Downham Circular
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.
