Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: May 2018

Ogden Water Plantation and Ovenden Moor

Who would have thought that Ogden Water would have been this quiet on a Bank Holiday weekend? Mind you we did get there well before lunchtime so consequently there was only the odd dog walker about. It was a lot busier as we headed back to the car a couple of hours later.

It's easy to get away from the hordes by heading off either in to the woods or the quieter side valleys. The path up through the woods starts a bit steepish which I think puts a lot of people off and, if you go even higher up on to Ovenden Moor as we did, you can guarantee to be more or less on your own. The walk back down through the woods to the reservoir is on a quiet, mainly unused path and is a sheer delight. Then its just a case of following the main footpath around the reservoir and back to the car.

It had been sunny and it had been hot so the pint we had sitting outside of the nearby Dog and Gun in Oxenhope was most welcoming.

Overhanging tree, Ogden Water

Grass close up

Ogden Clough

Ovenden Moor trees

Path back to Ogden Water

Ovenden Moor trees

Walking back down to the reservoir

Fire break in woodland

An evening stroll along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal

I felt a bit restless late afternoon and, with the weather being beautiful, I felt like I should really take advantage of it. It was too late in the day to go far so I opted to walk from Dowley Gap up to Five Rise Locks on The Leeds-Liverpool Canal. The towpath up until Five Rise was very quiet with just the odd cyclist and dog walker but, as expected, it it was a little busier up by the locks. I just managed to get to the cafe before it closed and sat outside, with an ice cold can of cola, making the most of the evening sun and trying to cool off a bit.

Suitably refreshed, I set off back and on the way I came across what I can only imagine was a water vole. It was swimming close to the far bank but disappeared into some reeds and unfortunately never came back out. It was the first time I'd ever encountered one so subsequently I was too surprised to grab a photo. It certainly made up for me not seeing either a heron or a kingfisher. Mind you the canal will have been busy all day and that alone will have kept them well away as they are both pretty illusive birds at the quietest of times.

The light and stillness just before I got back to Dowley Gap was the best of the walk and I think this resulted in me taking my best photos of the day.

I can certainly recommend this as a belting way to build up an appetite for a Saturday night curry!

Canal Barge and reflection

Jay

Plant Life Three Rise Locks

Bingley from Five Rise Locks

Five Rise Locks

Canal Barge

Evening light on the canal

Canal Reflection

Canal near Dowley Gap

Queen Anne's Lace

Evening light on the canal

What did you do to escape the Royal Wedding???

Heysham...not many people's choice I should imagine but a place I fell in love with years ago and also the place that first introduced me to Sal on Flickr. If I remember rightly, I had called in Morecambe on my way back from The Lakes and, as I followed the signs back to the M6, I somehow ended up there! Fate played a good part in my life that day.

The quaint part of the town is mainly centred around the ancient St Patrick's Chapel and St Peter's Church. Of historical interest are the stone graves in the ruins of the ancient St. Patrick's Chapel which are thought to date from the 11th century, and are hewn from solid rock. Local legend has it that St Patrick landed here after crossing from Ireland and established the chapel. However it has been established that the chapel was built around 300 years after Patrick's death. On a side note, these stone graves appear on the cover of the Black Sabbath CD, "The Best of Black Sabbath".

The grounds of St Peter's Church contain many Saxon and Viking remains, and the church itself contains a Viking hogback stone which were large Scandinavian sculptures that were used as grave markers in the 11th century. The surrounding area is known as The Barrows which is also another ancient name for a burial ground and this area is home to the only rock cliffs in Lancashire. On a clear day you can see across Morecambe Bay to the Lakeland fells.

The only downside of Heysham is the ungainly mass of the port where ferries leave for the Isle of Man and the nuclear power station both of which are situated at the far end of The Barrows and Half Moon Bay.

Our first port of call, as is usual these days, was for a delicious cup of coffee in the newly furbished Church Hall. The one thing you can thank these major coffee shop franchises for is that they have made us more aware of how good a proper cup of coffee can be. Even the most basic cafes/coffee shops these days seem to have a machine which matches anything that a Costa or a Starbucks can offer and usually at a more reasonable price. I believe ours cost £1.50 compared to the £2.50 that one of the chains would charge.

The coffee was followed by a couple of hours of just wandering around the immediate area and Half Moon Bay with our cameras. We had clear blue sunny skies so neither of us was in any great rush which just seemed to add to our enjoyment. The positioning of St Peter's graveyard must be one of the most spectacular in the country; it stretches right down to the shore of Morecambe Bay and, if you are still around to enjoy it, commands a fabulous view across the bay, especially so on a clear day like what we had (see what I did there?).

A fine afternoon was finished off nicely by a visit to The Royal Inn which, despite having a beer garden full of annoying people, was just what the doctor ordered. This photography business can be thirsty work! We drove back along Morecambe promenade just so that we could say hi to "Eric" and had intended to stop but being as it was so busy and our day had been so long, we gave it a miss.

Earlier in our day Sal had mentioned the grave of a slave/cabin boy called Sambo (I know!!) who arrived on these shores from The West Indies in 1736. He took to the hearts of the local people so much so that, when he passed away, they buried him on unconsecrated ground at a place called Sunderland Point. In the day it was a port serving cotton and sugar and overlooked the Bay.

Sal had said she would like to try and visit it so off we went in search of Sambo. Apparently these days the grave is a bit of a shrine where visitors leave various small artifacts in his memory. Our first attempted starting point was flooded by the high tide and then, due to inaccurate information given by a local, our second attempt from a different starting point was abandoned. This was because a couple of locals told us the walk was three miles long (making it a six mile round trip) but when we checked later, it was in fact only about a mile. We decided to wait until our next visit and go and pay our respects then.

Just from this short walk, it is so easy to see how people can get cut off when the fast tide comes in on the bay as the grassy sands are full of fast filling channels which can be pretty tricky to cross. It was obvious that the area were in never got invaded by the tide but I should imaging being further out could be problematic.

We had a break in our homeward journey for a pint in at The New Inn at Clapham finished off the day very nicely.

The Spirit of Heysham

St Peter's Church, Heysham

Morecambe Bay

Looking towards Heysham Head

Resting Place

Sal

Queen Anne's Lace

Bluebellos on The Barrows.

Heysham Head

Bluebells, Heysham Head

Heysham Head

Heysham Port from Half Moon Bay

Half Moon Bay

Local Farmers' Meet in Keswick

I just happened to be driving in to Keswick and came across this little gathering. There wasn't any display saying what it was so I can only assume it was some form of local Farmer's Meet. They have the main Shepherds and Farmers Meet and Show at Rosthwaite down Borrowdale in September so I'm a bit flummoxed as to what this one was. The sheep were definitely being judged though and cups/rosettes were given to the winners and runners up plus it was being taken very seriously.

There was a good turn out by the Young Farmers who seemed to be doing most of the hard work. The gnarly old boys were mainly just leaning on their crooks and enjoying plenty of craic although a few of them did step up to the plate when the serious judging began.

It was something different and I really enjoyed it. There's a photography saying that you should never work with kids and animals...I wonder if they had sheep in mind when they wrote that because they are seldom still and have the nasty habit of turning away just as you are about to press your shutter release.

No sheep were injured in the production of this blog!!