Pendle Hill. An iconic landmark carved out by nature. Formed by glaciers almost 300 million years ago. Notorious for the legend of the devil leaving his footprint at the 'nic' and for the witch trials of 1612. History, legend and nature woven together to cast a magical spell, enjoyed by the inhabitants of its encircling hamlets and villages, and visitors, alike.
We have spent the last year or so climbing Pendle Hill, and visiting the villages around it's base, and decided this summer to plot a route around the hill, visiting some of our favourite places as part of a long walk around the hill. The walk would be about 25km and would take in the villages of Sabden, Pendleton, Downham, Barley, Newchurch in Pendle and Sabden Fold, as well as crossing a wide variety of terrain and plenty of ups and downs.
We set out around midday, climbing the foothills from Sabden on the Badger Wells bridleway passing through fields and following the rocky trail until we reached the signpost halfway up the hill.
Turning left we headed towards Clitheroe Road, taking an unsigned track uphill to arrive at the 'devil's footprint' at the Nic of Pendle. Pausing here to look back, we were able to enjoy views down to Sabden and over Black Hill to the South Pennines, one of my favourite views.
We made our way to the brow of the hill and crossed the wall at the stile on the left to head downhill to Pendleton. The path descends quite steeply at first, crossing moorland and providing far-reaching views down to Clitheroe, across to Hawthornthwaite Fell and along the Ribble Valley, before a second stile leads downhill along an uneven path, muddy at first then drying up. A gate, in the wall above the track takes us downhill further, crossing the stream at Wymondhouses then taking us down to Pendleton through fields of cows and sheep and emerging onto the road that leads to the village.
We stopped for refreshment at our first pub of the day, The Swan with Two Necks, enjoying the sunshine and the sound of the babbling brook and admiring the stunning, flower filled hanging baskets.
The Second leg of our journey took us to Downham via Worston.
We left Pendleton, following the road northeast and crossing Clitheroe Road again to follow a footpath past Pendleton Hall and Mearley Hall. The path took us along tracks and paths and through grassy fields, giving us lovely views of Pendle Hill and the surrounding countryside.
We reached Worston, where we could have visited another pub, The Calf's Head, but decided to carry on and stop at Downham instead.
We turned right and followed the lane for about a mile and a half, past a campsite, along a stretch of road known as 'The Quiet Lane' and skirting the base of Worsaw Hill, before entering Downham at the stone bridge outside the ice cream shop.
Downham was very busy - not surprising on such a sunny day on the last weekend of the summer holidays - with lots of families picnicking by the stream, sitting on the green eating icecream and generally enjoying the sunshine. We walked up the hill, through the village to the pub, admiring the beautiful stone cottages on the way...
... and were lucky to get a seat in front of the Assheton Arms, enjoying our second tipple of the day before tackling the third, and toughest, stretch of our walk from Downham to Barley.
Returning down the hill, we exited the village along a footpath running alongside a stream, walking through the grassy fields and enjoying spotting birds in the trees around us.
After passing through a couple of gates, we started to head uphill towards Hecklin Farm, now enjoying views west to The Forest of Bowland and north to the Yorkshire Dales, with Pen-Y-Ghent clearly visible in the distance.
Crossing the road, we turned south, climbing through a small but steep copse of woodland, before climbing a stile to cross into Great Coppy, a sea of marshland skirting the base of Pendle Hill's 'Big End'. This was by far the toughest part of our walk as we navigated the reed beds and trekked along boggy paths, climbing a further 100 metres and leaving us only another 200 metres below the summit with lungs bursting.
Reaching the Road, the walk down into Barley gave us chance to catch our breath, finally reaching The Barley Mow for our third stop of the day.
Rested and refreshed, we were ready to tackle the steep road up to Newchurch-in-Pendle, dipping in the village before climbing again to Saddlers Height on Well Head Road. Here the road was gently undulating, giving us the opportunity to enjoy the views across the Sabden Valley to Padiham Heights, before dropping down again into Sabden Fold.
Here we took the bridleway to Lower Sabden Fold, passing a couple of farms and then taking the turning for Lower Lane, a shady, ever-muddy path leading along the lower part of the hillside towards Wood House. Crossing the Ford, the lane rises sharply to Stainscomb and then levels out, the last mile or so slowly winding down to Sabden, past smallholdings and fields of sheep and with lovely twilight views over the valley.
Back at the bridge at Badger Wells, we had a decision to make: over the bridge and home, or down the lane to the pub. We felt that, after visiting 3 pubs so far, it would have been rude if we hadn't visited one in our own village, so we headed down the lane for a celebratory drink.
We did it! 6 hours, 24km and 1500m total ascent...oh and 4 pubs. Cheers!
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