Sat 23 Aug 2014
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| The weir on the River Wyre at Abbeystead |
The day started
poorly, but after setting off to Abbeystead the sun appeared and for most of
the day it shone warmly. I checked the
shooting notice at Jubilee Tower and as I suspected the hills were closed. So I
went down to Abbeystead and walked along the banks of the Wyre to the weir
where Mum and Dad and I went one day in the early sixties. The path, although
part of the Wyre Way, is in poor condition, much of the stone paving obscured by encroaching grass and woodland debris and there are dangerous
places above steep drops to standing water. Wyre Council usually provide excellent country walking information, route signing being second to none. I can only suppose that the recent local government cuts have caused the footpath here to become neglected. It's a pity as the walk is popular and the area very attractive.
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| The Wyre is slow moving and deep |
When I reached the area below the weir I was completely astonished: the
place we visited so long ago had changed so much I couldn’t recognise it. It
was impossible to locate the place where my parents had stood for a photo! The trees have obviously grown to maturity in the intervening fifty years, and the wooden footbridge
where Dad and I had stood for a photo has been replaced by an arched metal one.
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| On the wooden bridge |
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| It's not possible to access this area now |
It is impossible to walk down and stand where I took my photo those years ago. I was very disappointed.
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| The lake at the top of the weir |
I went back to Jubilee Tower and sat in
the car to have my snack. A ranger was there in a
Lancashire Council vehicle and I told him about the poor condition of the path
in Abbeystead, and he made notes and said he would report it.
On the numerous times when I have parked here, I never noticed a small stone with details of a 7th century burial here discovered in 1973.
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| The plaque describing a 7th century burial |
I then set off back home, via the fell road past Grizedale
Bridge and Stang Yule. I stopped for a brew at the Delph. I reached home about
4.30. A pleasant day, and an easy one. A nice change, in fact.
It was later that I learnt Andrew had had a much more strenuous time walking from Delph Lane over Fiendsdale Head and down to Langden Castle. He had then continued to the Trough road. Altogether the round trip was a good fourteen miles.
