Cliviger gorge 29 December 2013

I met Cath and Brian on the main road between Todmorden and Burnley.

The walk is one that Cath is planning to put in her navigation walks book. We set off to go up Thieveley Pike which we did via a different route than the one I did in May. We traversed what seemed like a big quarry that was well overgrown, Brian took a high route and Cath and I crossed over and up the middle and Brian got there first so his route was probably a bit easier after the first steep part.

We reached the pike and the aim was to follow the Burnley Way, it seemed much harder than I expected and the path eventually dwindled away. Cath called a lunch break and it was then I found my back was really hurting so I took some painkillers. We also worked out what we had done and this enabled us to relocate the Burnley Way very quickly.

Then back down to the road and across to follow a path along the other side of the valley which got us back to the road so we only had to use that along the pavement for a short distance.

 

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Pendle Hill
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Stoodley Pike in the distance
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Grass patchwork
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New windmill going up on Todmorden Moor.

Please visit Map and Compass and learn how to interpret a map with me and my navigation partner, Cath.

Thieveley Pike 12th May 2013

This walk is in my new book Great Mountain Days in the Pennines. I like the title as I don’t really think of our local hills as mountains. More rain was forecast so I cut it back a bit before starting from the layby near Holme Chapel. I walked along the road a bit and passed an old ruined house called The Holme and then decided to do a short cut along a right of way with footpath across the fields. At the end of the field there was a very big timber operation going on with several tractors and saws. They seemed to be cutting up a huge tree of about a metre and a half in diameter. Although the official footpath went right through this lot, I sensibly decided to aim straight for the open gateway so as not to get in their way.

A hi viz man came towards me and suggested that as I was heading to the gate he would “let me off” for straying from the footpath. I said I was trying not to interfere with their wood cutting operations. What a bloody jobsworth. It was far more sensible to keep right away from the vehicles and chainsaws than to stick rigidly to the path and I had made a considered decision. I knew I wasn’t on access land and I knew where the path went but this seemed to be picky for no good reason.

Holme Hall, Holme Chapel
Holme Hall, Holme Chapel
Dean Scout
Dean Scout
Rocks on Dean Scout
Rocks on Dean Scout

So thoroughly disgruntled, I headed on up through Buckley Wood and Thieveley Wood. When I got to an open spot to eat my lunch, the rain really came on. I plodded on up to the top of Thieveley Pike. This is on access land and you can get to the beacon which is a little way from the trig point but it was so wet and cold and windy that I decided to cut short my walk and return back the same way to my lunch spot and then take a different tack to avoid the wood cutters. I went through Fish Pond Plantation and down to the fish pond itself, only passed one man who was chopping bits of wood in the plantation. Very quickly back at the car.

Please visit Map and Compass and learn how to interpret a map with me and my navigation partner, Cath.

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