Pendle Hill, England 2023

Date: 26-27th May 2023

Travelled: 260 kms, from Stafford to Ribblehead in the Yorkshire Dales

Visited: Pendle Hill, Lancashire

Stayed: The Station Inn, Ribblehead. Free, N54.20690, W02.36350

Budget: 3 days @ €145 per day

We enjoyed a very quiet night at the Red Lion Farm CP. Pam was keen to walk the nearby village of Haughton before we hit the road once again, so a few photos.

Nice grass at the Red Lion Farm and the pasty excellent.

On the road again we set the GPS for Warrington. The abridged version is to have the airbags on the Hymer checked by the installer. Check done we were on the road again, this time the GPS set for the village of Goosnargh in Lancashire. Sounds easy enough but the M6 north is swollen with holiday traffic, it’s bank holiday weekend, the weather forecast is good and everyone’s going somewhere.

Four lanes of heavy traffic doing 70 mph, long sections of roadworks back to 50 mph, then the inevitable queueing at major junctions. A bit of a stressful drive.

You would think a guy who works on motorhomes would have easier access.

Anyway we were damned glad to turn off the motorway north of Preston and drive a few miles on to Goosnargh. Having had enough for one day we stumble upon Horns Dam a farm stay come fishing spot. It’s not in any of our data-bases but we can get a spot overlooking the lake for £25. Bit expensive but I didn’t care and it was nice.

We cook up some English pork sausages and call it a day.

A fishing license is £8 per day and you only get two hours for that

We make an unusually early start today. Just coffee and fruit before we ready the Hymer for the road once again. We plan to walk Pendle Hill this morning and it’s a 45 minute drive through the Lancashire countryside to Barley and the carpark at the base of the hill.

A quick Google has advised the only car-park fills early and we want a spot to get the Hymer off the road. So we arrive in Barley and find the car-park almost empty.

After some breakfast we set off to ascend Pendle Hill. The summit stands at 557 metres but from the village of Barley it’s less than 400 metres. There are a myriad of small pathways leading to the top, but we take the shortest and steepest (via steps) and return on the longer but less steep pathway that winds around the hill.

Interestingly the word Pendle is formed from two ancient words, both meaning hill, so Pendle Hill is actually Hill Hill. Save that for trivia.

It’s a hard walk, made a bit easier with our sticks. The views across the Lancashire countryside and the Ribble Valley give you plenty to look at whilst you take a break and let the heart rate come down.

Just over two hours later we are back in the Hymer setting the GPS for Ribblehead in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. But that’s an adventure for our next blog.

PS: Glad we did come early, on our return we found the carpark packed and cars parked every which way throughout the village

Michael + Pam