The Tolkien Trail

 

Now that the 'Stay Home' order has been lifted we decided to spend the Saturday of the Easter weekend doing a new walk in an area that isn't that far away from us but we have not really visited. A work colleague told me about this walk as her family do it quite often as their son attends the school that the walk takes you near.

The walk starts at the village of Hurst Green in the Ribble Valley. There is no car park apart from the pub so parking can be an issue. We ended up parking just outside of the village on the main road and walking back into the village.

The Tolkien trail is 5 1/2 miles (9km) long and is in one of the most glorious valleys in the country.

You start in the village and following the map we had downloaded we set off to the first point which is Stonyhurst College. A building has been on that site since the 13th Century with the main building originating from the early 17th century and was mainly extended in the mid 19th century when it was one of the foremost public schools in the country. The link to Tolkien is that he stayed in one of the buildings whilst he was visiting his son. The view from this building may have been the inspiration for the view from Tom Bombadil's house.

Stonyhurst College.

You then walk down to Hacking Wood where you cross a bridge before meeting up with the River Hodder.

This was Matthew's and probably Penny's favourite part as Matthew loves to throw stones into water and Penny loves to chase them in. We spent about 1/2 an hour doing this and Penny never stopped. Both Penny and Matthew seemed rather reluctant to move on.

Herons are apparently a common sight on the river and we were lucky enough to see one.

Cromwell's Bridge

One thing that I can never get used to is when a public footpath takes you right through the middle of a farm yard. I always feel as though I shouldn't be there even though I can.

After walking through the farm yard we rejoined the river and came across Hacking Hall which was built in 1607. Nearby used to be a ferry service that was operating when Tolkien was there which may have been the inspiration for Buckleberry ferry in the book.

The next landmark was an aqueduct going across the river. Matthew informed us (even though we already knew) that an aqueduct carried water across a valley whereas a viaduct had either a road or a rail track on it.

I will admit that I found the last 1/2mile hard going. My energy levels plummeted but they were soon revived with a lemon meringue ice cream which was available from a little shop called Millie's back in Hurst Green village.

It was a lovely walk and surprisingly not as busy as I thought it would be for a bank holiday weekend. It is one we definitely intend to do again, especially once the pub (The Shireburn Arms) is re-opened and we can enjoy a meal after the exercise. It was also wonderful to be out and about instead of being at home. I am looking forward to when we decide to go out again.