West Pennine & Rossendale Walks
Great Hameldon
Date: 30th January 2010
Distance: 6.1 miles
Ascent: 950 feet
Time: 3 hours
With: On my own
Start Grid Ref: SD824280
Walk Summary:
A cold, and in place slippery walk, from Clowbridge Reservoir up on to Hameldon Hill and Great Hameldon featuring some great views over the Pendle area.
Route Summary: Clowbridge Reservoir - Hameldon Hill - Burnley Way - Hameldon Scouts - Great Hameldon - May Road Well - Clowbridge Reservoir
Photos: Click on the photos below to enlarge.
Walk Detail: Knowing that I needed to beef up the West Pennines and Rossendale section of this website this was my second walk in the area in as many weeks.
I'd chosen Great Hameldon as it had been quite distinctive from both Boulsworth Hill and Spence Moor. My main concern though was not the walk but getting there as it meant driving through Burnley. My concerns were justified as I ended up driving out of Burnley on the Todmorden road on the way there and ended up driving through Padiham on the way back!!
I had no such navigational issues on the walk itself which was fairly easy especially to the top of Hambledon Hill which can be done by following the access road to the weather station nearly all the way to the top. The top of Hameldon Hill was covered with various masts and towers all of which made the trig point seem rather insignificant.
Leaving Hameldon Hill the path became quite treacherous as there was a lot of frozen water and it was very cut up, in some places almost the entire path was covered in a thick layer of ice. Matters improved again up on reaching the quarries at Hameldon Scouts. This moment also brought some great views north over Pendle District with the far horizon featuring the higher Dales heights with Great Whernside and Buckden Pike particularly prominent.
After exploring Hameldon Scouts and crossing some marshy ground I climbed to the top of Great Hameldon which brought much of the West Pennines into view as well. Most of the view though was of conurbation and indeed this was one of those walks where you were hardly ever out of site of a built up area.
After eating my lunch stood by the trig point I descended south to May Road Well and then onto a track which took me back to the Burnley Way and back past the weather station.
At this stage the path is about 10 feet wide with a barbed wire fence on each side. Unfortunately myself a large group of local younths had taken their cross country motorbikes up on to the moor and were taking it in turns to ride as fast as they could along this straight section of path. It was most disconcerting especially as I had to walk past a large group of them hoodies and all.
Apart from the motorbikes this was a nice easy walk and Great Hameldon was an excellent viewpoint - well worth the modest effort getting to the top.
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