Wednesday 21st October 2025
Monthly Long Walk: Clow Bridge, Townley Park & The Singing Ringing Tree.
On an overcast autumn morning, fifteen walkers made their way out of the car park at Clow Bridge Reservoir, where we turned right after crossing the main road. The reservoir was built in 1866 to supply water to Rawtenstall. After walking for a short distance along the pavement, we turned left along the access road to Nutshaw Boarding Kennels, and once we passed the ornamental ponds, we joined the Burnley Way (BW), which took us through the fields, passed a rather large bull that fortunately was on the other side of the fence, to Manchester Road. Once across the road, we continued along the BW to Crown Point, where we joined a footpath which traverses across Burnley Golf Course.
The Bull
Going onto the golf course
On the Burnley Way
After crossing two of the main roads, the BW led us into Townley Park, where we enjoyed our morning coffee, overlooking the lake outside Towley Hall. The hall, which is once again open to the public after major renovation, was the home of the Townley family from around 1200. Once refreshed, we walked through the park into the village of Cliviger, once a township in the parish of Whalley. The route then took us across the fields up to Bacup Road and over to Crown Point Road, where we began the steep climb up to the Singing Ringing Tree.
Townley Hall
The steep climb
The Ringing Tree is one of four sculptures in Lancashire, the other three being The Halo in Haslingden, the Atom in Wycoller and the Colour Fields in Blackburn Corporation Park.
The Singing Ringing Tree
After leaving the sculpture, we headed for Crown Point Road, which we crossed, and joined a footpath that took us over to Greenhill Clough. By this time, the rain had stopped, so we looked for a suitable place to have our lunch. We soon found it, a pilgrim’s cross built in Tudor times and renovated in 1844.
The Pilgrim’s Cross
The final section of the walk took us back over the moors, which looked glorious in the autumn sunshine, to Clow Bridge, but not before we visited the abandoned village of Gambleside. In 1839, a Baptist Church was built in the village, where an outdoor baptistry was used until 1870, when it was extended to become a water storage tank for the local mill. There was a coal mine outside the village that provided employment; however, the population started to decline after the reservoir was built in 1866.
The outdoor Baptistry
The sun was still shining as we made our way back to the car park at Clow Bridge, having covered ten energetic miles.
Heading home