Enjoying retirement
In The Red Rose County
We're always devising new routes and today we decided to do a walk around the Assheton Arms at Downham, not quite back to what it was after closure, but getting there. I always find that the most difficult navigation with any walk at all is setting off ie finding the starting point, and so it proved here. In fact we couldn't find our starting point in the village and had to do the walk the opposite way round. Never mind it didn't take anything away from what was a superb walk on a superb day. We parked near the splendid church with great views of Pendle. Along the minor road at the start we saw yet another lime kiln. There were many in Cornwall too. Lime must have been a farmer's mot precious resource. The views soon opened up and whilst a mobile camera doesn't quite show the length and breadth of view at different times we saw long views towards the Trough of Bowland, Yorkshire and Pendle. Here the Trough. The only negatve with this walk was 3 decrepit stiles, one after the other. This might look ok but as soon as you put a foot on it it rears up to bite you. This squeeze stile is appropriately named. We crossed a footbridge over Ings Beck, which prior to 1974 was the boundary between Lancashire (south side) and the West Riding of Yorkshire (north side).In fact, the beck formed a much older frontier – the boundary between two ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. At its greatest extent this was the Kingdom of Mercia’s northern frontier whilst on the north side of Ings Beck was the Kingdom of Northumbria stretching up to York and even Edinburgh. So there you are. Our destination was Downham Mill. Downham Mill was a water driven corn mill situated on, and powered by Ings Beck, and although seeming to be in the middle of nowhere is in fact just 100 yards off Green Lane. A mill in Downham was first recorded in 1311 but the pictured mill was built in 1818. It operated into the 20th century and by 1930 had reverted to a farmhouse tenanted by farmer Walter Rigby. Today it is a residential building and some of the original features remain. Very picaresque and reminded us of France. Climbing uphill we passed some strage limestone knolls, known locally as “Fairy Rocks”. and the top of the ridge was the site of a Roman road..... Pendle never very far away.... Worth the walk! The Assheton Arms.
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August 2023
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