Bowland & Pendle Walks
Clougha Pike & Grit Fell
Date: 26th January 2007
Distance: 6.3 miles
Ascent: 1332 feet
Time: 3 hours 05 mins
With: On my own
Start Grid Ref: SD526604
Walk Summary:
An enjoyable little walk to Clougha Pike, one of the rockiest areas of the Forest of Bowland with a 'there and back' addition of Grit Fell for good measure.
Route Summary: Rigg Lane - Windy Clough - Clougha Scar - Clougha Pike - Grit Fell - Clougha Pike - Rowton Brook Farm - Rigg Lane
Photos: Click on the photos below to enlarge.
Walk Detail: The initial walk up to the entrance of Windy Clough and the clough itself was very scenic. However Windy Clough signally failed to live up to its name so I got quite a sweat on in the still conditions.
It was a steep climb up from the clough but after that it was a fairly easy walk up to Clougha Pike. Unfortunately the cloud was fairly low by this point so I saw very little of Clougha Edge. Just as I reached the summit I saw a couple of nice local walkers who were disappointed they had left it until today to walk up there as the weather had been so pleasant during the week.
I hadn't given up on the weather though and I hoped that if I sat and ate my lunch before heading to Grit Fell it may hopefully have cleared by the time I got back. The walk to Grit Fell was fairly easy, made more so by the fact that the recent cold snap had hardened the peaty path and even frozen one particularly bad looking bog. I don't know what the view would have been like from Grit Fell but it is a shame I didn't get to see Ward's Stone at all.
Fortunately though the cloud did seem to be getting a bit higher and I was rather pleased when I returned to Clougha Pike that I could now see down to the sea. The highlight of the view though was the long distance one of a Lakeland skyline that included the Coniston and Langdale Fells.
I walked around the top of Clougha for a while taking photos when my camera conked out on me. By taking out the batteries and putting them back in again about three times it began to work again but this was the beginning of the end for my Olympus.
It was a shame about the weather because Clougha Pike is undoubtedly one of the rockiest and most dramatic looking areas in the Forest of Bowland.
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