Essential Research

A new home, a whole new place to explore. That means lots of new walks to be discovered - exciting!

Not only have we moved house but we have moved to a completely different part of the country, and one of our reasons for moving was to be more rural so that we can explore and enjoy lots of new places.

We have moved to the Ribble Valley which means that we now have open countryside, rolling hills and the Forest of Bowland on our doorstep, as well as being within a short drive of The Yorkshire Dales, The Lake District and lots more.

But you have got to start somewhere haven't you, and our first walks have been from the doorstep. We have been lucky to have been able to buy a cottage at the foot of Pendle Hill with the footpath up running past the house. I say lucky; we were certainly lucky that this house in this area came onto the market at a time we were looking and at a price that we could afford, but we had done a lot of research in a lot of places before buying, so I suppose that you make your own luck - at least in part.

Anyway, back to our first outings on foot. Our first and the most obvious walk is straight up the path next to the house. A circular walk takes you around Churn Clough reservoir and back in about 45minutes, ideal for a daily early morning walk.

From the house the path leads uphill under a canopy of Oak and Hazel and alongside a babbling brook. Through a gate and you are immediately in open countryside with hay and flower meadows to your left and marshy wetlands to the right. The path continues up through pasture land and then through another two gates until you emerge onto the moors. At the end of a rocky path you turn right through a gate and continue to the right over Calf Hill.

At this point you cannot help but to stop and pause. The views in all directions are spectacular and uninterrupted: farmland and pastures, rolling green hills and forests, the moorland with its reeds and peat marshes, and below Calf Hill, Churn Clough Reservoir nestled into the hillside. Around you there are sheep, cattle and horses grazing, and the only sounds are of the wind and birdsong.

Continuing over Calf Hill you come down to the reservoir, a popular place for fishing as the 'res', as its known locally, is said to be full of trout. Through a gate, a path leads around the waters edge, bordered by trees and wild flowers, and then past a very grand house before leading down an access road and across farmland. Turning right after the final cattle grid, a shady country lane leads down to a farmhouse and over a narrow bridge back to the house.

So first walk done, we are now in the process of planning many more walks to the nearby picturesque villages and of course to the top of Pendle Hill.

We have also done a lot of driving to find these villages and to sample their wares, all essential research I'm sure you will agree.