Following on from previous walks, the day took a small number of us (@Crossover, @Hadders, @Starmill, @yorkie and @table38) to Lancashire to walk along the open sections of the Great Harwood Loop, a line which used to run from Rose Grove to Rishton on the East Lancashire Line, bypassing Accrington.
Having arrived from various directions, the group assembled at Rose Grove, walking along Lower Rosegrove Lane/Molly Wood Lane to join The Padiham Greenway. The first bit of the walk was quite noticeably, and thankfully(!), downhill towards the old Padiham station. As we passed here, we passed a remaining section of track, a siding, which was situated just off the footpath.
The remainder of this section of the walk took us on through Padiham, as far as the A6068, where the Greenway ends and we diverted off into Meadway Business Park, where the sun was now rather beating down, to await a taxi to take us on to Martholme Viaduct, where the line continues.
Leaving the taxi on Martholme Lane, we walked down the road to the viaduct which once carried the railway across the River Calder
To gain access to the viaduct, a rather steep (and rough) set of steps had to be navigated, and I was glad to be going up and not down these. The viaduct itself I believe (I am sure someone will clarify) was only reopened relatively recently. However, due to landowner issues, it is not possible to leave at the East(?) side of the viaduct and as such, a double back was done here, walking from the stairs we had climbed, along the viaduct, before walking back from whence we had arrived.
A couple of views from the viaduct:
A view along the viaduct, looking towards the blocked off end:
The walk from here was much more rugged, the main Greenway that we covered before having all being tarmacced, but this being a veritable mixture of dirt paths, what essentially resembled fields and linked with walks along roads where the line had been obstructed with housing, industry etc.
Winding our way to Great Harwood itself, we walked passed an interestingly decorated building that stood next to "Railway Terrace", not far from the old station
I can only imagine it may have been painted at Halloween!
The final section of the walk is a little hazy (I am trying to follow it on Google as I type!), but we did come across what we thought was a tunnel portal, as made our way towards Rishton. The walk took us a little bit beyond Rishton and we left the line at Cut Lane - the field opposite looking like it had been raised, possibly backfilling the bridge we were seemingly stood on, with another bridge visible in the distance, beyond a field of cows!
The final walk took us along Cut Lane, over some rather interesting cattle grids (there was another way round, but some of the group did have a go at navigating the "grids"!)...
...and finally over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal (at what I now believe to be the Grade II listed Cut Lane Bridge (107)) which afforded some lovely views along the canal
We arrived back at Rishton station with around 15 minutes before our train (a 150) to Blackburn, where we decamped to a very nice Indian restaurant for some well deserved food and drink!
Having arrived from various directions, the group assembled at Rose Grove, walking along Lower Rosegrove Lane/Molly Wood Lane to join The Padiham Greenway. The first bit of the walk was quite noticeably, and thankfully(!), downhill towards the old Padiham station. As we passed here, we passed a remaining section of track, a siding, which was situated just off the footpath.
The remainder of this section of the walk took us on through Padiham, as far as the A6068, where the Greenway ends and we diverted off into Meadway Business Park, where the sun was now rather beating down, to await a taxi to take us on to Martholme Viaduct, where the line continues.
Leaving the taxi on Martholme Lane, we walked down the road to the viaduct which once carried the railway across the River Calder
To gain access to the viaduct, a rather steep (and rough) set of steps had to be navigated, and I was glad to be going up and not down these. The viaduct itself I believe (I am sure someone will clarify) was only reopened relatively recently. However, due to landowner issues, it is not possible to leave at the East(?) side of the viaduct and as such, a double back was done here, walking from the stairs we had climbed, along the viaduct, before walking back from whence we had arrived.
A couple of views from the viaduct:
A view along the viaduct, looking towards the blocked off end:
The walk from here was much more rugged, the main Greenway that we covered before having all being tarmacced, but this being a veritable mixture of dirt paths, what essentially resembled fields and linked with walks along roads where the line had been obstructed with housing, industry etc.
Winding our way to Great Harwood itself, we walked passed an interestingly decorated building that stood next to "Railway Terrace", not far from the old station
I can only imagine it may have been painted at Halloween!
The final section of the walk is a little hazy (I am trying to follow it on Google as I type!), but we did come across what we thought was a tunnel portal, as made our way towards Rishton. The walk took us a little bit beyond Rishton and we left the line at Cut Lane - the field opposite looking like it had been raised, possibly backfilling the bridge we were seemingly stood on, with another bridge visible in the distance, beyond a field of cows!
The final walk took us along Cut Lane, over some rather interesting cattle grids (there was another way round, but some of the group did have a go at navigating the "grids"!)...
...and finally over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal (at what I now believe to be the Grade II listed Cut Lane Bridge (107)) which afforded some lovely views along the canal
We arrived back at Rishton station with around 15 minutes before our train (a 150) to Blackburn, where we decamped to a very nice Indian restaurant for some well deserved food and drink!
