September 2019outandaboutlive.co.uk 61ethereal sound wafting around inthe air.
Another small fixation enteredmymind- that one day I’d have averythorough
lookat Darwen. For surely a place that can
unscrambley’r mindtothat extentmust be
worthlookingat.
Brocklehead Farm Campsite sits astride
a ridge aboveDarwenoverlookinga huge
view of east Lancashire, where downbelow
are placesyou’re better off not seeingand
thankfully can’t.
Places likeBlackburn, where theyhave
BlackburnRovers, andAccrington, who
haveStanley. Lancashire’s famously gritty
mill towns. And Darwenof course,which is
surely different.
The following morning weambled
downhill into Darwen. It will beabouta
mile, in that waya mile canbequite elastic,
andwhenwearrived in the town centre
the loveof mylife waswearingthat ‘what
the hell have you brought me here for’
expression, which Iknow sowell.
That said, after abrewonthe pavement
outsidethe Sweet Vintage tea roomshe’d
settled abit.
Pavementculture in Darwen? Nobrass
band, though. The tea was loose leaf, too,
witha strainer, andwhat acivilisedchange
frombags.
Wecould have gone inWetherspoons,
which is across the road, butwepreferthe
‘tearoom’ atmosphere to a pub.
Wedid trespass intoWetherspoons
afterwards, just to inspect the building
itself, which is the former Wesleyan
Chapel, andis toutedasbeingthe finest
building inDarwen.+
ABOVELEFTParbold, and
the Leeds Liverpool Canal
ABOVERIGHTAutumn in
RoddlesworthWoodwhat is known asthe RivingtonTerraced
Gardens, ona verybeautifulSunday, and the
whole hill wasswarmingwithfolk.
Rule number one, forRivingtonPike, is
never doit onSunday, andrule numbertwo
says‘avoid in niceweather’. It wasstill very
lovely, though.
WilcocksFarmdidn’t happen,soI can’t
really comment onits salubriousness,
except tosaythat the locationis
fantastic for afew daysof strolling about
aroundRivington.
We, meanwhile, decided tostop on acar
parknearer Belmont, andafter having‘us’
tea couldn’t bebotheredtomove, sokipped
there. The actual reasonis because it is near
the magnificentRoddlesworth Wood.
Which bringsustoDarwen.AsI
mentioned, I’vecrawled, waded, walked and
generally managed tosomehow makemy
wayacross most of the hills aroundhere,
and, althoughtheycan’t compare with the
LakeDistrict fordrama, this is awild and
desolate landscapeabovethe valleys.
OneDecemberday afew moons since,
I’d wanderedacross the snowy tops to
DarwenMoor, where standsthe landmark
of DarwenTower.
The sky wasthat deepblueit canonly be
whenit meets alandsmothered insnow,
andit wasone of those moments you feel
truly lucky inlife.
AsI approached the tower the haunting
mellifluoussoundsof a brass bandstarted
togradually makeitself heard from
somewhere far, far, away, presumably down
in Darwen. And I wasthere, alone, amongst
all this sublime scenery, with that gloriousWalking on theWestPennine
MoorsbyTerry Marsh and
publishedbyCicerone, isa
no-nonsenseguidebook with
all the bestwalks in the area
cicerone.co.uk
BOOK
Lancashire TRAVEL