Did an 8 1/2 mile walk round Pendle hill today.
Photo of pendle hill - clouds gone at the end of the walk!
Stats: 8.5 miles, 1690ft ascent.
The route was as described here - and was pretty enjoyable. The route takes in several of the many resivoirs around Pendle, as well as quite a bit of the plateau that make up the summit of Pendle Hill (557m or 1827ft). The only annoyance was the low cloud meaning we lost some of the fantastic views that are usually available of the surrounding areas, right over to the Yorkshire Dales. THe cloud was clearing as we descended - but we will be back!
The route starts from Barley - which has a large car park, toilets, cafe / visitor centre, maps and pubs. From the car park, you follow an access road past the Ogden resivoirs. At this point it was clear and sunny, with a pretty good temperature. I was happy in a LIFA baselayer and windshirt. We stopped several times for photos round here, the panorama at the bottom of this page is of the upper ogden resivoir.
From here you follow the stream which fills these 2 resivoirs, and comes down the side of Pendle Hill. Keep to the right of the stream and a fence for the first mile or so, walking on a path which is around 20m away from the water. We stuck too close to the stream and had an awkward mile or so of boggy ground to traverse. Eventually, the path crosses the stream and starts to climb away for a while, before returning to the stream again. Keep following the stream until you reach a wall, by this point the path has got pretty vague, and you may start to wonder if you are in the right place. Its less than half a mile from the path that leads off to your right through the gate so keep going. This brings you onto the plateau proper.
Follow this wall until you find a ladder stile, where apparently you will see wonderful views of the Yorksire dales. Instead we had panoramas of cloud, and stopped to add a fleece layer before continuing over the style, following the escarpment and on to a clear path. This path leads over another style to the summit and trig point at the top of pendle hill. We stopped for a well deserved lunch here :-).
Rejoin the path, and follow it until another path leads down the hill, almost doubling back. The clud was beggining to lift now and we got good views from here, stopping a few times on the way down. At the bottom, head towards the farm and pick up a hard track. Next head towards the Black Moss resvoirs over the fields.
After this, walk down the path to the farm, and pass over the bridge. Take a right onto the footpath marked Barley, and when you get there follow the path past the playground and back to your car.
Pendle hill is also listed as a Marilyin, with a prominence of 395m.
See all photos on flickr from this walk here: Pendle Hill Walk Photos
