31March 2023
Hello and good morning and welcome to Barley which is in the forest of Pendle which is in Lancashire.
We’re near places like Nelson. Barley is an absolutely wonderful place and today I have come to climb Pendle Hill.
By the car park at Barley there’s a beautiful visitors’ center in the corner with some wonderful food as well. To the left there’s a car park. It’s cheap to park and it’s well maintained.
First let’s talk about 1612. Basically there were 12 people in this locality who were actually accused of witchcraft. There were two main families the Demdikes and the Chattox. Both families were run by two elderly matriarchal women and each was accusing the other of various misdemeanours. Ten of the twelve ended up being hung.
There’s a lot of myth subsequent in this area about those people.
I’ve come to climb Pendle Hill but I tell you what, it does make the whole thing a little bit more fun and spooky.
Right and here we are in the lovely village of Barley. What a place! We’re just going to head up here, signposted, Barley Green which is to the right of the village hall.
After 15 minutes and 120 feet of climbing we come to Lower Ogden reservoir and can cross the dam over towards Fell Wood. Lovely views. Then, after a climb up, we can go into Fell Wood. You can completely bypass this wood and carry on up the road I was on before but the simple reason I’m here is because these woods are supposedly haunted. I just thought I’d do a quick detour and have a look.
Whether you believe it or not doesn’t really matter, I’m here having a bit of fun. One thing you can notice is a really old road going through here so it was obviously an old trade route. Very old, very cobbled and very narrow.
There is a bit of a vibe here in the woods but maybe it’s that auto suggestion thing you know. It’s an incredible place.
After, we go back down to a footbridge and look what you spring out onto! Everything is now open and the views are lovely. Then it’s across the bridge and then basically we pick up the road that we left to go to the woods.
So we’ve covered 2k in about an hour and hopefully you’ll be doing lots of photography and really enjoying it.
When you come to the dam we go straight on through the gate. You can go right but we’re going to go straight on.
An hour and 15 in and 2.7K covered and a decent climb and I’m starving. You can stop for lunch by Upper Ogden reservoir and then walk along the well-marked footpath. Then we’re going to head up towards something called Boars Clough, probably in about 500 meters or so.
Then you carry on straight ahead. The path is well worn and straight in front of you.
An hour and forty-five into the walk and 3.4K covered and basically you follow the path uphill.
There are cairns all the way along to keep you in the right direction.
Two hours and twenty minutes sees you approaching the summit, 558 meters up.
The views from the top the Pendle Hill are absolutely fabulous. Take the time to have a good look round before heading back down.
To go back down to Barley you go straight ahead from the summit, take a right at the wall and you should be back in about 30 to 40 minutes.
I found this a hike! Loads of lovely people come up here, it’s just wonderful.
At the first gate you come to, take a right and go to the right of the house you come to. Just follow the witch signs. Go straight on at the next gate and the one after that. The path is really nice at that point. Keep following the witch signs; take a left and just pop over the foot bridge.
Go through the little gate straight ahead and when you just get to the road take a right.
That was less than 40 minutes to get back to the village but what a day and what a place! Seriously it has been magical I’m not joking it’s been fun and epic. I really enjoyed it and I hope you can come to Barley and Pendle Hill and enjoy it too.
This walk was taken by Paul Jones from ‘Walking Hills Northwest’. You can see his videos on Youtube.
Why not stay at Pendle Holiday Cottages and enjoy many more walks like this one? You can take advantage of being already in Barley and having accommodation that’s the perfect country retreat. With marvellous views of their own and with every amenity you can wish for, Pendle Holiday Cottages are a place that many people come to time and time again.
Book through this website and save yourself 10% of the price. That will leave you enough left over for a really nice meal at one of our lovely local restaurants and pubs before heading back to the cottage and enjoying a relaxing night’s sleep.