Robbie the Reindeer

Isn’t Christmas great?

There was no fell walking, sea fishing or birding last weekend, as it was Christmas tree buying weekend! As usual we ended up chopping over a foot off the top of it to get it in to the house – it happens every year but we just can’t help it. It is now in position and decorated with lights and baubles. It looks great and smells wonderful.

On Sunday we went up to my parents to get some Holly for the table decorations where we had a good chat, a wonderful diner and a drink or two which was very relaxing.

But what about the weather? The wind along the Lancashire coastline these past couple of weeks has been unbelievable and, looking at the forecasts for the coming weeks, is set for some time.

During the Christmas break we’re hoping to go sea fishing up towards Fleetwood as well as do a bit of fell walking so hopefully the weather isn’t going to be quite as bad as predicted.

If nothing else the storms are good for birding as all sorts gets blown of track and ends up a little closer to land than is usual so we’ll probably have a couple of trips out to the coast without fishing rods.

Now that will make a change!

Ancient Bridge

It’s been a long time since we went for a walk and we both needed to get out of the house for a breath of fresh air. We elected to go to Wycoller, after I’d seen the photographs of it on the ‘Images of Lancashire’ blog by Paul Brookfield (see below).

Wycoller and the surrounding area is designated a country park and no cars are allowed in the village except for residents and disabled visitors although there is ample car parking on the road from Trawden.

As we didn’t have anywhere we needed to be in a a hurry, we ambled through this beautiful unspoiled village, stopping at every bridge, house, stream or even tree for a closer look. The first photograph (don’t forget that you can click on the images to see an enlargement) is of one of seven bridges crossing Wycoller Beck and is of the Packhorse bridge and adjacent ford.

Wycoller Hall

This next image is of Wycoller Hall, thought to be the inspiration for Ferndean Manor in the novel Jane Eyre written by Charlotte Bronte. Much of the stone has been taken and used for other building throughout the ages but this has now been stopped since preventative restoration work begin in 1950.

We had a quick stop at the visitors centre, the Aisled barn, which was originally built in the 1630′s and is listed as being of historic and architectural interest (Grade 2). Unfortunately it was too dark inside the building to take any pictures but it is well worth a visit just to see the scale and size of it – it’s huge.

We crossed over another ancient bridge and had a quick look at some amazing willow sculptures.

Willow Sculpture

These have undoubtedly increased the appeal of this remarkable hamlet and are evidence of a good working partnership between the local community and the council – helping increase the ‘value’ of Wycoller without destroying it’s heart.

This photograph is of a tunnel and bower made out of living willow. This is fantastic, in the summer it is covered in bright green leaves and I can imagine in the winter the branches covered in frost – it must be great when it snows.

A little further upstream are a few benches next to a couple of ponds, obviously man made but done very well and teaming with wildlife. We stopped here for a quick snack and watched the world go by for a while.

Rowan

Throughout the village the trees were full of fruit and it was good to see that every so often, an information plate had been placed near the tree with it’s species clearly marked. The most spectacular were the Rowan or Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia).

After our rest we headed southeast out of the village along the many paths and bridle ways that are well marked in the area.

A great day out in a beautiful area – I recommend it to everyone.

Wycoller is to east of Colne (at the eastern end of the M65). OS ref SD 931393 (Landranger 103 or Explorer OL21)

I took a lot of photographs – the best of which are below.

The Atom, Wycoller

Looking South Along Pendle Way

Looking Towards Wycoller From Combe Hill

Pendle Hill

South Stack

Well we’ve got back from our two week jaunt to Anglesey and I’m splitting this blog into two bits, walking and fishing.

The weather was ‘interesting’ during the first week with west featuring predominantly in the wind direction which made fishing difficult so rather than stay inside on these blustery days we went out and explored the wonderful coastline that surrounds anglesey.

The first photograph is of the cliffs around the South Stack area where we had a quick look at the RSPB station. There’s quite a lot of information on South Stack on the BBC Wales website here.

We didn’t see many birds on the cliffs although there were a few Kittiwakes with chicks still in residence and on the way back to the car a Chough flew up the cliff face towards us as we were having a drink – I’ve only ever seen them in the distance before so this was a fantastic site.

Moel-y-don

As the weather didn’t seem to be getting any better we called into ABC tackle at Beaumaris to ask Malcolm about fishing the straits. He suggested giving an area around Moel-y-don a go so on the way back to the cottage we went for a quick walk along the Menai Straits, North to the start of the Nation trust Land at Plas Newydd.

You get a strange sensation standing on the shores of anglesey looking back towards the North Wales mainland, it’s as if you’re not on an island at all and only a river separates these two pieces of land, thats is until you see a shoal of Mackerel go past…

Porth Eilian

As the weather brightened up during the second week we did more fishing until just before coming back home. On the Friday we were ‘fished out’ so went for a walk around Point Lynas which is the North East corner and offers fantastic views in almost every direction.

We were hoping to see some Porpoises but the sea was to choppy to spot anything on the surface. We did manage to spot a flock of Gannets in the distance plunging into the sea, diving into what we assume was a large shoal of Mackerel – unfortunately they were too far away to get any photo’s.

Puppies

Yesterday I took this photo of the Spaniel puppies that had just started to open their eyes, the owner of the cottage where we stayed is a gamekeeper and it was wonderful watching these little chaps take their first steps.

And then it was time to come home. Once again another fantastic visit to this magical island which thankfully is still almost unspoiled by modern tourism.

Clougha Pike Summit

By Saturday we’d had enough decorating and headed north up the M6 to walk up Clougha Pike, which is the large hill to the east of Lancaster on the other side of the motorway. We parked just north of Quernmore and headed east up Windy Clough. Once we’d got to the northern end, in a moment of madness we went over Black Fell and headed around the summit of Clougha to Grit Fell.

The views of the moorlands we’re fantastic and the wildlife is showing all the signs that spring has finally arrived. We saw a lot of Grouse, in full breeding plumage and even saw a couple of house martins souring in the breeze. It’s amazing that this area used to supply millsotnes for the local area and there is even a broken one on top of the fell – image having to carve that only to have it break at the last moment!!!

Wendy on Grit Summit

This is Wendy at the summit of Grit, good views but tiny cairn (Wendy is only 5’1″ tall!). From here we made our way back north to the summit of Clougha Pike where Wendy took the rather fetching photo of me posing against the trig point (above). It was then all the way down the hill and back to the car. A great day out, and considering it was easter weekend, very quiet – we only saw 7 other people on the whole walk.

We did sort out some fishing tackle though, ready for our weekend away at the end of the month to Anglesey – so although it was disappointing about the walk we’re getting geared up ready for our summer fishing and hopefully catch some Bass.

We’ll be trying the jif lemon floats we made which involved making a float / weight by filling a jif lemon with wax and attaching it to your trace and main line line via a couple of swivels. I believe it’s a very effective way of fishing soft plastic / jelly worm type lures so we’re going to give it a try.