Wednesday 23 October 2024 - Cicerone Lancashire Walk Number 8 - Roeburndale

BC was planning to join us today. Had he done so we may have taken a slightly different route. Reading the report on this walk that BC produced on 1 April, I think Sue, Andy and I followed accurately in BC's footsteps, described by him here.

So I could say "See BC's report", but I enjoy writing up these exploits, so here goes. (You can of course by-pass the text by clicking on any image and viewing a slideshow, but you'll miss the fun!)

BC's late withdrawal left Sue and me expecting to walk on our own, especially when Alan and Sheila told us they had intended to join us but now couldn't. So it was a surprise when Andy turned up out of the blue. Had we known, we could have given him a lift.

The café at Bridge House Farm Tearooms provided parking for the duration, and coffee and cake to delay our 10 o'clock start. Not to worry, it's a short walk.

We left the tearooms by the car park, rather than using the pedestrian exit. Oops. 

Heading up a steep lane, we passed a property that sported an ancient alarm and a stone goblin-like chap sitting on top of the porch.

Soon after passing this house we left the lane and took a pretty footpath to cross a tributory of the River Roebuck via a footbridge.

The path rose to Alcocks Farm.

Beyond the farm, we followed a lane left for a while, leaving it via a stone stile.

There were plenty of Clouded Clitocybe or similar. They may be tasty, and they may cause gastric upsets. We let them be.

We headed to a narrow squeeze stile.

Then it was up the field towards the barn on the skyline, to the right of which, in the field corner, our next stile revealed itself.

Continuing beside the hedge line, we admired this year's plentiful crop of berries.

Grassy field tracks with a few boggy sections led on as mostly correctly described by the guide book (he says "cross the beck", but there are several runnels of water which could be described as becks).

The path was indistinct in places but the directions "straight on" were robust.

We were distracted by a field full of Meadow Waxcaps. We harvested just a few and left the vast majority in situ.

The small mushroom in the next picture wasn't quite so plentiful, so we left them alone. It seems to be known as 'Witches Cap', 'Ruby Waxcap', or 'Scarlet Hood'.

Wooden marker posts and stone stiles kept us on our way, past another barn, to Harterbeck Farm, where they seem to have an aversion to moles. Poor things, why be so blatant about their persecution?

Beyond the farmyard a stone bridge helpfully avoided us having to ford the stream.

A little further on, another stream that flows into the River Roeburn was crossed by way of a substantial bridge.

After climbing out of the gully and reaching a kissing gate on the horizon, it was a simple stroll down the hill to Lower Salter.

If Alan R had been able to join us, I'm sure we would have been offered a history lesson on the subject of this tractor, sponsored it appears, by Heinz.

A short way down the lane, we followed in BC's footsteps and enjoyed our lunch in the welcoming surroundings of a Methodist Chapel dating from 1901. There was even a kettle and tea bags etc, had we needed them.

Next to the chapel is a building of 'light?' construction that could be where the parishoners adjourn to after the service, having formerly enjoyed a variety of uses.

A little further down the hill, we finally reached the River Roeburn, in the valley so named after its herds of Roe Deer. Andy spotted one later.

After crossing the bridge we soon found a stile on the right that led to a path that rose steeply then contoured around the lip of the gorge above the tree line next to Sue's left arm in the next picture.

We continued along the waymarked concessionary path, crossing several small wooden stiles over barbed wire fences.

It was a lovely day. Eventually I followed Sue and Andy down the path into the gorge where a footbridge marks the end of the accuracy of Mark Sutcliffe's route description in his Cicerone guidebook.

There's a 15 minute gap between the picture above and the one below. That was how long it took us to confirm BC's discovery that "Remain on the west bank" was an incorrect directive, there being nothing but a jungle of fallen trees, brambles, bracken and other impenetrable vegetation.

There was however a vague path with occasional markers on the east side of the river.

We made our way slowly along this path, eventually crossing an area of slippery slabs and reaching a serious landslip. En route to the landslip we 'lost' the path markers. I think we may have gone wrong at a point where there was a sign for dog walkers coming the other way. Anyway, on the basis that the sign suggested the route of a path, we ploughed our furrow. Sue wanted to cross the river by way of a suspended cage, but Andy and I vetoed that suggestion, and we all declined to cross via a bridge that lacked its planking.

These rocks are slippery!

Soon after this, when the landslip was reached, the camera went away as we strove to extricate ourselves from the gorge by way of a steep bank with little to hold on to apart from bits of grass and rotten branches that came away in your arms. However, just 20 minutes after passing the cage, we emerged onto a good path near the top of the woods. There were even people walking along it. Somewhere, we had missed the way.

Afternoon tea (1) was taken here (below). I relaxed by obliterating by way of crossings out the description on page 47 of my Cicerone guidebook. Four lines crossed out, but because we (and BC in April) missed the correct path we would have to go return to the scene to re-write an accurate route guide. [I've suggested to Cicerone that Mark Sutcliffe does this.]

We took an upper path. There's also a lower one that we joined shortly before exiting the woods and making our way through fields on a well marked path to rejoin our outward route and turn left down the road to Wray.

Wray seems a pleasant village with nice autumn colours in today's sunshine.

Here's our route - about 13 km with 300 metres ascent. It took us around 4.5 hours at a very leisurely pace, and we enjoyed afternoon tea (2) at the Bridge House Farm Tearooms, before heading back to Timperley to collect a voucher for some cupcakes from my GP practice. (Don't ask!)

The Meadow Waxcaps provided an excellent starter before our first Martiflette of the season and a dessert composed from windfall apples.

Later:
My report to Cicerone:
Walk 8 - Roeburndale - page 47.
"Remain on the west bank" - this is impenetrable forest with no path. You need to cross the bridge and follow a waymarked path. But this is difficult and you may find yourself back in the gorge confronted by a landslip and a steep, tricky, ascent to extricate yourself and reach a path through the woods. Perhaps Mark should revisit this and issue a revision for the four lines from 'Remain' to 'bridge' on page 47.

Cicerone's reply:
Thank you for your email and this helpful update! I will pass a note to our editorial team so they can review it with the author.
All the best,
Louise