Barrowford byways 15-03-2026 Leader Gill

Beware the Ides of March!

Not only was this Mothering Sunday, it was also mid March and obviously we had to be careful.

11 of us met up at Victoria Park, Nelson, a park previously unknown to several (most?) people, parking carefully on Park Road. The forecast for the day wasn’t great but hey ho! Fingers crossed.

After the start photo in the bandstand (How do you make a band stand? Take all the chairs away.) we set off towards Pendle Water, a river we were to follow for some few hundred yards before heading up towards the back of a construction site for a very large housing estate. We hadn’t got very far when we had our first omen – Sheila hadn’t got her phone with her. She went back to her car. And then there were 10.

After gaining the top of the housing estate, I rang Sheila, who answered. Phew!

We were now on the land which had been described as “a peat covered and rain sodden wilderness”. Definitely rain sodden, but no longer a wilderness as we headed towards some rather lovely characterful houses (as opposed to those currently being built). Firmly in Old Laund Booth, there were footpath signs and house names making sure we knew where we were. This was the Kings hunting ground in the Middle Ages, and the names reflected this.

We turned into Carr Road and headed away from the bypass, passing Waterloo House and Lime House. This is a link to the lime trees that were planted to line the road after the Battle of Waterloo. There is some anecdotal evidence to suggest these are ‘soldier’ trees and each one represented a regiment. We turned off below Carr Laund, crossed a footbridge, and headed towards our first cemetery which is at the last remaining Inghamite Church in the country.

Walking parallel to the main road through Wheatley Lane, we encountered our second ‘cemetery’ – that of cars, tractors and a settee. I really don’t get farmers who do this! Anyway, we didn’t linger as the threatening rain decided to pour for a bit.

After safely negotiating the A6068, we crossed another soggy field and negotiated two footbridges in very close succession before our main short up. Unfortunately, it was still raining so my planned lunch stop, on benches with a lovely view, wasn’t to be had. Jean belatedly decided to put her waterproof trousers on.

Passing Raven’s Clough, I decided we wouldn’t go via Old Laund Hall and we just turned right towards Quaker Bridge. The Gods were with us. The rain stopped fleetingly, there was a fallen tree and a wall, and we took our chance on lunch. This will be a beautiful spot in a few weeks. Banks full of bluebells, and garlic ready to pick now.

We were back to the river now – surprisingly wide for a ‘water’ – and Quaker Bridge is substantial. It was raining again as we crossed it and we turned back on ourselves on the other side of Pendle Water with Lomeshaye Industrial Estate on our right. We were happy with the Greenway though – yes, a lot of traffic noise from the motorway close by, but lambs were seen and the good footpath surface was a pleasure after our boggy ground. It doesn’t sound enticing, does it? Walking through an Industrial Estate? What’s Gill doing? But it is pleasant by the river, and again in a few weeks, the chestnut trees which line it, along with a visit to the Nature Reserve will be a delight.

Joe and I put up a snipe, Anita and Malcolm spied a deer, we heard a buzzard and curlews (or were they lapwings), so despite the weather, it was a good day.

As always, a walk with friends and it was a pleasure to meet two new ones (Maria, who has walked with the group before, and Anita) and we hope they’ll have many more walks with us.

It was 5.5 miles – enough in the rain, and all 10 of us were back at the cars just after 1 pm, albeit a little wet.

Thank you to Judy, who walked further than the rest of us, for taking photos and putting them on Flickr for me.

Slideshow below but if you wish to see a static view of the pics all in one go, please click here