Winter Walks with Ron Freethy

I KNOW of many walkers who stroll along the Ribble Way in summer watching the swallows sweep along the river in search of insects rising in the warm air.

Far fewer people, I suspect, enjoy these walks in winter. When the leaves are off the trees the views along the banks can be spectacular especially when the sun is reflecting from the icicles on frozen areas.

Two winter walks which I can recommend are from Sawley Bridge and the area around West Bradford.

There is plenty of parking in and around Sawley and one delightful walk links Bolton-by-Bowland and Sawley Bridge. This is the place to see wintering birds such as goldeneye, goosander and there are often hundreds of blackheaded gulls in winter plumage.

The views beyond the bridge show the ruins of Sawley Abbey. The old name for the Cistercian Abbey was Salley and the translation of this means the place of the willows.

At one time the area around the Abbey was just a swampy field but between the 12th and 16th centuries the monks drained the land and worked hard to increase its fertility.

Between Sawley Bridge and the Spread Eagle hotel is the remains of a weir. In the 18th century this once provided water for a textile mill owned by the Peel family. They later move to the Bury area, the most famous member being Sir Robert Peel who was Prime Minister in the 1840's. It was Robert Peel who "invented" an organised police forced and hence their old name of Peelers and later "Bobbies." It was also Robert Peel who agreed to the setting up of the first postal service. The Penny Black was the first postage stamp in the world. The walk from Sawley to Bolton-by-Bowland is a joy and has a wonderful balance between history and natural history. It has the added advantage of a pub at either end of the walk; the Spread Eagle at the Sawley end, the Coach and Horses at the Bolton-by-Bowland end and you walk the Copy Nook on the motor road between the two.

Even on the short days of winter it is possible to enjoy two walks in a day providing you start off early enough.

I love to walk from West Bradford towards Clitheroe and even on the coldest days of January it is possible to find signs of spring. Willow and alder catkins are evident from the start of the new year and coltsfoot is beginning to push through the ground.

With the coltsfoot, which is related to the dandelion, the flower appears before the leaves. The name Coltsfoot refers to the shape of the leaves which resembles a horses hoof. The plant is still used to produce coltsfoot rock which is a good remedy for coughs and sore throats. Its scientific name is Tussilago which is actually Latin for a cough.

Although it was almost dark when I returned to West Bradford and its pub called the Three Millstones there was enough light for me to watch a dipper feeding close to the outfall of the weir.

These two walks prove the point that the Ribble Way in winter is every bit and beautiful as it is in the summer.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.