at this point, and shares the route to its conclusion).

      About 50m before reaching the footbridge, double back on yourself (to the right) onto a lower path – indistinct and intermittent for a time – that runs along the bottom of the slope you have just crossed. This path leads back to that field track you encountered earlier. Now join the track, going forward to a gate and stile at the foot of a wall immediately adjoining the stream.

      You part company with the stream for a short while at a gate and stile to head towards Littledale Hall. Cross a bridge near the hall and climb left, then dink right and left between farm buildings to find a metal gate, beyond which a track leads beside Foxdale Beck to a footbridge.

      Over the bridge, bear right onto a rising path through woodland to a stile at the top boundary. Cross the stile and keep right, alongside a fence. Follow the fence to a through-stile just before Field Head farm. Pass to the right of the farm buildings to intercept the farm access. Continue across the end of a small coppice and on to a cattle-grid. Press on along a farm access, with a view in the far distance of the Ashton Memorial in Lancaster.

      Stay with the track as it descends to Bellhill farm. Cross another cattle-grid, and then turn left through an area where the farm buildings have been converted to residential use. Locate a gate to the right of the original Bellhill farmhouse. Descend briefly to a field gate and then go down a track beside a fence. At the bottom, turn right at a waymark and then bear left to a ford and footbridge, where you meet Udale Beck again.

      Over the bridge, walk up a stony track, but keep an eye open for a waymarked step-stile beside a metal gate on the right. Cross this to gain a rising track around the edge of a small woodland, above which it continues beside a fence. The track leads to wooded Sweet Beck, centred in a narrow ravine. Cross this and then walk up to Skellow Barn.

      Swing right past the barn on a raised grassy track and shortly walk alongside a wall. Cross a stile beside a gate, soon going left at another gate onto a track rising to Cragg farm, where the outward route is joined. Now simply turn left to return to the start.

WALK 5

      Ward’s Stone from Littledale

Start/Finish	Roadside parking near Cragg farm (SD545617)
Distance	17km (10½ miles)
Total Ascent	582m (1909ft)
Terrain	Field paths, moorland tracks and rough moorland traverse
Maps	Explorer OL41 (Forest of Bowland and Ribblesdale)

      This is a popular but demanding walk that needs a clear, settled day if you are to avoid the potential for confusion. It takes in high Bowland landscapes with far-reaching views, and visits the highest point in the Forest of Bowland.

      Begin from the parking area at Little Crag above Littledale. Walk to the nearby road bend just above Cragg farm, and there leave the road for a footpath that finds an easy way across farmland to Skellow Barn, and here turn right, beside Sweet Beck, to reach the edge of Access Land and the open moors beyond.

      A fairly clear path now climbs the moors, and rises to meet a broad track. Cross this and continue in the same direction, through gritstone outcrops and heather to intercept a path linking Clougha Pike to the west with Grit Fell to the east. Turn onto this and head for Grit Fell, and then basically keep going in a generally eastwards direction to reach the little rocky plateau of Ward’s Stone, unusual in having two trig pillars – that to the east is marginally the higher.

      From near the easterly trig pillar, a fence sets off for High Stephen’s Head, which is the next objective, but you should only take this direct route if you enjoy floundering in peaty bogs. A better choice is to continue along the original line for just under 1km, to a fence junction.

      Now turn northwards to reach High Stephen’s Head, a lovely vantage point on a fine day. From it, press on in a northwesterly direction between a fence and a wall, descending a broad moorland ridge.

      When the wall takes its leave and heads off towards Mallowdale, continue beside the fence, above Ragill Beck, continuing the northwesterly direction. Briefly the fence becomes a wall, and here cross Ragill Beck to find a track that slips down the remaining moorland shoulder to a farm gate above Deep Clough.

      Go down into the steep-sided clough and up a track on the other side where you intercept a public footpath. Turn left along this and descend to a ladder-stile and footbridge about 50m beyond which you reach the turning point of Walk 4, through Littledale, and now share the same route back to the start.

      NORTHWEST AND WESTERN MOORS

WALK 6

      Clougha Pike

Start/Finish	Birk Bank car park, Quernmore (SD526604)
Distance	8km (5 miles)
Total Ascent	350m (1150ft)
Terrain	Good paths and tracks, but some untracked heather moorland, and a rocky descent to a large boggy area (no dogs)
Maps	Explorer OL41 (Forest of Bowland and Ribblesdale)

      This energetic walk makes a splendid ascent to one of the finest viewpoints in Lancashire, concluding through a delightful wooded ravine and across a stretch of marshy ground bright in spring with bog-loving plants. There is a small amount of trackless wandering, which presents no difficulty in clear weather conditions.

      Leave the rear of the Birk Bank car park by walking to a gate giving onto a broad track at the edge of Access Land. Follow the track through bracken, and when it forks, branch left.

      When the track later curls to the right, leave it by branching left onto a СКАЧАТЬ