West Pennine Moors (Day 1)

West Pennine Moors

Despite an early start, by the time John Lenehan & I had collected more framed photographs for his latest exhibition at 'Botany Bay', plus the time taken to hang them and eat a Full English Breakfast, it was too late to hit the motorway and head north for one of our adventures in the Lake District. So while washing down Egg, Bacon, Sausage, Hash Browns, Black Pudding, etc. with copious amounts of coffee we sensibly decided on a much more sedate local walk. 

Through years of fell running John & I both know the West Pennine Moors well , so it didn't take us long to decide on a location and a route, sort of! Even when we go to 'The Lakes' nothing is set in stone and we never decide where we are going until we have eaten 'bacon butties' at one of the roadside caravans, which we also know very well. It has been said 'that man doesn't think or march on an empty stomach' and it is important to have the right amount of carbs & protein on-board or is it simply an excuse to over indulge? 

So we parked up at Yarrow Reservoir and started to walk up through Lead Mines Clough towards Spitlers Edge. Lead was discovered here in the 1600's and the definition of the word 'clough' can mean 'a sluice used for draining water after it has deposited its sediment' a method often used to extract lead, or it also means 'a ravine or a narrow valley', either of these definitions seem to fit here. 

Before the final ascent to Spitlers Edge we noticed a guy assembling what looked like a hanglider or paraglider just off Rivington Road so we diverted in order to take a look but before we arrived he had taken off. 

John photographing the Paramotor...                                                         and my image of the Paramotor in flight.

It turned out to be a para-motor this is were the pilot suspended from
the para-wing, sits in a harness that includes an engine and a propeller. 

You can only imagine what it must feel like

This diversion meant we missed Spitlers Edge so we crossed over the moor towards the old track known as Belmont Road giving us one last opportunity to photograph the paramotor heading towards Winter Hill TV mast, he was obviously searching for thermals to gain height.  

Please mind the mast

One of the things I enjoy about the West Pennine Moors is that it is a great outdoor recreational area and on any day you will see mountain bikers, cyclists, runners, walkers, horse riders, rock climbers, yachtsmen as well as hangliders, but at the same time solitude can also easily be found. 

The West Pennine Moors covering 90 sq. miles and surrounded by towns from 'the old industrial north' provides a 'wild space' and an adventure playground for many. However it must always be treated with respect, in winter and sometimes in summer it can be bleak, inhospitable and a lonely place that can feel far from any form of civilisation. Conditions in winter can be similar to the Cairngorms with sub-zero temperatures, snow, wind, and poor visibility. 

Back to the walk, at this time of year the sun never seems to shine on the Belmont Road track and following this years near constant rain and recent freezing temperatures, on this day it was covered in sheet ice.  We made our way precariously toward Rivington and one of Lord Leverhulme's follies 'Dovecote Tower' or 'Pigeon Tower' as it is more commonly known . Apparently the first two floors were home to ornamental doves and pigeons and at the top there was a small sitting room that was used by Lady Lever as a sewing and music room that overlooked the boating lake.

Pigeon Tower - high on the moor and silhouetted in the afternoon sunshine.

Lord Leverhulme was the founder of the soap empire Unilever, and his estate at Rivington included terraced Italian and Japanese gardens, waterfalls, bridges, towers and even a castle. 

We dropped straight down from Pigeon Tower to Rivington Hall Barn and across Rivington's Village Green cutting through to follow up the west side of Yarrow Reservoir where we were treated to some beautiful reflections in the water.

Across Yarrow Reservoir to Winter Hill TV Mast

But where ever you go there is always another photographer trying to muscle in on the action....

John Lenehan - Enjoying his photography and the great outdoors.

Unfortunately at this time of year the days are short and by
mid-afternoon the sun was low and it was time to head out of the
hills and into the direction of home. We had a grand day, a full
English Breakfast, rare winter sunshine, that actually gave us both
a tan and the expectation of some great photographs to look at later.

West Pennine Moors (Day 2)

West Pennine Moors (Day 2)

High pressure held and I was fortunate enough to get a second consecutive day out on the moors, this year there has not been been many consecutive days of sunshine! The forecast was for early morning fog to clear however I woke to clear blue skies and sunshine and after a hasty breakfast set off for Holcombe Moor. It soon became apparent crossing over the moor toward Edgworth that the fog was lying over Bolton & Manchester but as I was only going as far as Crowthorn it didn't matter to me.

Winter Hill TV mast, a feature of yesterdays walk was clear but the fog was just reaching out over Wayoh Reservoir, you can however still pick out the railway viaduct between Entwistle & Wayoh Reservoirs. (It is just to the left of the large electricity pylon direct beneath the TV mast.) 

Armsgrove Viaduct was built in 1847-48 by the 'Blackburn, Darwen and Bolton Railway Company' to bridge what was then Bradshaw Brook but after the creation of Wayoh Reservoir by Bolton in 1876 it then crossed a spur of  the reservoir. There are nine towering arches constructed from 3 ton blocks of stone supporting the viaduct. The stone was brought from Stanworth Delph at Withnell along 7 miles of mainly impassable roads. During construction, in an effort to speed up progress, the stonemasons were offered an unprecedented rate of six shillings and six pence (about 32½ p) per day.

The view over Affetside towards Bolton however showed the full extent of the mist. I followed the track that contours Holcombe Moor (Crowthorn Rd. that eventually becomes Moorbottom Rd.) and just above Red Brook came across these icy images.

The brook had been splashing the surrounding vegetation and the water had frozen on the stems.

Leaving the track I took a path that climbs diagonally up the moor in the direction of Peel Tower.

Peel Tower with the mist in the valleys

Peel Tower commemorates Sir Robert Peel, Prime Minister of Britain between 1841 and 1846, founder of the modern Police Force they were once named 'Peelers' and are still referred to as 'Bobbys'.  

I carried on to the edge to find a viewpoint and somewhere to stop and eat my sandwich.

Holcombe Brook in the mist.

With views like these and a good sandwich I could have stayed all afternoon.

View in the direction of Tottington and Affetside

It was time to decide which way to go back, originally I had intended to return along the track (Moorbottom Rd.) but it was a beautiful day so the options were to either go over Harcles Hill, Pilgrims Cross & Bull Hill or drop down into Holcombe and return up the east side of the moor to Buckden Wood and then cross over Bull Hill to Crowthorn, in the sunshine I decided to go via Holcombe.

Emmanual Church - Holcombe

I took the main track down from Top o' th' Moor into Holcombe village and immediately followed the track known as Moor Rd. back onto the moor.

Moor Rd. - Holcombe

Time was getting on and with the short days I needed to press on, 
it was approx 1.1/4 miles along the track to Buckden Wood where I could cross back over the moor but not before stopping to take this photo overlooking Harcles Hill Farm. 

Harcles Farm with very distinctive aircraft contrails.

The sun was getting low and although I had torches etc. I knew that the moor over Bull Hill was desolate with no distinct tracks. From Buckden Wood I cut straight across the moor toward the trig. point skirting the Military Firing Range and hoping not to come across any discarded live ammunition.
  

The setting sun from Bull Hill Triangulation Point

From the trig. point I decided, as it was going dark, I would follow the firing range boundary posts across the moor and down onto the track (Crowthorn Rd.) I had started on. This would bring me nearly a mile further south than I wanted to be but following posts seemed a safer option than trying to follow the indistinct path across the moor to the maggot farm  at Crowthorn. I remember the maggot farm (is it still there?) from 'The Three Towers Fell Race' and one year having to run on a compass bearing from the farm because of the mist and I also remember that if it is still farming maggots you could probably find it by following the stench!

Evening light over Turton, Entwistle and Winter Hill.

I crossed the icy boggy moor quickly following the posts and arrived on the 'right' side in time to get another shot over Winter Hill, (similar to my first photo) In the mist this time you can see St Anne's Church at Chapeltown with it's distinctive tall spire. But the final shot was inspired purely by the colour of the setting sun.

Red Sheep in the Sunset

Apart from some people in the distance at Peel Tower I had not seen anybody to talk to all day, I wished the sheep Good Night and finished my second walk on the West Pennine Moors in two days.

Sunshine on Fleetwood

A Cold Winters Day in Fleetwood 

We arrived in Fleetwood by car and parked opposite The North Euston Hotel, back in the 1840's you would have arrived at this grand hotel by train. However it was the warmth of the red brick wall bathed in the winter sunshine at the end of the hotel that caught my photographic eye and not the grandeur of the front elevation which was in shadow.

The abrupt brick wall on the end of the rather grand North Euston Hotel

The hotel was built by Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood who had founded Fleetwood, he saw the boom in the railways as  pivotal to Fleetwood both as a holiday resort for the mill workers and as a transport link to Scotland. With no railway through the Lake District to Scotland, Londoners, would embark at Euston (hence the name of the hotel) travel by train to Fleetwood, stay overnight, then continue their journey via sea ferry to Ardrossan and then on to Glasgow. 

However his dream was short lived, by the 1850's a rail link through The Lakes to Scotland had been completed. The cost of establishing Fleetwood, it's port and railway brought Sir Peter close to bankruptcy by the time of his death in 1866.

An Old Converted Gas Lamp

An old gas lamp fitted with a modern low energy light bulb just outside the hotel was the next thing that caught my eye. 

I wondered which would give off the most light once it had gone dark, '20th Century versus 21st Century technology', but I knew which would have been the most atmospheric. 










It was this juxtaposition of old and new technology that made me look at the next shot, could Fleetwood's Nautical College 'state of the art' radar station have been squashed any closer to the old fashioned Ice Cream Beach Kiosk?

The vibrant colours of the kiosk in the winter sun got me clicking again.

After buying Barbara 'two' windmills (I know how to spoil a woman) we talked to the owner Craig, I showed him the photos I had just taken, proud that I had managed to capture the colours so well, he was impressed and asked me if I would mind taking one of him as well and let him have some copies for his website. 

Craig - At Your Service

I was generally pleased with the photo of Craig, even if he did have a lifeboat sailing up his arm, it was after all a hastily snapped shot in between customers buying ice cream!!!! On a bitterly cold winters day, nobody does seaside like the British. Stoicism! It definitely was more of a 'Fisherman's Friends' sort of a day and Craig has an international customer base for these famously strong lozenges,  manufactured in Fleetwood since 1865. 
Follow this link Fleetwood Beach Kiosk to view my photos again! or buy some Fisherman's Friends.

Image Courtesy of English Heritage

Craig explained where I could find other pictures of his kiosk on the internet and I came across this older one, see above, which was taken from a similar angle to mine, see below. Yet another contrast between the old and the new. Craig had done a good paint job.

While taking photographs and chatting time had moved on and so had the weather and storm clouds were bubbling up behind me.

As the clouds rolled in Barbara and I ran and took shelter in the car as the first big spots of rain started to hit the floor. It wasn't long before a rainbow appeared and despite the cold wind and rain you can't miss a photo opportunity. This is 'The Mount' as the rain shower passed over creating a rainbow.

The Mount

The Mount is a small hill overlooking the promenade with a pavilion on the top. The present pavilion was built in 1902 replacing the original Chinese pavilion on the Mount, known as Prophet or Temple View. However I couldn't ignore the dramatic lighting and heavy clouds over 'The Marine Hall'.

The Marine Hall dating back to the 1920's

Despite the fact that Fleetwood Beach is Northerly facing, the potential for a dramatic sunset from the beach drew me down there and before crossing the road I noticed two rings in the pavement just outside of The Mount Hotel. I can only surmise what they were used for but who knows?

The late afternoon light on the beach did not disappoint.

and I particularly liked the reflections of the clouds on the wet sands.

With a cold wind blowing and a forecast of frost for that evening it was bitterly cold on the beach but a couple of kite-surfers wanted to make the most of this opportunity.

Lets Go Surfing Now

Surfing Fleetwood

but my luckiest photo of the day was the next one which I just managed to catch on our way home, a low flying Spitfire with the moon reflecting on the cockpit and you can just about make out the pilot. 

Well it almost looks real in the twilight, it actually is a full sized model spitfire at Lytham St. Annes, just further down the coast from Fleetwood.

Of course there is a lot more to Fleetwood than the few photos I captured on a winters afternoon so I will definitely return.

Ambleside Sports

Ambleside Sports a Traditional Lakeland Event

'A Grand Day Out in the Lakes'

www.amblesidesports.co.uk

For over 200 years spectators and competitors have enjoyed traditional Lakeland sports at Ambleside. The day consists of Cumberland & Westmorland Wrestling, Guide & Fell Races, Hounds Trails, Track Races & Track Cycling all supported with Local Trade Stands, a Craft Fair and a Brass Band and it always takes place on the last Thursday of July each year.

The one sport that is unique to The Lake District is Cumberland & Westmorland Wrestling.

Photo Courtesy of Ambleside Sports

The traditional costume consists of long johns and an embroidered vest with a velvet centre piece over the top. 

Photo Courtesy of Ambleside Sports

The starting 'backhold' position involves the wrestlers standing chest to chest while holding each other around the body, the umpire calls "en guard" then "wrestle". 

Photo Courtesy of Ambleside Sports

The wrestlers then attempt to unbalance their opponent and get them to fall by using lifting throws 'hipes', twisting throws 'buttocks' and trips 'inside click', 'cross click', 'back heel' or 'outside stroke'.  If both fall down at once the fall is disqualified this is known as a 'dog fall'. The first wrestler to achieve three falls of his or her opponent wins.

The next event on the agenda is cycling which has been integral to Ambleside Sports since 1892 and it has remained a track cycling event despite the popularity of mountain biking taking over at other sports events. 

It takes place round a 300m track with various distances for juniors and seniors, all the races are handicapped to keep the racing close.

The cycling peaks with the very exciting race 'The Devil Takes The Hindmost', at the end of a certain number of laps the last rider to cross the line is eliminated from the race. When just a few riders remain they sprint for the finish and the first past the post wins.

Unfortunately no awards for a 'hands free track stand'

I have always wanted to visit Ambleside Sports and of course enter in the Fell Race. "The Heart of the Lakes Rydal Round" is essentially a run around one of Lakeland's best known walks the 'Fairfield Horseshoe', you have to be a serious fell walker to even consider this route - never mind running it! 

It had 'poured-down' all the way up the M6 that morning and by the time we were passing Lancaster I was having serious doubts, did I really want to run 10 miles with 3,000ft of climbing in rain and fog? Surprising however no sooner had we turned off the M6 at Junction 36 than it stopped raining and although the cloud-base was well below 3,000ft my enthusiasm was building for the event. 

Photos Courtesy of Barbara

On arrival I signed on for the race, having paid for entry onto the sports field it is then free entry into the race. I had got changed in the luxury of our new camper-van.

I then I had a look round for some of my club-mates from Clayton-Le-Moors Harriers and soon found Richard and then some of the others.

Team Briefing!!!

The Start of 'The Heart of Ambleside Fell Race

After negotiating 10 miles and 3,000ft of climbing mostly in clag, (northern term for fog on the fells) and the infamous Bad Step or Bad Drop if you don't clamber over a wall to avoid it, I arrive on the looong track  back to the finishing field. When asking for a few tips/advice from an experienced fell runner friend John Lenehan about the race route all I he said was "the track at the end is a killer it just goes on & on" and it did.

The Looong Track (description on the Pete Bland Sports, Event Map).

Photo Courtesy of Barbara

I didn't win but at least I got back with clean feet!

Any athlete will tell you about the importance of  'post race nutrition' and Ambleside Sports catered very well for my needs at least.

Photo Courtesy of Barbara

Never has a sausage tasted so good. 

While taking care of my strict dietary requirements I got the opportunity to watch the children's races it certainly looked seriously competitive! and I was now getting into my new found spectator role... 

 but the best seats in the house were already taken for 'The Guides Fell Race'

The start of 'The Guides Fell Race'

The Guides Race - The Thin Line

The history of Guides Fell Racing goes back to the mid 1800's, they were named 'Guides' Races because the competitors were largely made up of local men who guided tourists up onto the local fells and mountains. These races flourished in the Lake District and The Yorkshire Dales. They were often held at local shows, fetes or existing sports meetings and featured short, steep, up & down courses. They also featured betting and cash prizes which led to them being classed as a professional sport and a deep rift developed in the sport of fell running between the amateur and professional organisations that carried on into the 1980's.

and of course the band played on

Photo Courtesy of Barbara

Now the racing was starting to get really serious 

Photo Courtesy of Ambleside Sports

and it was time for a little flutter..

Barbara and I sought expert advice on the subject and invested our £1 on 'the favourite outsider'

Then they were off in a blur 

Photo Courtesy of Ambleside Sports

Leaping over fences and walls and disappearing over the fells. To 
this day we never knew which dog our money was riding on but we were assured by the bookies that it didn't win!

Photo Courtesy of Barbara

and after a Grand Day Out at Ambleside Sports all the spectators and the competitors made their way home.