Ribchester, Oct 22nd


Walk Leader:      Andy 

Number on walk: 21

Distance:             10 miles

Weather:           The weather was fine but quite chilly but held the promise of an excellent day’s walking.

 

The meeting place was Ribchester main car park and initially there were 22 walkers but due to a senior moment we had 21 starters. 

Ribchester is best known as a Roman settlement built on the roman road from Manchester to Hadrians Wall but the surrounding area is a treasure trove of interesting historical sites and listed below are some of the interesting sites that we visited on the walk.

St Wilfreds 13th Century Church built on the site of a pre Norman church; Roman Museum; Roman Baths; Greengore Grade 11 listed 15th century hunting lodge of the Stonyhurst estate, it is reputed that Henry V11 dined there; Stydd Chapel      Norman Chapel that at one time was a hospital that was managed by the Knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem; Almhouses built by the Shireburnes in 1726, the entrance pillars are supposed to have been brought from the old Roman Fort; White Bull, the Columns that act as the porch where taken from the original Bremetennacum Fort and Carved Column telling the story of Ribchesters development from pre-Roman times to the present day.

The route of the walk initially followed the Ribble way eastwards until we reached Trough House where we caught a glimpse of the replacement bridge, then it was north through Hurst Green to the little bridge in Mill Wood for our lunch. After lunch we carried on through the wood, passing Greengore before turning south and heading down through Hud Lee wood, then walking through a series of rather water logged and cattle rutted fields we made our way back towards Ribchester passing Stydd Manor and Stydd Chapel, past the Alm Houses and back into Ribchester itself, enroute back to the car park we passed the White Bull and finally the Ribchester Millennium Sculpture Garden.

The score on the door was just under 10miles but I’m sure most felt that we’d walked further due the water logged and cattle rutted fields, that said, everyone seemed to have enjoyed the walk.

Happy walking

Andy Webster                  

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