Hoddlesden 26-07-2026 Leader Roy

9 of us met in the rather lovely village of Hoddlesden opposite a row of rather unusual looking houses and in front of the Ranken Arms. The first question was why was the pub so called….after the man who inherited the Hoddlesden estate which led me very much down a rabbit hole of what was the estate in question. There’s an interesting gazetteer that some may be interested in but it fails to mention Hoddlesden Hall despite having it marked on the map. Anyway, the hall was built for Ranken in 1861 to replace the Hall originally on the site of what’s now the pub.  Ranken sold the hall in 1895 to a JP whose family had it for 100 years or so.  Sadly we didn’t see the hall – something to go back to Hoddlesden for- but your intrepid reporter did go and take a picture of a wonderful coat of arms the inscription on which means “Nip it in the bud” (or words to that effect).

 

Enough waffle – we set off, in the rain, one of us clearly doubtful about which way he should be going, as indeed our leader was as I met the group coming back towards me after my trip to the coat of arms.  We wandered down an odd back street, to a cemetery and thence into the wilds of Hoddlesden past the reservoir. Roy had informed us that there had been paper mills and clay making and, indeed, an old railway line in the area and he also said there was an information board about it behind the pub (we didn’t see it on our route).

Roy had promised us Shorrock Fold, Bank Fold, and Pot House – all of which he delivered. BBC weather had promised us light rain with some sun peeping out from clouds – and that certainly wasn’t what was delivered. We got excited when it stopped raining, which was never for very long, and Roy’s planned lunch stop with extensive views was changed to under a tree at an industrial estate close to New Waterside Paper Mill (surprisingly the replacement for the old Waterside Paper Mill). But we were wet.  If that was light rain…..!  Unfortunately, all this ‘light’ rain and the rain yesterday had made for very slippery stiles, many of which were in poor state of repair, so by the end of the walk which was somewhat shorter than advertised, we felt we’d done a Krypton Factor type assault course.

We were pleased to see the pub! 

A shame about the weather, but nevertheless a good walk with the usual great company.

Roy said there was only one thing missing……yes, you’ve guessed right!

 

Write up: Gill 

Photos: Malcolm – lovely photos despite the weather and the vagaries of that red camera!

 

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