June 2025

Downham Circular

Easy

7.3 miles | 11.8 km | 269 m Ascent | 8.7 Naismith miles | Kate Rowe / Kate Butcher
It seems like a while since we visited the Forest of Bowland, and a quick check on the website confirms that it was on April 15th that we walked at Newton; so it’s a nice to renew our acquaintance with this quieter area.
This time we base our walk at Downham, a lovely village just outside Clitheroe. It’s one of the traditional starting points for a walk up Pendle Hill. We have the famous hill looming above us for much of the route, but we don’t climb it. Instead, we follow beck-side paths up to Twiston, and then loop back via Twiston Mill, and Downham Mill using the Lancashire Way path. A quick visit to the lovely Swanside packhorse bridge makes a great lunch stop before we head over to Chatburn crossing the A59, and a Roman road to skirt round Worsaw Hill, known for burial mounds and fossils, before returning to Downham for ice cream.

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Latterbarrow and Claife Heights from Far Sawrey

Moderate

8.7 miles | 14.0 km | 489 m Ascent | 11.1 Naismith miles | Terri Kwiecinska
This walk to Latterbarrow and Claife Heights – to the west of Windermere – is at the far end of our range, which we tend to think of as within one hour of driving time. Add a longer than average walk to that, and we have a full day to manage – hence our early start.
Was this extra effort worthwhile? Absolutely . . . the walking to the west side of the lake is quieter and more tranquil than to the east, and the views are just as good. Add secluded tarns, links to Beatrix Potter, woodland paths, fungi, lots of wildlife, a great view from the peak of Latterbarrow, Basecamp, the enchanting Scab Moss, a lovely lakeside track, and finally a welcoming pub at the end make this a walk to savour.

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Silverdale and Arnside

Easy

5.2 miles | 8.3 km | 228 m Ascent | 6.3 Naismith miles | Alison Kinder & Colin Stroud
Having enjoyed a run of five walks over 12km and therefore graded as “moderate”, we return to Silverdale and Arnside, a favourite area of the group, for an easier walk.
Easy is not the same as dull though, and this walk manages to pack a lot into quite a comfortable distance: Great views of Morecambe Bay and the Kent estuary, sandy beaches, coves and caves, Heathwaite Woods, an area particularly known for orchids and other wild flowers within the Arnside and Silverdale National Landscape, the intriguing stunted trees of Arnside Knott, a rare fragment of the once common temperate rainforest that covered much of western Britain, and an ancient pele tower.

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