Wycoller, Brontës and Boulsworth Hill (517m) in Pennine Lancashire

clarejk2014

Jun 24

Sandwiched between the Yorkshire Dales and Cumbria's Lake District, it's easy to forget that Lancashire has its own beauty spots to explore. The Pennines is one such location.

'Discover Pendle's Three Peaks in Pennine Lancashire' was the title of the £1 booklet I bought a few years ago, I had bought it in a cafe after a Pendle Hill walk once and it was a pamphlet I had subsequently forgotten.

But my thirst for adventure has been revitalised this year and finding this 10-page guide on my bookcase, I decided to take a look. I had heard of the three main mountains of the UK (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon) and the Yorkshire Peaks (Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough), but I had never heard of Pendle's trio of hills. I had hiked up Pendle, the most famous of the Peaks, but what and where were the other two?

The Boulsworth Hill trail with its connections to the Brontës looked interesting, especially for a literary fan like myself. According to the guide, the eight-mile walk would take at least four hours and was described as an energetic circular walk. It covered various sights of interest and was packed with history and scenery. It also says that Boulsworth Hill 'is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of its importance for upland birds such as golden plover'. So my type of walk then.

This area - not far from the Yorkshire border - was once a hunting ground back in Norman times until the early Middle Ages when monasteries established cattle farms.

We parked at Wycoller Country car park and immediately took a wrong turn, nearly venturing into the memorial wood. But retracing our steps, a sign to Wycoller village pointed us to the right way.

Apparently there is a modern sculpture called The Atom but we didn't spot this on our walk to the idyllic village. This didn't matter as there was more than enough to feast my eyes at Wycoller itself.

Buying a hot sausage roll and a tea from a snack kiosk (actually a window from a budding entrepreneur's house), we crossed the pack horse bridge over the scenic beck towards the ruined Wycoller Hall. This old building is thought to have been the inspiration for Ferndean Manor in Jane Eyre.

There are a lot of pretty villages but I don't think many can be as idyllic as Wycoller. And it seems many artists, poets and authors, would have agreed with me, including Charlotte Brontë who is believed to have been a visitor.

The second bridge over the Wycoller Beck is the Clapper Bridge, otherwise known as the Weavers Bridge. According to my booklet, "it was once heavily grooved by weavers' dogs" and it is thought that this groove "was chiselled flat by a farmer after his daughter died falling from the bridge around 1912."

There are a few benches around the ruined hall and it was a perfect picnic site for our tea and sausage roll, facing the beck where we watched a grey wagtail. It was just as well we had something to eat at that time as there were no more facilities on our journey.

Past the picturesque ruins are toilets (open) and the Aisled Barn Visitor Centre (unfortunately closed). It looked like maybe renovations were taking part inside so hopefully this will be reopened at a later point.

Our walk now took us away from Wycoller to a pleasant amble alongside the beck where we came across the ancient Clam Bridge, dating from the Neolithic age, according to my booklet. This bridge may be simple - a long stone slab - but the idea that it's been located here for thousands of years is still thought-provoking.

Through a kissing gate where we continued our walk, following the stream. The guide told us this area was called Turnhole Clough, and when we left the fields, we came to a track.

The map and booklet instructions were confusing on this point, mentioning a wall on the right. But the only wall we saw would have taken us along the wrong way. After a few moments of confusion, we decided to continue upwards towards what we assumed was Boulsworth Hill. Later on we did find a wall on our right so we were going the correct way after all.

Maybe it was because we were here on a Thursday rather than a weekend or school holiday, but once we left Wycoller (where there were a few people exploring the ruins or buying a drink) not a soul was seen. In this quiet landscape, we saw lapwings flying and heard the cry of curlews.

We continued along a rough track and reached a concrete path. We should have turned left towards a water treatment building but we carried on and realised that we had gone too far. Rather than going back to the junction, we climbed up the mossy bogland to Boulsworth Hill. Here I realised why Lancashire isn't a famed place for walking - it's extremely boggy! Thankfully our walk took place during a dry spell but even so, there was still plenty of mud, bog and holes trying to catch me out.

There was also areas of beautiful cotton grass amid the moss.

Reaching large boulders, I thought we had reached the summit, but no, the top was further on. I had found the walk a pleasant easy-going ramble up to the point of climbing up the moorland to the hill. So I was rather tired at this point! But we continued to the Lad Law trig point (517 m) and then to the gritstone outcrop of Little Chair Stones and Weather Stones. From the top, we could see Upper and Lower Coldwell Reservoirs. The unique shape of Pendle Hill could also be seen in the distance.

Lad Law, Boulsworth Hill

Walking back down the slopes of Pot Brinks Moor and past a water treatment building where we should have climbed up originally, we walked back through fields (unfortunately missing out on a waterfall called Lumb Spout) towards a converted mill at Hollin Hall, past a bowling green and farms back to Wycoller.

It was 4.30pm and therefore too late for any refreshments back at the village so we carried on to our car and headed to Colne for a refreshing glass of lemonade and a packet of crisps in a pub.