First time up Pendle Hill

Ever since arriving in the Pendle Area of Lancashire almost seven or eight years ago I have been looking at Pendle Hill and thinking I really must take a walk up there one day. Well a few days ago (late August 2017) I decided to give it a go. The weather was overcast and threatened rain for most of the trip and wind was strong from the west.

 

 

I looked at a number of possible routes up the hill and decided on one that started out from the village of Barley (SD 8213 4054) but on arrival I found that the village was blocked up with parked cars and Barley Lane to the north is very narrow for a kilometre or so to the north.  I eventually found a safe place to leave the car just opposite the entrance to Windy Harbour (SD81640 41183). 

 

 I took the footpath into the field on to the Pendle Hill side of the road and followed the track towards Gannel House. About half way to the house you need to cross a dry stone wall but there is a style about 30 meters from the western corner so you don't need to scramble over the wall.  When I visited someone had placed an old roadside cone on a post by the style so its easier to spot.
From there I headed north across the next field towards the gate on the far corner of the field (SD 8133 4158).  I should say the grass in both fields was about knee high and pretty wet and the ground was pretty soggy underfoot which made for slightly slippery going, but this piece is a pretty easy walk otherwise. 


View of the route from up the hill.  Gannel and Pendle Houses are along the road coming in from the left to the centre foreground.

If you want to you could start a little further up the road from my starting position and just walk in to this point along the access road (SD 8145 4162) thereby missing the wet legs.
As you turn left towards the hill the road splits in two and it is important you take the one to the right, i.e. the north road, as the other is a private access road to Gannel and Pendle Houses.  The road continues through a small wooded area along a tarmacked road until you reach a swinging style to the on the right about 600 meters along the road.
As I walked along the road I noticed a good number of Barn Swallow flying in and out of some of the farm buildings and I suspect they may have nests inside the barns.  There were also a small flock of Goldfinch feeding in the fields.
From the swinging style the path heads up the hill at quite a steep angle and about 150 meters up it splits in two, one continues straight up the other turns off to the left.  The latter route is a little easier but it has not been well paved, I came down that way but continued up the main route.


View of the Hill from a distance.  The main route up can be seen as a track sweeping to the right on the right hand edge of the hill.

 For the novice walker this was a fairly strenuous walk and I did stop to view the scenery quite a lot (while catching my breath).  The views over the Ribble Valley, the Dales, etc. were wonderful and below were the reservoirs of Black Moss.  The path is uneven and paved with stones but can be hard going in places but as much as possible try to stick to is as in places there is evidence of erosion alongside it where people have tried to avoid the uneven steps.
The top of the climb appears suddenly after what seems like a hard trudge and the hill levels out a lot as you reach the table like top. from there follow the path to the left up the remaining 50/60 meters to the trig point at the top.

The Trig Point on the Summit

 

My descent was along the other route mentioned earlier. If you continue past the trig point keeping to the left hand pathway you reach the edge of the slope and turn hard left down the hill, around 250 meters past the trig point. This gives slightly different views of the Dales off to the north and is not quite as steep going down.  Alternatively you can opt to retrace your steps on reaching the trig point.

The walk in total takes about 2 to 3 hours to complete and you will be ready for lunch at one of the restaurants or pubs in nearby Barley.  It was my first hill walk in years and my legs did feel the pain a bit but the views and sense of accomplishment was amazing.  I would recommend this to anyone.