Tuesday 6 January 2009

Fabulous Winter Walk

First a warning , there's lots of pics.
We'd decided to have some days out this week. So this morning despite temperatures of
-7 degrees we set off for a walk up Rivington Pike near Chorley ,
once owned by Lord Leverhulme , of Sunlight Soap fame. It is now owned by United Utilities and has the reservoirs that feed Bolton it's water.
It was bitterly cold but once we got walking we warmed up and we had a flask of hot coffee to have when we had a stop . It had been snowing up on the moors and the views were breathtaking. First high view. Unfortunately the reservoirs aren't very clear.
Meg amongst the heather . She had a wail of a time .
The top of Rivington Pike with the tower.Our goal for the morning was to get to the top
Half way up .
I think Meg could be saying " Hurry up you two I'm nearly there "
The appropriately named Winter Hill . This is where our tele signals come from.
We did it . This is the tower at the top of the pike . Not sure if it ever had a use .
We stayed for a rest and had our coffee and a biscuit. It was quite warm in the sun . Though we were wrapped up warm with several layers on .
This is the view from the very top . You can just make out the reservoirs . Somewhere in the distance is Blackpool Tower.
Going down . It was a bit precarious going down these steps as they were icy . Meg just flew down of course .
Me and Meg with the Pigeon Tower in the background . This is one of many follies Lord Leverhulme built .
It's a fascinating place to explore . There was once Japanese gardens and terraces and even a zoo. The bungalow Lord Leverhulme built up there is no longer there but in the Summer you can see where it was and even see part of the ballroom floor .

Part of the terraces. There's millions of steps to climb up and down.
In the previous pic we were walking across this bridge.
The path to the bottom .
At the end of the walk we went to the cafe near Rivington Barn and had hot tomato soup and coffee . And boy were we ready for it .
Then we looked round the little gift shop and I found these . I've just started collecting crystals so I was thrilled to get these an boost my collection .
A very nice end to a lovely day out.

2 comments:

Ambermoggie, a fragrant soul said...

gorgeous pictures:) glad you had a good walk especially when you see today's weather. Interesting mix of crystals

Artis-Anne said...

WOW stunnig photos and what agreat place .
Lovely crystals too ; I have a small collection of them also :)