Pendle Hill - direct
There are few hills in Britain that outdo Pendle’s reputation as a place of myth and mystery. In part this is explained by its history for who has not heard of the Lancashire Witches. In the early part of the 17th century a local dispute was dragged into national prominence when one of the parties accused the other of witchcraft. Result; eight hapless women and two men were executed by hanging in Lancaster. So now, although belief in witchcraft has been long abandoned, the hill and the district named after it, share an association with witches. Indeed the logo of the Pendle Way is a witch on a broomstick. All that said the magnetic pull the hill seems to exert on walkers has much more to do with its geography than its history. Its isolated position from any other hill means that it dominates the landscape. Its bulk gives it presence and its distinctive eastern flank, Big End, gives it a readily identifiable shape, so that it can be picked out from a considerable distance away. The walk described below starts in Barley and will take you to the summit by Big End, with a descent down Ogden Clough.
Start: Barley village car park. Start: Large car park on Barley Lane. There are toilets and an information centre on this site. From the M65 junction 13 take the A682 through Barrowford towards Gisburn. By the White Bear public house turn left into Pasture Lane to the village of Roughlee. At Roughlee turn left then right at the crossroads signed for Barley. The car park is on the right as you approach the village.
Note: There is a regular bus service to Barley on the P70/P71 Pendle Witch Hopper service route between Clitheroe and Nelson. [See www.transportforlancashire.com for further details]
Summary: Distance: 7k 4 ½ m
Ascent: 380m
Time: 2 - 3 hours
Terrain: Though no great distance this is a serious, moorland hike. Readers are advised to be properly equipped with appropriate footwear and waterproofs, and in winter take hat, scarf and gloves.
Map: OS OL 41 The Forest of Bowland
Map by kind permission of the Blackpool Gazette
Barley to the summit: (This section of the walk is so clearly signed almost making description superfluous!) From the car park pass the toilet block and information centre into a small riverside park. After crossing the stream this leads into the village centre close by the Pendle Inn.
Continue along the main street until you reach a footpath sign on the left almost opposite a chapel. Turn left onto a riverside path.
Keep ahead across meadows to reach a footbridge.
After crossing it turn left onto a farm drive.
Pass the lovely garden of Ing End and the whitewashed house and then turn right through a metal kissing gate.
On a narrow enclosed path make your way up to Ing Head.
On reaching its yard turn right and then left to follow a wall up a slight rise.
The path then dips down to ford a small brook.
From this point the way is unrelentingly up. The path will take you across two large pastures to a gate to the right of Pendle House, a large farmhouse.
The way then turns behind it crossing to a wall. From this point the way is steep.
After an initial section alongside a wall, the path breaks to the right angling its way across the flank of the hill. There are three consolations as you struggle for breath; the path is neatly stepped, though sharp this way is relatively short and the views are superb. After 10 (15, 20) minutes a wall is reached. Here turn back on yourself to traverse the whaleback summit to reach the trig point 557m above sea level. (1827 feet in old money!)
Summit to car park. Continue along the ridge. At a large cairn a choice of routes opens up. Either bear left and follow a rocky track down to the wall where you started the sharp upward climb, or bear right to follow a series of smaller cairns into Ogden Clough. This second option offers a more satisfying round. Underfoot the ground becomes more peaty as you drop towards Ogden Clough.
After a kilometre of gentle descent, the path will cross a stream and then take you sharply down hill to the valley bottom.
From here turn left re-crossing the stream. On an improving path enter pasture by a kissing gate.
As you descend pass first Upper Ogden Reservoir and then Lower Ogden Reservoir to enter the village almost opposite the car park.