A Walk at Wycoller

Another sunny day and another walk with the family.

This walk was shorter than the walk we did the day before due to another family member joining who can only manage shorter walks these days.

We parked near The Atom Panopticon...

and set off across fields

 I love seeing the old vaccary walls here....

Pendle Hill in the distance...

These Be Nice Say Hi campaign sings are appearing - they're in the Peak District and the Yorkshire Dales. A collaboration between cycling and horsey societies to encourage safe passing of horses.

Deep Clough Beck

I was surprise to see new hawthorn leaves in February. It has been so mild though.

The remains of Wycoller Hall alongside Wycoller Beck...

The hall is thought to be the inspiration for Ferndean Manor in Jane Eyre.

There are 7 bridges along the beck. The oldest is thought to be 1000 years old, the clam bridge. I've never seen that one though. This was only my second visit to Wycoller and both times have been with the family who have chosen the route. One day I'm going to revisit and see all 7 bridges.

In Wycoller village itself you'll see the old packhorse bridge (below) and Clapper Bridge (above). I believe the packhorse bridge featured in a film version of The Railway Children and dates from the 15th century. Clapper Bridge is more recent dating from the late 18th or early 19th century.

After a look in the cruck barn / museum, we headed up hill back towards the car park.

A very enjoyable walk, but a bit short for my liking as this was not even 4 miles!

52 Weeks Wild #1

I've made a spur of the moment decision today to attempt weekly (at least!) wild time and aim to keep up these weekly posts for the whole year. The first week of 2017 has passed so here's a little round-up of my time outdoors this week.

New Years Day saw me out, with family who live in Lancashire, for a walk on Pendleton Moor and around Churn Clough Reservoir. It was so cold and windy. Don't be fooled by the blue sky - it was a real, bone chilling wind, unpleasantly cold, but still good to be outdoors.

There was snow on top of Ingleborough and Pen-y-Ghent that morning. These photos were taken later in the afternoon though, when it had melted.

Back to school this week and with the dark evenings, it hasn't been easy to make time to be outdoors but here are few wild moments from my week...

Sunshine and Frost on Monday and Tuesday

After a long day at school on Wednesday, I spent a few minutes in the garden whilst the kettle boiled when I got home and took a photo of the waxing crescent moon.

Friday was damp and gloomy but wintry trees still look good.

Saturday was grey and rainy too.

Did you spent any time outdoors during the past week?

Wild October : Day 24

I left the house around 11am today (after packing and cleaning!) to drive to Kielder Water for a few days so between then and 8pm, I was mostly driving but I had decided to take the M6 / east side route up and call at RSPB Leighton Moss on the way - it's a reserve I've not yet visited but have wanted to for some time.

I arrived at about  1:40pm but spent an hour in the cafe where I enjoyed Mediterranean vegetable pasta and some St Clement's cake. I didn't have a great deal of time to linger here but I did walk down to one of the hides, spotting various birds along the way (no bearded tits though sadly!)

In the garden area just outside the visitor centre, I liked these tiles that decorate the walls...

Before I left, I climbed the 'Sky Tower' which looks out across the reed bed and over towards Morecambe Bay. From up there, I zoomed in on an egret and caught it eating a fish.

Definitely a reserve worth the trip for a return visit at some point as I'm sure there's a lot more to see than I saw in my hour or so between lunch and heading on.