Walk Leader:             Doreen

Number on walk:        15

Disatnce:                   19 miles

Weather:                   Warm and sunny

The Heart of Bowland walk is an old anytime challenge walk devised by Dave Connelly a former member of our group. We left Slaidburn and soon started climbing the steep Back Lane before turning to Burnside Cottage to begin the ascent up to Dunsop Head, normally quite boggy, but today was reasonably dry. Leaving here we dropped down to Whitendale farm where we had our coffee stop.

Turning north now, we walked up the lonely Whitendale valley on a sometimes quite narrow, sometimes quite wet, path and, after crossing Higher Stony Clough and Brim Clough, had a steady pull up to reach the Salter Fell track which we then followed for 1¾ miles to Black Brook Bridge and our stop for lunch.

Shortly after leaving this we left the track and took the path, at times quite indistinct and boggy, eventually reaching the footbridge and continuing to Croasdale House where we turned left uphill through fields to arrive at the Tatham Fell road which links Slaidburn with High Bentham. We walked along this quiet road for just over a mile before turning right passing Kenibus and the ruined New House to eventually reach a path leading through the Gisburn Forest to a welcome picnic spot where we stopped for our afternoon refreshments.

The last 4miles continued through the forest to St. James church where we then took the track over Rushton Hill and Ten Acre Hill before descending to pass the 17^th century Hammerton Hall and across fields back to our cars. The weather had been very kind to us and the views all day were superlative.

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