Waddington Fell
This walk begins in Waddington which has been voted Best Kept Village in the Universe on more than one occasion. It is a delightful spot and well worth a visit in its own right. The route from it goes up across farmland and moorland to reach a fine viewpoint – to the north, Bowland; to the south – the Ribble Valley, to return to the village by way of a superlative roadside inn.
Time: 3 -3½ hours
Terrain: A steady and in parts strenous ascent of the fellside starting and finishing in pastureland.
Map
Start: Car park on right on edge of Waddington as approached from Clitheroe on B6478.
1. Waddington to Moorcock Inn (8 Km or 5 miles, 300 m of ascent: 2½ hours)
Walk into the village which seems to bestraddle the brook that runs through it, with quaint but necessary bridges all adding to the charm of the place.
If either of the pubs is open or the tea room, some of you will see no point in going any further. For the determined walkers take the right fork when the road divides. Keep right on reaching the lane.This will take you past the Hospital (a 18th century almshouse). Just beyond the Hospital turn left onto a footpath.
This takes you past the almshouses and onto a stony farmtrack beyond them. When the track bends to the left, keep ahead between two trees and a gate. The path follows the edge of a wooded clough.
As you approach Feazer Farm, the path crosses a stone stile and then turns right onto the farm road. The way is up, but that will not be immediately obvious. Just before the farm house turn left through a yard towards a reservoir.
Bear left of the reservoir to arrive at a stile.
Once again the wooded clough is on your left. Follow it upwards.
Where the wood begins to curve to the left, the path will drop to a footbridge in the very corner of the field.
The path will bring you, between houses, onto a lane. Bear right, crossing a “weak bridge” to arrive at Cuttock Clough Farm and Barn.
Keep straight on this track, past the white farmhouse of Seedals on left.
At the point where the tarmac track turns right downwards, turn left onto a rough bridleway. This is Moor Lane and will take you close to the top of the moors.
Beyond a small barn and a pair of wooden gates, the bridleway follows a wall on the left. 500m beyond the barn the track turns slightly to the right and then 300m further on, through a wooden gate, turns sharply right towards an extensive conifer plantation on the skyline. 15-20 minutes later you will reach the edge of this plantation. Here turn left and continue the ascent. 300m further on, a prominent pile of stones will be seen on a rise.
Take the path through heather to reach it. This is a fine viewpoint for reviewing the route you have just climbed as well as admiring Pendle Hill across the Ribble Valley.
Follow the path through a pair of redundant gateposts towards the ariel mast on the crest of Waddington Fell.
On this upland section of the route the Bowland Fells will come into view to the north.
The path will bring you onto Fell Road which connects Waddington to Newton. Turn left onto Fell Road taking proper heed of traffic and descend towards Waddington. Soon the Moorcock Inn will come into sight.
2. The Moorcock Inn to Waddington (4 Km or 2½ miles: 1 hour)
Of course the straightforward way back to Waddington is to follow the road all the way down the hill. End of description. However a more scenic route crosses the ladder stile on the left just beyond the inn.
This crosses a large field and then, through a gateway follows the edge of a wooded valley. The path soon drops down to the stream and crosses it by a ford.
Now with the wooded clough on your right, descend to Cuttock Clough Farm.
From this point retrace your steps back to the village, which is easier said than done, as things look surprisingly different on your return journey.
The essential points to keep in mind are:
1. At Cuttock Clough bear right to cross “weak bridge” and then turn left through house to reach path down to footbridge.
2. At Feazer (the next farm) turn right onto lane and then left to reach stone stile.
It should be noted that we do not recommend this walk after prolonged periods of wet weather.
The Moorcock Inn
As mentioned earlier this really is a lovely inn.
The main bar is delightfully appointed having stone falgged floor, heavy dark wood beams, a large open fire and a mixture of wooden dining tables and chairs and leather chairs and sofas.
We found the service to be both friendly and efficient. They have an excellent menu (see their website). We had chicken and grape chutney sandwich and minute steak and onion sandwich, both served with a nice salad and kettle crisps.
They served 3 cask ales on our visit - Black Sheep Best Bitter(3.8%), Thwaites Lancaster Bomber(4.4%) and the local Grindleton Brewhouse's Ribble Gold(4.1%), three excellent cask ales. This was our first time to sample the Ribble Gold but it will not be our last. It is a light bitter with a good head. It has a delightful taste and body, leaving a slightly bitter sweet aftertaste. An excellent lunchtime aperitif! Not bad at any other time either. The Moorcock really is an inn not to be missed!