Length: 30 miles
Date started : 27 June 2012
Date completed : 13 August 2014
Companions : Julie Farrell ; ( in part ) Simon Farrell
Guide : Witches' Way - David Johnson and Jim Ashton ( Dalesman Books 1984 )
This was Julie and Is' next project which we completed a bit faster than the Bronte Way but given the length we were still a bit laggardly.
The Witches' Way is the most obscure route to feature here. I bought the guide in 1988 , four years after it was first published and I'm guessing it went out of print not long afterwards. I've never heard anyone mention it in the last 25 years. I chose it because it wasn't too far away and passed through a few areas of Lancashire that were unfamiliar to me.
The walk was devised by two long distance walking enthusiasts who haven't volunteered any personal information apart from their home addresses ( Bury and London ) to put a long distance trail in upland Lancashire. I think they meant "long distance" in terms of a single day's hike, which would certainly be a challenge on this route !
The walk runs from Rawtenstall to Slaidburn and visits the summit of Pendle Hill ( the third route on here to do so ). The story of the Pendle Witches provides an overarching theme although neither starting nor end point feature in it and places that do - Sabden, Newchurch and Barley for example - are by-passed. It's quite a tough little route which often eschews easier alternatives close at hand.
One other comment on the route should be made. It was quite difficult to follow in parts ( details below ) and we'd have come unstuck without the Forest of Bowland and Ribblesdale OS map. Quite a lot had changed on the ground and it's brought home to me that I can't now use any of the guides I acquired in the seventies and eighties by themselves ( except of course my beloved Wainwrights ); if I'm still going to use them they'll need matching with a recent map beforehand.
We started it in June 2012 on a weekday and "against the clock" in terms of getting back to pick Simon up from his childminder at the agreed time. We parked in Rawtenstall and walked to Hapton. I'd done most of it before and it was fairly straightforward but had a sting in the tail. On the very last stretch into Hapton what used to be ( according to the book ) a simple stroll along a hedge was now an enclosed path between two wire fences and it was completely overgrown. The friendly guy at nearby Sellars Fold said no one had tried to walk it for years. With some misgivings we gave it a go but halfway down a substantial tree had fallen across it without bringing the sturdy fences down. It was completely impassable and we had to retreat back to Sellars Fold and take an alternative path. Once at the finishing point we needed to get to Hapton station for a train back to Burnley. The path we took ( not part of the route ) was an adventure too ; although a very scenic valley route it was flooded in parts and we finished the walk with wet feet. Our reward was a free train ride to Burnley as no one came to sell us tickets and we caught the bus back to Rawtenstall.
The next section from Hapton to Read was done in July. The weather was fine and it was a good walk apart from one short stretch behind the industrial estate at Altham Bridge ( built since the book ) where the path was very overgrown and boggy. Beyond that the stretch alongside the river Calder was spoiled by the litter presumably left by picnickers or illicit teenage drinkers. We had a wait for the bus to Burnley at Read ; Julie asked an old guy where it stopped and he said "Oh aye we've got buses here" and proceeded to give her an idiot's guide to village life. We had a bite to eat at Burnley's Witherspoon's then caught the bus back to Hapton where we'd parked.
We didn't get round to the next stage until the Easter Holidays in 2013 when we took Simon along for the section between Read ( where we parked ) and Nick o Pendle. It was a straightforward and enjoyable section although Simon didn't enjoy the biting wind in our faces on the high section along Wiswell Moor. From Nick o' Pendle we dropped down to Sabden for the bus and Simon enjoyed himself in the play park there.
Julie and I did the next section in July during Simon's last week at school on a very hot day. We parked at Clitheroe and caught the bus to Sabden. The uphill walk back to Nick o Pendle was strength-sapping in the heat. I didn't tell Julie we were going up Pendle Hill to see if she could work it out for herself. The route chosen by the authors was a strange one , leaving the fairly easy main path from the Nick and striking out for the huge cairn on Mearley Moor ( Pendle's western ridge ) . The approach from the cairn to the summit is a good one but to get there was a rough, mainly trackless passage made more difficult by the heat. Julie didn't twig straight away on the summit but guessed with some prompting. She didn't like the stepped descent from the hill and took it very slowly. We then had some catching up to do to get back in time to pick Simon up and halfway down to Downham decided we had better abandon the route and head down the road to make sure we caught the bus back to Clitheroe. We did the missed out section ( ironically completely trouble-free and probably quicker than the road ) as a short walk with Simon in August.
Julie and I did the next section from Downham to Grindleton on a school day in October. Again I didn't tell Julie about Sawley Abbey so it would be a surprise to her. We had lunch there and Julie told the workers from English Heritage about some doggy-doo bags that were disfiguring the site. We went a bit off route at the end as the field boundaries had changed making the fguide misleading,
We did the next section last week ( August 2014 ) with Simon. We parked in Clitheroe and caught the bus to Grindleton. We got back on the right route but had a problem at Steelands Farm where the book explicitly said don't go through the farmyard but the avoidance route has since been blocked off and we had to crawl through a wall. There was a tough bit just beyond there where you have to cross a brook and then go up a steep slope but beyond that it was an easy and pleasant stroll alongside Grindleton Forest to Walloper Well on the Waddington Moor road. Simon and I wanted to press on to Slaidburn and finish the walk but Julie didn't fancy it.
I warned that the weather might not be as good when we came back to it and was proved right yesterday when we set off along the short but rough section across Standridge Hill in a heavy shower. The rain had also made the wooden stiles very slippery on the descent towards the Hodder valley and we had some difficulty getting over them safely. The path had changed to the other side of the fence / hedge since the book ( or they got it wrong ) and now went through a copse festooned with quails for the local shooting brigade which entailed ploughing through thistles. The final section from Easington was easy and pleasant. We had a meal at the cafe in Slaidburn then took the bus back to Walloper Well.
Despite the little problems encountered it is a good route and it seems a shame that it never took off.
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