Slaidburn
to Newton Via Easington Fell
Starting point and OS Grid reference:
Village
of Slaidburn - pay and display car park (SD 714524).
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Ordnance Survey Map
OL41
Forest of Bowland.
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of OS Maps
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used to fund the website, so keeping it free to use.
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Distance: 8.5
miles
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Date of Walk: 4 March 2015
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Ascent:
Descent:
See Walking Time Calculator
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Traffic
light rating:
(For explanation see
My Walks page)
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For advice on .gpx files see
My
Walks page
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Click
the PDF logo above to give a printable version of this walk without the
photos.
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To
view route as a dynamic Ordnance Survey map click here.
Introduction: This walk from Slaidburn takes you up to Easington
Fell, then circles to Newton before returning via a riverside footpath to
Slaidburn.
Slaidburn is a
picturesque village in the Forest of Bowland and very popular with walkers.
Newton is equally pretty
with an attractive village green.
Refreshment is available at the Parkers Arms in Newton and the Hark to
Bounty in Slaidburn. Ideal picnic spots are rare but there are some useful
benches in Newton.
There is potential for a great deal of mud on this walk, so I strongly
recommend gaiters.
The ascent from Slaidburn is quite a pull in some places and the descent
from Easington Fell is steep. The walk therefore gets a couple of amber
warnings!
The walk starts from the modestly priced pay and display car park in the
lovely village of Slaidburn in the Trough of Bowland where there are public
toilets. The best way to get there depends very much on from which direction
you are coming, so it is best to consult an atlas or my Google Map.
Start: Turn left out of the car park and cross the bridge over the
River Hodder. Follow the road round the sharp bend and no more than 50 yards
or so after the bend, turn right through a farm gate indicated by a public
footpath fingerpost.
As you crest the rise,
follow the stone wall on the right until you come to a stone step stile by a
gate. Cross the stile and follow the wall down on the left and go through a
farm gate, then another to the road. Cross the road and take the track to
Broadhead Farm.
At Broadhead Farm, keep
straight ahead on the tarmac, then work your way clockwise round its rear to
cross Easington Brook over the bridge. Go through one farm gate and follow
the track to a second. Follow the sign here to Skelshaw. This sign looked
none too robust so in case it disappears, head for the top right hand corner
of the next field.
Go through a gate and
cross the stream (paddling may be necessary), then follow the track as it
curves left to follow the bank of the stream before crossing it again. Go
through the walkers’ gate slightly to the left.
Follow the left hand
boundary of the field to Skelshaw House and join the broad track. Turn left
to follow it uphill.
At the next farm (Fell
Side), the track curves left behind it and on to the open fell. There is a
yellow footpath arrow on the gate. There were some very rowdy dogs at this
farm when I passed but they were safely caged.
Follow the main track up
on to Easington Fell. There are good views behind over Slaidburn to the
fells beyond.
The track arrives at the
B6478 road (SD 718484). You now have a choice. You can simply follow the
road down for about a mile, to turn off left to New Laithe. However, this
can be quite a busy road and I opted to take a slightly longer footpath
route (about half a mile longer) across the fell to avoid this. This is not
an easy path to navigate as it is clearly not well used but if you are
feeling adventurous….!
Just before the road,
turn right off the track on to the rough fell. You need to spot the grouse
butts and follow them walking to their right. There seemed to be very faint
tracks here and there but whether people or animal created is difficult to
know.
You will drop down into a
little valley and at this point, you should be able to spot a stone cairn on
the ridge ahead. Make your way to this. There are great views from there.
Now for the tricky bit!
From the cairn, (SD 715492), you need to work your way down the hill, to a
gateway in the wall below (SD 715492). This is not easy to spot.
Through the gate, bear
right to follow the wall down. This route is strictly to the west of the
footpath shown on the OS map, which is the other side of the wall. However,
I saw no easy way to access this, or I missed it. No one is perfect!
Follow the wall downhill.
Eventually, it becomes a fence. Follow this down until it meets a wall at a
gap where there was possibly a gate at one time. Go through the gap and
follow the right hand boundary down to the farm track to Smelfthwaites
(SD 711494) and turn left
along the track.
At the road, turn left
and follow it for less than a quarter of a mile to a distinct left hand
bend. Turn right here along a broad track (SD 705488), in the direction of
the public footpath fingerpost.
Follow this track past
the farm and at a sharp left hand bend, go over a stile on the right,
closely followed by a second stile. Yellow arrows direct you. After the
second stile, follow the right hand boundary of the field.
At the end of the field,
follow the broad track between the trees and keep following it to the road,
exiting opposite the house Farrowfield.
Turn right at the road
and immediately left over a stile in the hedge (SD 693494) . Head for about
the middle of the right hand side of the field and go through a gate to
cross the next field to a stile. Over this and continue in the same
direction to the river.
Turn right to follow a
footpath alongside the river, eventually arriving at the road into Newton.
Turn left.
If you want to see
Newton, continue into the village. The Parkers Arms pub is on the left as
you enter the village or if you want some long benches where you can enjoy
your picnic, just continue on the B6478 to the ‘T’ junction (SD 697505).
For the return to
Slaidburn, the footpath is on the north bank of the River Hodder and is
clearly marked – on the left if coming from Newton.
On reaching the sewage
works, you have to turn left, right along its access track for a few yards,
then, once through the gate, turn right over a stile marked “Riverside
Path”.
At Slaidburn, turn right
to return to the car park.
If you need to buy any
hiking equipment/clothing before your trip see the Hiking
Store
All information on this
site is given in good faith and no liability is accepted in respect of any
damage, loss or injury which might result from acting on it.
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