Paddling in the Trough of Bowland

When we were kids we used to have a regular days out to the Trough of Bowland, a place of wild and rugged beauty on the Lancashire side of the Pennines.

Last visit I was 15 and never realised the significance the southern start point , Dunsop Bridge, would have in my later years as the place my Dad bought me my first real pint … so he thought… that year. Sadly he died early the following year and as a family we never returned.

 I kept harping on about to Jules about the place and the pool formed at a bend  in Langden Brook we used “swim” and paddle in.The stark beauty of the fells and the ancient woods and rocky stream beds to explore.http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map..

So when we saw the sign driving through Lancaster on the way back from the Crossbay Walk it was a moments decision to follow the road. One we were glad we took.

Apart that is experiencing downright hostility from what looked like an illegally parked burger van in front of the information signs at the now much increased parking area. Staffed by what looked like a pig ignorant local money grabbing  husband and wife team who don’t deserve any custom from anyone.

It’s now a conservation area and the old naturally formed weir is now replaced by a man made one and has been moved further back to create a habitat for spawning; so the pool has gone.Of course three decades of water flow has eroded the grassy bank that my family , and the sheep, used to walk along to get to a flat piece of flat well grazed land at the bend to picnic on. We walked along the line of stone blocks and concrete making up the new river bank defences and Jules stopped to dangle her feet into the freezing water… memories flooded back as i looked around me and it was so great that the changes were so minimal and it was still the beautiful place I remembered so vividly.

Then just to make it better looking through binoculars from the parking area to a point high up on Sykes Nab, we had the great luck to see Hen Harriers. A pair with this years brood still in tow,  where being harassed by Golden Plovers as they all landed in the heather and bimbled about looking for food.

Given the current attitude towards them by the landowners of game bird moorland and their gamekeepers it’s a sight we may never see again in this marvellous unspoilt Pennine upland.

Are we going to take the bikes back there in the coming months… ? You betcha!