Gliding over Parlick

Anyone driving north on the M61 towards Preston will see a range of distant hills come into view as they approach the junction with the M65. I see these hills every evening on my way home from work. Some may think they are the southern hills of the Lake District, but they aren't, the Lakes are much further away. These are the southern hills of Bowland - a beautiful part of the country often ignored by the rest of the population, who prefer to head up the M6 to the Lakes instead.

Two of the more prominent hills visible from the M61 are Parlick and Fair Snape Fell, and I'd been planning to tackle them for some time. The hills around Bowland can be boggy even in summer, so this is a walk which is best left until after a few weeks of dry weather. Although the weather has been cool lately, it's some time since we've had any serious rain, so with the day free and unplanned, today seemed to be the ideal opportunity to pull the boots on and bag another couple of peaks.

The weather was forecast to be a little unsettled, with plenty of sunny spells but some dark clouds too and possibly a little rain. Sure enough, ten minutes into the walk and the rain arrived, but fortunately not for long. By the time I reached the foot of Parlick, the rain had cleared and the sun was out. The path to the top is steep and hard work, but the summit's only 20 minutes away and the pain is worth it for the views. A wonderful panorama opens up at the 432m (1417ft) high top, from the Pennines in the East, round past Pendle, Longridge Fell and out to the Fylde coast.

After savouring lunch as well as the views on top, it was time to follow the ridge path around to Fair Snape Fell, slightly higher at 510m (1673ft). Here the view of the coast opens up more, with Heysham and Morecambe Bay in view and Black Combe sitting broodily behind. Fair Snape Fell is topped by a trig point and an impressive cairn, known as Paddy's Pole. Who Paddy was or why he left a pole here is a mystery.

The ridge joining these two hills creates a huge natural bowl, which is ideal for generating the thermals used by the gliding club in the valley below. Years ago I was fortunate to tke a trip in one of these gliders, and I still remember the wonderful views from the cockpit with the accompanying silence. Today though I was on the fell tops watching the gliders flying overhead. Each one was actually making its own sound, quiet and eerie, like an unusual wind instrument as the air currents flowed round the fuselage and over the wings.

The path down soon brought me down to the valley and the way back to Chipping took me through several farms and eventually down past the Gliding Club itself, where I was just in time to see some of the gliders coming in to land. An enjoyable if tiring day in the countryside.


Full details of the route taken will follow shortly.