Monday 21 March 2022 - Cicerone Lancashire Walk 15: Glasson, Cockersand Abbey and Conder Green

This second go at one of Mark Sutcliffe’s walking routes in Lancashire took place whilst I was waiting for Kate to complete some on/off chemotherapy. In the end she had a week off due to concern about a tinnitus side effect, but by then she had been hydrated for two hours, and I arrived back at the moment she was discharged.

It was a lovely sunny morning as I parked opposite the Stork. Alternative parking is available, perhaps at a price in Glasson, but also at various spots along the route, such as Bank Houses.

I set off with a group of four, the only people I saw during this walk, but they left my route before I crossed the coast path footbridge and headed towards Glasson beside the Lune estuary.

Glasson Dock was a quiet spot today despite the presence of a pub, tearoom and ice cream/snacks stall.

A convenient bench allowed me to pause to break into my own flask and snacks, in front of coots bobbing in the marina.

Tithe Barn Hill, just beyond Glasson, is a recognised viewpoint, with benches and topo plates. The lovely spell of weather was accompanied by hazy conditions, so I couldn't see much further than the Victoria Abbey Lighthouse, though I did try to get some photos.

A bridleway lined with lesser celandine and daffodils led me to the coast by Crook Farm. 

At the start of the bridleway I picked up the signs for Norman Thomas's 'Breath of Fresh Air' walk - an excellent outing, recorded here.

The walk beside the estuary slowly drew me closer to the lighthouse. Mark tells his readers that the elegant octagonal stone structure originally formed the lower of a pair of lights indicating the entry to the main shipping channel up the Lune estuary. Apparently the taller light was decommissioned in the 1980s, but this light on Plover Scar remains active despite being damaged by an errant ship in 2016.

A view to the Dales from Cockersand Abbey on a hazy day

The site of Cockersand Abbey was soon reached. There's little left of the 12th century Abbey and hospital, apart from a meticulously preserved vaulted chapter house.

Joined now by a variety of sea and estuary birds - vociferous among which were oyster catchers and plovers - I made my way past more of the caravan parks that litter this area, to Bank End Farm, where a comfortable bench provided a fine venue for another break, in front of bobbing wagtails.

Mark describes his route as 'down the farm lane', but that had some deep puddles and the stroll along the embankment for a kilometre was an easier and more scenic option.

Another bridleway took me to the right of Thursland Hill Farm, where riff raff are discouraged and a vague path through boggy ground next to a field occupied by swans, led eventually to the main A588 Road.

Crossing the road to walk down the driveway of Thurnham Hall, I admired more daffodils and headed around the front of the hall to a car park from which a metal kissing gate broadcast my route.

I went wrong here, by keeping to the right and finishing up at a canal bridge by a lock, where I joined the towpath.

I should have left the car park and followed a wide green lane up a hill to another metal kissing gate, from where a stroll across the field would have seen me at the next canal bridge, number 5, from where the towpath can be joined via a steep path to the left or a gentle route to the right.

A hotel, The Mill at Conder Green, was soon reached, from where it was an easy walk back to the car and thence to a hydrated, but not chemo'd daughter in Preston.

I covered about 15km, with very little ascent, in about 3.5 hours, including some decent breaks.

A Postcard

                       1 April - Dog walking in Bacup

2 April - Park running in Burnley, with Jacob, Sebastian and Louise

Wildlife photos exhibited outside Towneley Hall

3 April - Sunday morning's junior parkrun at Burnley

3 April - More dog walking in Bacup (three times a day)

4 April - Woodland in Preston, during a damp 11 km stroll from the hospital whilst Kate endured her fifth and final chemotherapy session

Outside the hospital - somebody in too much of a hurry!

Sunday 20 March 2022 - Cicerone Lancashire Walk 32: Sunnyhurst Wood and Darwen's Jubilee Tower

This was our first walk from Mark Sutcliffe's Cicerone guide to 40 walks in Lancashire.

Sue joined me on a sunny day, for the walk that starts by Sunnyhurst Wood, near Darwen. A new gravel path (pictured above) led down to a large construction known as the Greenway shelter. This was apparently a gift from Charles Spencer Greenway in 1912.

The wood is clearly being improved as an amenity for walking, and for cycling for children (strictly no adults), but the fishpond awaits attention.

The path chosen by Mark - there are many alternative routes both through the wood and up to the tower - exits by the corner of Earnsdale Reservoir by a ‘no adult cyclists’ sign, then ascends with improving views across the reservoir to Darwen Tower.

A bridleway soon took us past the chatter of chaffinches and down to Roddlesworth Reservoir and the crossings of various feeder streams.

The route of the ‘Witton Weavers’ Way’ walking route was joined for the last few metres to the ruins of Hollinshead Hall. A tawny owl was vocal nearby, and grey wagtails flitted in the streams. The hall was built by John Hollinshead in 1776 on the site of a substantial farmhouse. In the early 1900s the Well House, in front of which I am pictured, was restored by the Liverpool Waterworks Corporation when they built the nearby reservoirs.

The rest of the hall was not restored!

The sun continued to shine as we climbed through the trees to reach the edge of Darwen Moor.

We started to meet a few other walkers as we ascended the track that wends it’s way gently up Darwen Hill towards the tower. Someone has carved a ‘this way’ sign into a substantial chunk of rock.

There were good views back to the reservoirs, but the current dry spell has brought with it hazy conditions, limiting the views towards the Ribble estuary, the Lancashire coast, and the ‘Three Peaks’ area of Yorkshire.

Darwen Tower does not look its best at present, covered in scaffolding and cladding. Perhaps it’s being renovated in preparation for imminent ‘Jubilee’ celebrations. I have a ‘fireworks’ premonition!

According to Mark, the tower was built not only to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, but also to mark the victory of the townsfolk of Darwen in the right of access to the moors. Local workers skirmished with gamekeepers over access to the moor, which was eventually granted in 1896, around sixty years before the mass trespass on Kinder.

An easy, if steep, descent brought us out at the Sunnyhurst pub. It would have been nice to have sat outside with a beer for a while, but the tables were full, the sun not quite right, and I was self-isolating.

Mark’s route enters the wood directly from the car park, but on returning via the pub, the proper entrance to the woodland through an impressive lychgate is passed. You almost expect to find a church, but this really is the entrance to a wood!

Here’s our route - anti-clockwise from the purple blob - about 9.5km with 300 metres ascent, taking around three hours at a leisurely pace.

From this walk, we went to see my daughter and her children in Bacup. Sue went home later and I stayed to provide support and transport for Kate to and from Preston hospital, where she is having a six week course of chemoradiotherapy. I’ve been here in Bacup more or less ever since because Sue has gone down with Covid. I’m not afraid of catching it, but we certainly don’t want to give it to Kate. I’ve managed this posting, but there’s not much more of interest to write about, and any pictures have been downloaded to a PC that I can’t currently access. I’ve done a couple more of Mark’s walks, but I’m leaving it until I get home at the end of next week to report on them. Meanwhile, we are thankfully Covid free, and Kate is coping well (‘better than expected’) with the gruelling treatment.