Pennington Flash and Sale Water Park 14th June 2025.

Distance: 5 miles.

Group: Martyn and Sue.

Birds seen or heard today included: Canada goose, Mallard, Common coot, Moorhen, Black headed gull, Lesser black back gull, Oystercatcher, Gat cormorant, Little ring plover, Mute swan, Gadwall, Lapwing, Grey heron, Tufted duck, Common swift, Common blackbird, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Greenfinch, Blue tit, Great tit, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Winter wren, Sedge warbler, European robin, Greylag goose, Woodpigeon, Great spotted woodpecker, Black billed magpie and Cuckoo (heard four times when we were in the Charlie Owen Hide)

A few of the birds seen on our 5 mile walk around Pennington Flash and Sale Water Park.

Canada geese on Pennington Flash,

Canada geese and more on Pennington Flash.

One of many Great crested grebes on Pennington Flash.

Mute swans, Coot, Oystercatcher and Great Cormorants at Pennington Flash.

Mute swans, Oystercatcher and Great Cormorants at Pennington Flash.

A Mute swan family on the pond seen from the Tom Edmundson Hide.

Another view of the Mute same family.

The same family of Mute swans.

Little ringed plover and Canada geese seen from the Charlie Owen Hide.

Another Little ringed plover and Canada geese seen from the Charlie Owen Hide.

A Lapwing chick seen from the Charlie Owen Hide.

I think there is a Great spotted woodpecker hiding behind the feeder at Sale Water Park.

Barley, Pendle Hill and Ogden Clough 10th May 2025

The Pendle Inn - our hostelry of choice fr the after walk meal and drinks.

The path leading to Pendle Hill.

We can only agree!

Pendle Hill ahead.

A Mistle  thrush near Brown House.

The start of the path across the flank of Pendle Hill.

Looking south east towards the reservoirs.

At he start of the gentle climb up to the Beacon /Big End on Pendle Hill.

Dinosaurs at the trig point.

Nigel's selfie at the trig point on Pendle Hill.

_In his words "It's the nearestwe could get to the trig point."

At the Ogden Clough Path Way marker stone.

The path leading to Ogden Clough.

Bog cotton near the path leading to Ogden Clough.

On open moorland.

Efforts to preserve the peat moorland.

Distant views of a Red grouse.

The start of our descent into Ogden Clough.

Ogden Clough.

Ogden Clough again.

"Can we take the path to the Nick of Pendle?"

Crossing the stream in Ogden Clough again

The Upper Ogden Reservoir.

Bluebells in the wood south of the track from the Upper Ogden Reservoir.

More Bluebells.

The bridge, steps and footbridge that we should have taken to et to Fell Wood.

The path through Fell Wood.

Looking over Newchurch in Pendle.

The delightful woodland path north east of Newchurch in Pendle.

Distant views of Pendle Hill from the path leading to Hey's Lane.

Hey's Lane leading to Barley.

Distance: 7.7 miles. Climb: 1640’.Time: 5 hours 48 minutes.
On the move walking average: 2.0 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 1.3 m.p.h.Temperature: 7.2 Celsius to 22.5 Celsius
Beaufort Wind Force: 0 – 4. Mainly Light air, although it did gust to a 12.6 m.p.h. Moderate Breeze at the Big End trig point on Pendle Hill
Group: Martyn, Mike and Nigel.
This was probably the best weather conditions we have experienced on any of our Pendle Hill walks.
Perhaps a little on the warm side, with lots of Sun. Definitely a day for wearing a sun hat and putting on the sun block.
Birds seen or heard today: Goldfinch, Jackdaw, Common blackbird, Carrion crow, Chiffchaff, Willow warbler, Mistle thrush, Mallard, Woodpigeon, Winter wren, Skylark, Meadow pipit, Eurasian curlew, Barn swallow, Common pheasant, Common kestrel and Red grouse.
As ever, this proved to be a poplar hill for walkers, sponsored events and the annual 14-mile Pendle Hill race.
We first encountered the fell runners as we headed down the path to Ogden Clough. This slowed us own as e had to frequently stop a step aside to allow the fell runners to take priority.
We stopped for lunch at 11-55 when we had only walked about 3 miles. This must be a record for HH a HH walk. Lunch was taken just after crossing the stream in Ogden Clough for the first time. No picnic table today, just sitting on the grassy bank above the stream.
The path down Ogden Clough was clear to follow and gave dramatic views down the steep sided clough as far as Upper Ogden Reservoir.
We did however, make one mistake, when we crossed a stile, that led to the wrong footbridge and a difficult climb up bank to Fell wood. We won’t make the same mistake the next time descend Pendle Hill down Ogden Clough!
The surprise of the day was seeing lots of Bluebells in the wood south of the track from the Upper Ogden Reservoir.
The path from Newchurch took us through a wooded area, that gave us some welcome shade.
He final part of the walk took us along a stony greenway that eventually joined the road in Barley, a short distance from the car park.
We arrived back at the car, having had a superb walk, but feeling much more tired than we expected.
However, we were soon revived at the Pendle Inn where we indulged our self with a pint or two and ate one of their Pendle Pies before setting off home.

Jumbles, Wayoh, Turton and Entwistle Reservoirs 22nd February 2025.

I didn't think the Jumbles Reservoir was that full!

The surprise of the day, a Roe deer near Turton Tower.

Turton Tower, but not open today.

Is it  tower or a chimney on the distant hill?

The path to Cheetham Close.

Heading for Cheetham Close.

At the trig point on Cheetham Close.

A selfie taken from the trig point on Cheetham Close.

Winter Hill in the background.

A closer look at the tower / chimney on the hill opposite Cheetham Close.

The view from our lunch spot on the west side of Turton and Entwistle Reservoir.

I think the Grey heron has caught something.

Confusing water depth indicators on the edge of Turton and Entwistle Reservoir.

Part of the tedious track back to Turton Bottoms.

There is always a silver lining to a quarry!

Egerton church tower seen from the dam across the Wayoh Reservoir.

The Jumbles Reservoir from bridge at its northern end.

The reason why we didn't have to pay for parking today.

Distance: 10-.5 miles. Climb: 1122’Time: 5 hours 40 minutes.

On the move walking average: 2.4 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 1.8 m.p.h.
Temperature: 10.2 Celsius at the start. 5.8 Celsius on Cheetham Close. 8.8 Celsius at lunch next to Turton and Entwistle Reservoirs and 10 8 Celsius mid-afternoons.
Beaufort Wind Force: 0 – 3. In the main, no more than a Light breeze, although it did reach more of a Gentle Breeze as we crossed Cheetham Close
Group: Martyn and Mike.
The weather was rather for today was pretty good, with temperatures in double figures likely and at worse just a 20% chance of rain. In fact, we only had a few spots of rain as we crossed Cheetham Close.
Arriving at the start, the Jumbles Country Park, Waterfold Car Park just after 10-00 and it was already pretty full. We knew this wasn’t going to be a quiet stroll around the reservoirs!
Just after the start, we had a very pleasant chat with a young Christian who was just trying to get back into walking, but was said she wasn’t ready to walk a 10 mile walk and would stick to the 6 mile walk that she had planned.
Whenever we were in sunshine, it was pleasantly warm enough to be a “shorts day”, proved by many people that we saw doing just that. I didn’t use my jacket all day, so hopefully my bare arms exposed to the Sun’s rays would boost my vitamin D levels.
Our surprise of the day was seeing two Roe deer as we were walking past Turton Towers. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough with my camera to film them bound off and leap effortlessly over the fence and disappear into the distance.
The section across Cheetham Close, was as expected, quite boggy, but at least it gave us our best views of the distant hills such as Winter Hill and a tower on the hill towards the south east that we haven’t as yet identified.
Lunch was taken, using one of many lakeside seats and occasional picnic benches around Turton and Entwistle Reservoir - many more than we remembered from 2019 when we last did the walk.
The section of the walk that follows the path along the east side of the Wayoh Reservoir and Jumbles Reservoirs was quite tedious, as views of the lake were limited by the tree growth. There was also much evidence of storm damage in the woods next nearby, but thankfully none of the fallen trees prevented too much of a problem.
We arrived back at the car, having had a really good walk and looking forward to refreshments at the Rake Hall.
Birds seen or heard today: House sparrow, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Jackdaw, Common blackbird, Common starling, Carrion crow, Woodpigeon, Commom chaffinch, Greylag goose, Canada goose, Mallard, Black headed gull, Leser black backed gull, Great cormorant, Blue tit, European robin, Black billed magpie, Great tit, Wood nuthatch, Goldcrest, Rook Coal tit and possibly a Tawny owl (one hoot heard).
After walk drinks were enjoyed at Rake Hall, where Mike enjoyed a pint of Three Tuns bitter and I had my usual tiple at the Rake – a pot of tea.