LDWA LANCASHIRE WAY EASTERN LOOP DAY 1

Thu 21st Apr 2022

Walk Details:

Event Type
Group Walk
Region
Northern England
Local Group
West Lancashire
Distance
17ml.
Start Time
09.30
Route
(Thursday 21 April 2022 LANCASHIRE WAY EASTERN LOOP DAY 1
DAY 1 – Stages 1 and 2 and the first part of Stage 3 of the Eastern Loop - Burnley (GR 836 321) to Foulridge (GR 888 423).
17 miles – 7 hours walking – 1,593ft ascent. A relatively easy walk with no major climbs.
The route exits Burnley via the Weavers Triangle and on to Gawthorpe Hall and Padiham. It then picks up the Pendle Way to Higham and then Newchurch in Pendle. From here it departs from the Pendle Way and heads to Barrowford via Clarion House and Roughlee. We will then walk from Barrowford to Foulridge taking in part of the Leeds Liverpool canal with its Tunnel and Reservoirs, on the first part of Stage 3.
Meet in Burnley at the Burnley Manchester Road Railway station in the car park (GR 836 321) at 9.30am. Post Code BB11 4HU. Street parking is available nearby on Spring Hill Road and Piccadilly Road. Return to Burnley directly by bus. At 17.03 there is a “Wizz” service that takes just over 30 minutes. Failing that there is the M5 bus service, which is every 30 minutes and takes about an hour. Both can be caught on the A56 in Foulridge at the Causeway Bus stop.)
Start and Finish

Entry Details:

Cost

Walk Report

Walk Leader - Neil Harwood
Number on walk - 4
Distance - 16 miles
Weather - a chilly Easterly breeze especially in the morning but sunshine all day
The Eastern Loop of the Lancashire way begins and ends in Burnley - the capital of East Lancashire? From the Manchester Road railway station, we quickly pick up the Leeds Liverpool canal. Whilst not always pretty it has great industrial heritage, known as the Weavers Triangle with remains of the Wharfe, Toll House and various mills. The 0.5km long Gannow tunnel briefly interrupts our progress along the canal and then it's a quick walk through a residential part of the outskirts of Burnley.
We then turn off the Padiham road and we are into the country, well the grounds of the estate of Gawthorpe Hall, which is our first short stop. It is a beautiful building set by the River Calder and probably one of the best historical houses in Lancashire. The route then picks up the Burnley Way following the Calder upstream and then its on to the Pendle Way with a short climb up to the village of Higham. There are great views on the way and the lovely village of Higham is the perfect stop for a quick drinks break.
We continue to follow the Pendle Way as far as Newchurch and the grounds of St Mary's church with its “Nutters” grave is the perfect spot for lunch in the sun. The next stop is Clarion House, the only remaining Independent Labour house in the country dating back to 1912. No time sit on the many new benches to take in the view and it is only open on Sundays these days. From here its through the very pretty village of Roughlee stopping to look at the relatively new Alice Nutter statue complete with daffodils in her chained hands. Over the stepping stones and on to Barrowford making sure we took in the views back to Pendle and north to Blacko Tower.
From the Heritage Centre in Barrowford we make a quick detour to cross the Higherford packhorse bridge that dates from the 16th Century and then it back on the canal at the Barrowford locks - not more canals I hear you think! But this is short lived walk as the towpath ends at the entrance of the Foulridge tunnel and we are forced to go “over land”. But this gives us the excuse of taking in the picturesque Lower Foulridge reservoir, which provides the canal with it's high demand for water. Then into Foulridge itself but no chance to look around as it is straight to the bus stop just in time to catch the 15.19 fast “Wizz” bus back to Burnley. So we are back before 4pm - a quick 7.5 hour round trip and a 16 mile walk with lots of interest and perfect weather too.

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Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2016.
© OpenStreetMap contributors under Open Database Licence
Rights of way data from selected Local Authorities
Large scale digital mapping is provided by John Thorn
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Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2016.
© OpenStreetMap contributors under Open Database Licence.
Rights of way data from selected Local Authorities.
Large scale digital mapping is provided by John Thorn.