Let’s Take A Festive Walk
Boxing Day is one of the most popular days for a leisurely family ramble. Mark Sutcliffe takes us on a relaxed five-mile walk starting from Spring Wood climbing gently into the woods before joining the River Calder and returning to Whalley via the Nab
SPRING WOOD & WHALLEY NAB
Start: Spring Wood car park, Whalley BB7 9DP
Distance: 8.1km / 5 miles
Time: 2hrs 45m
Climb: 260metres
Toilets: Spring Wood car park
Grade: Moderate
Refreshments: Deux Amis, King Street, Whalley
START
1. From the car park at Spring Wood, head back towards the entrance off the main road then take the footpath left over the stile and onto the golf course along the edge of the woods. Beware of golf balls! Climb steadily for 200m then head left over the footbridge and continue climbing to the stile at the edge of the woodland. Cross the stile and continue climbing along the right-hand field boundary.
2. At the copse at the top of the incline, head sharp right through a kissing gate and follow the line of yellow capped marker posts heading diagonally downhill then veering half left to meet the lane. Head right through the stile and along the lane to join the main road briefly before taking the footpath on the left. Continue across the field and downhill and over two stiles into a larger field. Continue straight ahead on a faint grassy path and over another stile, descending to a farm track. Head left then right along the lane and over Read old bridge.
3. Over the bridge, take the footpath on your right heading over the field to the end of the woodland. Continue straight ahead over a stile to join the track and follow this along the edge of the woods to the tarmac driveway. Turn right and follow the driveway to the main road beside the gatehouse. Cross the busy main road with care and continue down a track opposite. Continue on the track to another busy main road and cross with care.
4. Head over the bridge and take the footpath on the right before the pub. Follow a grassy path downhill and over the footbridge and follow the marker posts downstream. Ford the stream and climb steeply above the trees. Follow the path around the lip of the valley and through a kissing gate, continuing straight ahead into the woods, then veer left and then right to descend through a kissing gate and over the footbridge. Follow the path alongside the fence and then, when you reach the gate on your right, head slightly left across the next field, climbing steadily.
5. In the corner of the field, cross the stream on a flagstone bridge and continue on a path beside the stream for 200m before recrossing and going through a kissing gate on the right. Climb very steeply to the right-hand corner of the field and through a kissing gate, then right along the holloway to join Dean Lane. Continue along the lane through the hamlet and briefly onto a path before joining an access track. After 50m, fork right onto a bridleway, then join the footpath running parallel, descending steeply to meet the road.
6. Turn right and cross the bridge into Whalley. At the far side of the bridge, take the first road on your right between the houses and onto the riverside path. Follow the path upstream and then left to join the road. Cross the road, head right then take the footpath on the left after 30m. Follow the grassy path through the field to a kissing gate and cross the dual carriageway at the traffic lights to return to Spring Wood.
Mark Sutcliffe is a former editor of Country Walking and a contributor to some of the UK’s leading outdoor magazines – including Countryfile and Trail. He is the author of the Cicerone Guide to Walking in Lancashire and regularly leads walks in the Ribble Valley and Forest of Bowland.
To pre-order Mark’s new guidebook: ‘Fifteen Short Walks in the Ribble Valley’ from Cicerone, follow this link: https://shorturl.at/Tx7Tm
