The Wintry Moors
This set is from a couple of weeks ago when I decided to revisit the easterly reaches of Anglezarke moor. I had a much grander tour of the area planned in my head, but due to delays in setting out I had to settle for a more modest walk, besides, I think the longer walk I had envisaged is still a bit beyond me at this point in time. So, in the end, I settled for a walk from Hordern Stoops to the highest point of Redmond's Edge, at which point I struck out across the moors to descend via the misleadingly named Standing Stones Hill (well, it's a hill, I can't argue with that, but there's no record of anyone ever finding standing stones up there).
There had been a big freeze during the week prior to this walk, so the ground was generally solid under foot, although the stone path over Spitlers Edge and Redmond's Edge was something of a death trap, still, it probably beats sinking into a bog when crossing the moor in warmer conditions. Probably. The light was bright, but soft, with a light mist in the valleys. I find this to be ideal conditions for moorland photography.
The camera of choice for this trip was the Z8 with the 24-70 f/2.8S and 70-180 f/2.8, which performed excellently in my gloved hands. I think most of these were taken with a CPL to darken the sky and reduce reflections (at least the shots with the 24-70 were, I still don't have an adapter for the 70-180).
Ramblers
As I made my way up Spitlers Edge, a steady stream of ramblers were passing in the opposite direction, there must have been a lot of them as it took ages to pass the entire group. Here are about half of them assembled below me on the path leading to the Hempshaw's ruins, waiting for their associates who were slowly trickling over Spitlers Edge. In the background are the lower flanks of Noon Hill, with Rivington behind that.
The Path Of Doom
As mentioned earlier, the path over both edges was very icy and probably a main reason for the ramblers group being so widely distributed along the route. For the most part I stuck to the peaty soil at the side of the stones to avoid breaking my neck or more importantly, my camera! This is looking in the direction I'd just come from, with Winter Hill looming in the background, as is its way.
The Yarrow Valley
From Spitlers Edge there's a splendid view along the earliest parts of the Yarrow Valley, the source of The Yarrow is actually marked by a plaque near the start of Spitlers Edge. The trees in the middle of the frame are where The Yarrow meets Limestone Brook as it emerges from Lead Mines Clough and both are then captured in Yarrow Reservoir, which can just be seen above the trees a little way to the left.
Round Loaf
Looking across Anglezarke Moor from the higher reaches of the path you can see the Bronze Age bowl barrow known as Round Loaf as it sits on the lower flanks of Black Hill (seen rising to the right here). If you look carefully you can just make out a group of hikers stood on top of the barrow. Whether there's a cairn there or not this week is debatable.
Redmond's Edge
Looking further along the path we can see the highest point of Redmond's Edge. The path is still quite the death trap here. In my original plan for this walk, I'd intended to continue along this path to its end at the foot of Great Hill and then cross the moor to Round Loaf before looping back via Limestone Brook, but there was no way I'd be able to complete that in daylight given the time I'd set out at, so instead, I followed this path to its highest point before branching off to the left and following the vague path that leads down Standing Stones Hill.
Misty Moors
This is looking directly into the sun as I made my way down Standing Stones Hill. Fortunately, for once, I'd remembered to bring sunglasses, otherwise this would have been very uncomfortable. I like the way the backlighting illuminates the mist in the valley.
Spitlers Edge
This is the view from the path down Standing Stones Hill, looking to my left in the direction of the hill Spitlers Edge crosses. You can just the see the path of Spitlers Edge on the far left of the picture.
You Call This A Path?
The path down Standing Stones Hill was also very icy. The sun is getting quite low by this point and I was keen to get off this part of the moors before it had set.
Icy Yarrow
The river Yarrow winds its way around the southern boundary of Chorley before joining the Ribble and exiting to the sea. By the time it reaches Chorley it's quite a substantial river, so it's always surprising to see this humble brook it begins as.
Fallen Wall
This is one of the field boundaries near the Hempshaw's ruins. Like many of the walls on the higher moors it's slowly crumbling due to lack of maintenance.
The Final Climb
Having passed by the Hempshaw's ruins, I was faced with this steep climb back up to the foot of Spitlers Edge. At this point I was rather glad I hadn't followed the longer route I was initially considering, not to mention questioning my sanity for even considering it.
