I was looking for a new area for a walk that suited Mrs R who loves forest and canal walks but hates hills which I love. I had been looking in Lancashire for some areas having never walked there before even though it’s just over the hill from us so I found a walk on go4awalk.com. The walk had a section on the Leeds Liverpool canal so it ticked one of Mrs R’s boxes but it also had little hill so I was happy as well.
The planned route was 10 miles with 1300ft of ascent and it took us from Salterforth up through Barnoldswick then up Weets Hill before returning via Foulridge and a stretch of the Leeds Liverpool canal. The weather forecast was for light and heavy rain with cloud cover and 20mph winds. A short half hour drive through Colne and we arrived at Salterforth marina our starting point and where we were told there was no parking unless you had a mooring but was informed there was some down the road. A short drive took us to Barnoldswick which was on the route and where we found a free car park
Setting off in the rain with Handsome Jack in his coat and walking through the town to pick up the route we felt a bit overdressed the three of us and got a few odd looks. We soon reached the route where there was another free car park right beside the route doh. At this point we picked up the Pendle Way following it around a few houses and fields before heading out to the start of climb up Weets Hill which for me was a very easy gradient but had the usual bit of moaning from Mrs R until the gradient eased a bit. On the way up I filtered some water from a very small water source for a cuppa later on at the summit as I had read there was a bench to sit on. The views started to open up a bit as we ascended and its said on a good day parts of the Lakes can be seen from the summit but the low cloud and rain didn’t give us any such views today, even Pendle Hill was in the clag
The Pendle Way sign
Brightening up the side of the road
The nice gradual pull up to Weets Hill i dont know what Mrs R had to moan about
Come on Kelly put your back in to it
Handsome Jack as usual waiting for us
I can see the summit and bench from here
Was a bit boggy underfoot
It had been raining all the way up to the summit and just before arrival it got heavier so we took a view pictures, discussed walking Pendle Hill at some point and read a little memorial to a lady called Mabel Emsley before deciding to drop down a bit for a cuppa rather than sit on the bench as the wind had got up a little as well as the rain.
The view towards Pendle Hill
Me on the Summit
The memorial
We headed off down towards Weets House and dropped out of the worse of the wind and decided to have a pot of coffee and try out my new Alpkit Brukit. We found a little ledge alongside a wall and set it up and was very pleased with it as it boiled the water in the time it took me to get the cups out, put the coffee mix in and get a chocky biscuit out of the rucksack. It stopped raining while we were having a nice warm drink but we were already wet through on the outside at this point. The hot brew in the tin cups really warmed up Mrs R’s hands so that was another bonus but I was surprised at how quick it cooled so a thermal cup might be on the menu for winter. Jack was crying which meant he wanted a chocky biscuit as well so all three of us fuelled and warmed up a bit we set off following the Pendle Way still until we turned off it heading towards Foulridge.
Some Lamas at Weets House
A little bridge to a garden Mrs R was having a nosy at
The Alpkit Brukit a great bit of kit
A field worse than Wigans pitch with a tower in the background on Blacko Hill Side
View down to the reservoirs
An odd tree
We were now in some of the muddiest fields with high stone wall stiles to cross which made it hard for Jack to get up so he needed our help and inevitably we got covered in mud a bit here and there. We commented after watching the Wigan vs Catalan Dragons game the night before that these fields were worse than Wigan’s pitch and we were so glad we had worn our Gaiters even though we looked a bit overdressed in Barnoldswick earlier they certainly did their job now. We followed various paths down through the fields to reach the first of two reservoirs Slipper Hill and Lower Foulridge skirting round the edges of both and where we found a pointless stile in the middle of a field. Further up there was a wall and you had to go left of it so at some point in the past when the fence was up between the wall and stile it served a purpose. I wonder when fences and such are removed by whomever that the stiles are left just for walkers to take pictures of and have a laugh about.
A lovely house overlooking Slipper Hill reservoir
The overflow of Lower Foulridge reservoir
Looking across Lower Foulridge
Handsome Jack looking a bit wet
The pointless stile
Carrying on through Foulridge village we reached Foulridge Wharf and the section of the Leeds and Liverpool canal which would take us almost back to Barnoldswick. Stopping for another hot coffee and filtering the water from a little spring running into the canal I was beginning to enjoy the little routine of filtering and brewing up along with the minor hassle of setting up the Brukit and packing it away in favour of the hot drink and overall reduction in weight of carrying less water.
This section of the canal is not the prettiest section we have walked on a canal but it was pleasant with lots of Swans about, interesting and odd narrow boats and we saw a few squirrels playing in a field as we wandered the last few miles back to the Car. We eventually reached Salterforth marina and leaving the canal we followed the route back through Barnoldswick before returning to the car.
Foulridge Wharf
A pair of swans
Typical view along the canal
A blurred Squirrel running below the sheep
A lone Swan
Majestic
An odd barge with drawers sticking out of it
Some Cygnets soon to be Swans
The GPS showed us to have walked 9.95 Miles with 1231ft of ascent over 4 hours 36 minutes with an average speed of 2.2mph and a moving speed of 2.8mph meaning we spent about an hour dawdling and brewing up along the walk.
We had another brew back at the car getting the water from the bottle in the boot this time before heading home calling off for some dinner in Colne on the way. The next walk in this area will hopefully be Pendle Hill.