‘
March “comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb” is an unreliable axiom at the best of times, and these are unusual times climate wise. Looking back at my walks this March, and there haven’t been many, they have been brief interludes between rain storms. The fields and roads in the NW are still under standing water in many places. Yesterday, Good Friday, after a sunny start the storm clouds gathered, there was distant thunder and we were treated to some hefty hail showers. The lion is still roaring. We only have a couple of days for the March lamb to lead us mildly into April.
An optimistic ‘slate poem’ has appeared in the centre of the village. I still call it a village although it has become more town sized in the last few years. 
Yes, we are ready for some sunny warmer weather.
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Today’s short walk was more lamb than lion; weather and terrain being on the mild side. In fact I was stripping off layers as I walked up the hill out of Mellor. My first objective, easily reached, was the summit of Mellor Moor. There is a trig point, 223m, barely visible ancient earthworks, a Millennium Viewpoint pillar and the paraphernalia from a defunct Royal Observation Nuclear Blast and Fallout Monitoring Station from the cold war era. The latter is somewhere underground. I’m more interested with the 360 degree view this little hill provides, but with the day being so warm everything looks a bit hazy. Though BAE Salmesbury is prominent, are we still selling planes to Israel? I’ve been up here on a crisp winter’s day when you could see everything from the Lakes, Yorkshire, Lancashire to Wales. 
A gentle stroll down Abbott Brow admiring the blossoms in the gardens. I heard on the radio this morning that Forsythia was introduced into England in 1833 and was named in honour of William Forsyth, an C18th botanist, A few generations down the line came Bruce Forsyth.
A pleasant wander across fields alongside a stream brings me to the edge of Mellor Brook. Passing between bungalows I follow a stream in a wooded dell (presumably a tributary of Mellor Brook) alongside houses. I have friends who live in one of them but they have erected a new fence so I can’t peer into their garden. The whole place is full of bird song and I stop for a snack and drink taking in the rural ambience so close to major roads and towns. 
I manage to find my way up to and through Brundhurst Farm, yes there are noisy dogs as the guide book warned me. I forgot to mention this walk was featured in the Clitheroe Ramblers 25 Walks in the Ribble and Hodder Valleys book I have been using recently. I have now completed all the walks and would recommend them if the book is still in publication, it is advertised on their website. Local Walks (clitheroeramblers.co.uk)
There are lambs everywhere. A steep field takes me back to Mellor with the church steeple guiding the way. I even have time for a mellow pint in the Millstone Inn. 
An old well?
The Millstone Inn.
A gentle rural three miles on a mild spring day. What’s next – April showers?
***
