Wednesday May 15th was a lovely day for cycling. Not too hot and not too cold but I did have an unexpected headwind. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the rolling countryside and marveled at the beautiful dark rock free soil in the fields that were being ploughed as I headed east from Formby through familiar territory to Ormskirk and on to Rivington.

The plan for the day was to meet my cousin Jason and spend the night in a cottage in Mellor before tackling the climb through an area of natural beauty (AONB) The Forest of Bowland.

Jason and I went for a walk in the late afternoon and met a herd of cows who were a little too interested in us, so we chose a different route!

The Forest of Bowland AONB

The next morning (May 16th) I left the cottage and immediately had a 1000 ft climb. I skirted around the edge of Blackburn, into the Ribble Valley and through Clitheroe. On the way, I passed the Whalley Viaduct. The route was very quiet until I dropped down from the hills and crossed the River Calder at Whalley. I was in traffic for a few miles into and out of Clitheroe until I left Waddington and started climbing again.

On my way to the Forest of Bowland I passed through the picturesque village of Waddington which has earned the title of ‘Best Kept Village in Lancashire’ a few times and once ‘Best Kept Village in Yorkshire’ before the boundary changes in 1974. Waddington’s claim to fame is that King Henry VI (Henry the Good) lived for 12 months at Waddington Hall before being betrayed to the Yorkists in 1465. I stopped off at the lovely Coronation Gardens for a short rest.

The rest of the day was amazing. As I passed through the Forest of Bowland and the little villages/hamlets of Newton on a mostly paved road, I saw very few cars and people but lots of sheep. The views were amazing and the photos don’t do them justice. The landscape kept changing from bare moorland to lush valleys as I zoomed down hills into valleys and slogged my way up again.

My intent was to camp in High Bentham at a caravan park I had seen on the map. However, when I arrived, they told me they don’t accept tents, so I cycled another 4 miles and camped in Ingleton at Stackstead Farm campsite. From here I could see a couple of the peaks in the Three Peaks Challenge. I had hiked a couple of these peaks in the past but not all in one day!

By the end of the day, I had climbed over 4000 feet and cycled 36 miles. It was a memorable ride!