Bowland & Pendle Walks
Burn Moor
Date: 30th May 2009
Distance: 5.6 miles
Ascent: 621 feet
Time: 2 hours 30mins
With: On my own
Start Grid Ref: SD671664
Walk Summary:
A fairly simple walk to the north Bowland summit of Burn Moor with a short diversion to the impressive Great Stone of Fourstones.
Route Summary: Loftshaw Moss - Great Stone of Fourstones - Slaidburn Road - Petersbottom Lane - Burn Moor - Queen of Fairies Chair - Loftshaw Moss
Photos: Click on the photos below to enlarge.
Walk Detail: After having had a sore knee for a few days I decided on what should have been a fairly innocuous walk to test it out.
The day proved to be quite eventful not least because the exhaust fell off the back of the car as I was driving through Bentham. Having waited for someone to come out I was surprised to be able to continue driving the car once the mechanic had filed the broken section off.
The Great Stone of Fourstones was an impressive erratic with a good view of the Three Peaks district. My first attempt to climb Burn Moor unexpectedly ended in defeat at the hands of Loftshaw Moss. This is perhaps the most deceptive bog I’ve ever come across.
After a number of days of sunshine it looked very dry but the ground was very spongy and even standing on reeds I just kept sinking and after my boots had filled with water a half dozen times I decided to try a different route. In the end I walked back to the road before heading up Petersbottom Lane which took me to a shooting hut from the back of which a trod took me all the way up to the top of the moor with no further difficulties.
The only item of immediate interest on the way was the Standard on Burn Moor which funnily enough is a boundary stone with the legend ‘Standard’ carved in the top of it. From the top of Burn Moor there is a wide vista of Bowland moors and Dales Mountains. It was a beautiful sunny day but the sun was so bright that everything was kind of bleached through and not the best conditions for photography.
I was determind to see the Queen of Fairies Chair so I risked the prospect of some more bog trotting by decscending via the fence. As it turned out there wasn’t much to worry about though one syke was difficult to cross. The Queen of Fairies Chair itself was very insignificant but in some ways it was this very insiginifcance that made me want to see it as it is unusual for such things to be named on an OS map. I wonder what the story is behind the name.
This was hardly the most exciting walk in the world but given better lighting conditions it could have been more enjoyable and given the problems with my car and knee it was a safer bet than a more rigorous walk.
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