Wednesday 19th April 2017
Walkers on Darwen Moor
The fourth section of the West Pennine Way would bring us nearer to our starting point for these walks and in sight of Peel Tower. The day started dry but with a very cold wind for April and after much logistics with transport vehicles ten walkers set out from Roddlesworth Information Centre in the direction of Darwen Tower. On the way up to the tower we met a couple of Firemen from Manchester Fire Service who were carrying out a reconnaissance for a training exercise driving a very strange fire engine.
Strange fire engine
The views from the Tower were not as clear as we would have liked but we were able to see all of Blackburn and Darwen. The decent down towards Bull Hill Farm was much dryer than we had expected and some of the styles had been repaired. After crossing the busy A666 we headed towards Cranberry Moss passing the three disused coke ovens. Just passed Pleasant View Farm we found a fallen down wall on which to sit and eat our lunch. The route then took us to Grimehills and the Crown and Thistle Pub, which we managed to avoid. On towards Pickup Bank passing Lower Pastures Farm, which always appears to be in a state of renovation, we were pleased to see that most of the WPW were still in place. Pickup Bank Memorial Garden was a chance to enjoy our last refreshments before we reached Clough Head Café. On reaching the café six of our walkers relaxed with further refreshments whilst the drivers went back to Roddlesworth for the remainder of the cars. We covered 12 miles on this section of the walk.