n
n
nn
n
n This post is much shorter than I expected it would be, duento adverse weather conditions …
n
n
n
n At a suggestion made by my sisternSusan, the pair of us had a walk up to the summit of Pendle Hill today. We hadna good start, in reasonable conditions, and made fair progress. We began atnBarley and walked up from the public car park, past the Pendle Inn and northnthrough the village, turning left onto Pendle Way just before the road bridgenthat goes over the brook. The path is easy walking and well paved, passing overna couple of foot-bridges and through several stiles, past Ing Ends, Ing HeadnFarm, Brown House and Pendle House, before coming to the foot of Pendle itself.nThe climb, although reasonably well paved, is quite steep from here to the topn– you really should wear walking boots if you’re planning a visit, as it’s easynto turn an ankle on the loose stones or wet grass.
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nOnce upon a time, I handlednthis ascent in my stride, but old age and riotous living are starting to takentheir toll and I had to stop at least twice to get my breath back. When we gotnto the trig point on the top, a brisk wind was blowing almost as much as myselfnand by the time we’d finished our soup and butties, this had developed into anmoderate hurricane. Now, a stiff breeze is great for blowing away the cobwebsnbut there are winds and there are winds, and when you have to turn your backninto it and crouch to take a breath, it’s probably just a wee bit too bracingnfor the discerning rambler. We sheltered behind a convenient wall and I managednto take a few photos but nowhere near as many as I’d planned – even though I’dnlugged camera, lenses and tripod up the next best thing to a mountain.
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nAnd thennthe rain started, just an odd spot to begin with, until it got its act togethernand built itself up into a respectably medium monsoon. Discretion proving to benthe better part of valour, and after getting blown over (nothing that arnicancream and time won’t repair…), we decided by a majority vote that it might benbest to come back down again, so down we came, slowly and wetly.
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nThe Cabin innthe car park does a grand cup of hot chocolate and then we set off to look fornsome crinoid fossils in a nearby disused quarry (well, someone has to) but thenrain had most definitely taken off its shoes, popped on its slippers, andnsettled in for the rest of the day by now. You know that when entire branchesnstart to be ripped off the trees around you and the precipitation has given upnon the whole concept of mere drops and decided that an uninterrupted torrent ofndescending water is going to be the way forward from now on, then maybe it isnbest to knock the whole thing on the head, go home and try again when the rainngods are away on their holidays.
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nOn the plus side, I’ve beennplaying with the panorama option on the camera and stitched three shotsntogether to produce this. Considering the conditions, it could have been worse,nespecially for a first attempt.
n
n
n
n
