Weekend Walks

There was no bacon or sausage in sight this Sunday morning, instead the three of us had toast and a cuppa before driving over to Jumbles Country Park to commence our walk.

Overhead conditions were somewhat overcast, and it was surely only a matter of time before the heavens opened up. The first stage of our walk took us along the right hand banks of Jumbles Reservoir where we encountered several of Lucy's favourite critters...ducks! The only problem here was that Lucy had forgotten to bring any bread to feed them (she walked the entire Rivington route last week with a full loaf in her napsack).

At it's furthest point, we took a path leading us away from the reservoir and up some steps towards moorland...

As we reached the top of the stepped path the heavens did indeed open, gently at first, giving us the opportunity to pull on our waterproof jackets before feeling the full force of the giant droplets. A couple of walkers behind us did the same thing, whilst doing so commenting on how the experience "was just like sailing". The comment left the three of us a little bemused, but it became our tag-line throughout the walk whenever the heavier rain came down.

Our route took us over a small patch of moorland before leading us up towards Turton Tower. We bypassed the tower and headed over the 19th century railway bridge that lay up ahead...

After bacon & sausage butties, the three of us, Lucy, Steven & I drove up to Rivington Barn and parked up.

On the drive over, I had travelled in the passenger seat and noticed a hub-cap rolling along out the window to my left. I thought nothing of it at the time, but when I stepped out of the car, to my dismay, and moreso to Steven's (he had drove) he was missing one front, passenger-side hub-cap! How silly do I feel...

Anyway, there was nothing could be done, so at 13:05 we set off on our afternoon walk to take in the scenic views that Rivington had to offer.

Shortly into our walk we came across a field of about 5 or 6 goats. I find it really funny how goats don't appear all that interested in the grass beneath them, but as soon as you shake a handful of grass at them, they're up and trotting up to you for a nibble...

On we rambled, and after a slight misjudgement we were back on track and enjoying the fresh countryside air. On a slightly steep descent Steven's bad luck continued as he lost his grip under foot and ended up on his backside! All was soon forgotten as we reached the bottom to be greeted by an ice-cream stall. Lucy and Steven treated themselves to cornets and we plodded along up towards Pigeon Tower. On the way up there we came across a very interesting bridge, named Lever Bridge, but more commonly known as "Seven Arch Bridge"...

A short distance away, but atop a steep incline was Pigeon Tower, a tower we had seen from afar early into our afternoon. The views looking back down in the direction from which we had walked were awe-inspiring, taking in Lower & Upper Rivington Reservoirs, and Anglezarke Reservoir.

The tower itself was a very interesting structure, having been constructed in the early 20th century as an elaberate summerhouse and lookout. The tower got it's name due to the ornamental doves & pigeons that were kept in the adjacent dovecots & lofts...

From the tower we headed up what seemed to be about a thousand steps to Rivington Pike, which became the apex of our day's walking at 1,191 ft...

From the Pike it was all downhill, which came as a quiet relief to the three of us. We passed farmland and tree-lined bridleways before stumbling upon our final point of interest, Liverpool Castle, or at least the remains of Liverpool Castle. Well, that's not quite true either, as in fact they are the replica remains of Liverpool Castle...

On the final leg of our walk we trudged, with now aching feet and legs along the banks of Lower Rivington Reservoir and over to the car park from where we had started what had become a 4 hour 50 minute ramble across moorland, grassland, woodland & steep ascents, as well as taking in some breath-taking views from up on high!

We now have a full week to rest our aching feet in time for next week's walk!

Further photos of the day...