Making the most of an extra day off

The open road looking towards Belmont village

It's Monday, after a week off work... but after dropping Carole off at the station for her Monday morning commute to Manchester, I'm off for a first stop at the gym with plans for a long walk in the sunshine afterwards.

My extra day off is the result from working over the weekend earlier in the month assisting with some contingency testing of the IT systems in our office.  That I could do the work I needed to from home didn't come into it - I'd worked a Saturday from 8:30am until 9pm (on and off anyway!), and whilst this isn't such an onerous task these days I'd nevertheless earned the right to my time back.

A dramatic windswept moorland scene near Belmont.

After the gym, my first stop was the moors between Rivington and Belmont.  Here the countryside is barren and open, usually a little boggy underfoot, yet beguilingly beautiful.



On a clear day the views from the top of the 'pass' separating these tiny villages is impressive - out to the Fylde coast and Irish Sea, and inland over rolling hills to the windmills on Scout Moor, overlooking Rochdale.  Yet on the hillside right by the road here is the impressive structure of the TV mast on Winter Hill, the top of which stands over 2,500 ft above sea level.

I'd parked here to make a decision on my walk.  One option was to leave the car here and explore the open moorland over Winter Hill's neighbour, Great Hill, with the aim of some dramatic wide-angle landscape shots conveying the windswept landscape.

Another option was a couple of miles on  through Belmont village, where the A675 follows the shore of the reservoir and the views resemble a minature Lakeland scene. All gold for the landscape photographer, but today my desire for a long walk (only possible when I'm on my own), plus shots of the Autumn colours now beginning to show, took me further on to Abbey Village, where several paths lead into and through the large expanse of the largely deciduous Roddlesworth Woods.



My walk started from the Hare & Hounds pub in Abbey Village, sadly closed at the moment though I understand new owners are planning a refurbishment which will mean a change of style aimed at encouraging walkers.



View over Lower Roddlesworth reservoir with Darwen Tower just visible on the hills behind.



From here there are good paths leading straight out alongside Rake Brook reservoir before reaching the first trees of the woods by the run-off from Lower Roddlesworth reservoir.  The reservoir then opens out surrounded by trees in a majestic panorama.  For Autumnal colours it was perhaps a couple of weeks too early but even so the colours and reflections in the water made for a worthwhile photograph.



The river Roddlesworth in Autumnal glory

 The paths along the southern side of the reservoir lead through the woods, opening out at a couple of spots for views across the water, before eventually meeting the river in the heart of the woods.  The river marks the modern-day boundary between the boroughs of Blackburn and Chorley, so up to now I've been on the Chorley side of the woods.  The river's role as a boundary predates our modern administrations though - from the earliest days of Lancashire this was where the Hundreds of Leyland and Blackburn sat side by side.

After some lunch I found a promising spot for some slow-shutter shots of the water, rushing and tumbling over rocks framed by Autumnal trees.  Back at home later on I used HDR software to merge several exposures together to really bring out the textures, lighting and colours.

Crossing the river here, I continued along the old pack-horse route through the woods until eventually arriving at Hollinshead Hall - a ruined 18th century manor house.  All that's left now is a few ruined walls, though it's possible to work out the layout and get a sense of how it might once have looked.

River Roddlesworth in spate

Returning to Abbey Village via a different route, I soon found a spot where the river gushes over a waterfall, and with all the rain recently it was putting on a fine show.  Unfortunately the paths here were extremely boggy and not long after I'd completed a number of shots and started off again along the path I found myself stuck in deep mud, with nowhere forward or seemingly back to go!

Eventually I managed to extracate myself from the gloop without too much mishap and taking a little more care now, made it back to the little stone bridge and the drier pack-horse route.

Vowing now to keep to much firmer ground I followed the track around the opposite side of th reservoirs, eventually returning back to the viewpoint near the start and then on to the car.  In total, the walk covered around 8½ miles, a great day out in wonderful countryside.