The rockman comes to Longridge for a short walk, where else would I take him apart from up Longridge Fell. I have an ulterior motive, There has been some new ground work carried out on the fell and I want to investigate.
It promises to be a hot sunny day once more.
There is a new dog-poo bag bin installed by the gate, courtesy of Thornley and Wheatley Council, I hope some one empties it regularly as it is not that large. The first two pieces of littering on the track are guess what?
Steadily up to the trig point which is already occupied, we get employed as official photographers of the couple on their first visit. The views are stunning with Ingleborough and Pen-y-Ghent clearer than usual.
We warn the couple of some difficulty getting along the ridge in the forest due to all the windblown trees. Some have been cut back but more seem to have come down in the most recent winds.
Just the other day my son sent me a picture he took in 2002 when I camped up here with my oldest grandson who was about five or six at the time, he remembers it well, particularly the baked beans and the deer that wandered past as it became dark. Today as we snake the easiest way through the carnage I recognise the very spot where we had camped. A WhatsApp photo is sent off to the family.
I head for what used to be ‘Sam’s Best View’ if you remember it. But new growth is obstructing what was a Bowland panorama. Time for a drink and snack anyhow, the day is heating up. The rockman is checking for additives.
We loop the loop and start heading for home. More tree debris is circumnavigated and eventually we come out onto the south side of the forest where the fell drops away to the old Clitheroe road. And there it is, right in front of us where before was all open land, a five foot wire fence topped off for good measure with two strands of barbed wire. I have previously reported on drainage ditches being dug on the moorland, ponds being enlarged and lots of heavy machinery damaging the fragile surface and trees. A drainage ditch has even been dug on United Utilities land, whether with permission or not. The owner for whatever reason doesn’t want us on his land. I won’t go into the legal wrangles that are transpiring or local speculation on what he is up to. Does he not realise deer roam this open moor and their leap will probably result in serious injury from the unnecessary barbed wire.
On the way off the fell we pass the spot where my ‘Grim up North’ pine tree stood until it was mown down by the ditch digging, It had been lying on its side and I had hopes of some regeneration when I passed it in March. Those hopes were dashed today as it has been well and truly logged up. Criminal.
So more questions asked rather than answered. I have a feeling that this will become an ongoing saga on which I will report back from time to time.
