WALK LEADER - Neil Harwood
NUMBER ON WALK – 16
DISTANCE – 13 miles
WEATHER – Cold and overcast but without rain!

I think most of us were amazed that when we arrived at the Ball Grove Nature Reserve/Country Park near Colne (the start of the walk) the sun was actually shining after torrential rain earlier in the morning! Unfortunately, the sun disappeared shortly afterwards but, whilst it was cloudy all day, it did not rain once.

I had promised ancient antiquities, which were the Iron Age Hillfort of Castercliff and the Walton Monument both just outside Colne and in the direction of Boulsworth Hill. The former dates back to around 750BC and whilst there is little left of it, an aerial photographs of the site clearly reveals the outline of the walls.

My problem had been the route from the start at Ball Grove to Castercliff and I had eventually settled upon a walk down the river, Colne Water, including a section through the outskirts of the town, with its remains of mills, industrial units and terraced houses, which was not the prettiest! There then followed some little used paths, muddy in parts so I was beginning to regret the route but hopefully the views once we got there showed why our ancestors had chosen the site, with its commanding view across the Calder valley and with Pendle Hill in the distance.

Then we had short road section which took us past Walton’s Spire/Monument, which dates from 1835. Unfortunately, there is no right of way to access the structure but that did not stop me giving its history including the fact that the lower part of the 27ft high monument is actually a menhir/stone from the Dark Ages (937AD), which the Reverend Walton used to place his carved spire upon.

Onward then to the Coldwell Activity Centre, which had given us permission to lunch there giving us ample seating and some shelter on a cold damp day. After lunch we followed the Pendle Way past the Coldwell Reservoirs and then on to the Pennine Bridleway in a north easterly direction along the base of Boulsworth Hill, with its summit called Lad Lowe. At 517m it is one of only seven peaks in Lancashire above 500m.

Eventually, we turned NW and started to head down towards the pretty village of Wycollar, but with a diversion up to the “Atom”, which sits above the village on the valley side. This is one of four works of art in the landscape within East Lancashire called Panopticans. It does indeed live up to the dictionary definition of a Panoptican with its comprehensive and panoramic view west towards Pendle Hill.

The final part of the walk continued along Wycollar Beck and then picks up a pretty section of Colne Water on the outskirts of Laneshaw Bridge back to the car park.

More photos courtesy of Doreen can be found - Here