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Walks in Lancashire |
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Walks in Lancashire |
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Pendle Hill, synonymous with the Pendle Witches, is climbed from Downham, probably the most picturesque and unchanged village in the Ribble Valley.
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| Walk title: | Pendle Hill walk from Downham |
| Author: | Andrew Forrest - updated November 2024 |
| Walk start point: | Car park in Downham (grid reference SD 784 440). |
| Parking: | As above |
| Directions to nearest parking place: | Google Maps: get directions here / What3words: layers.ferried.backswing |
| Walk distance: | 6.4 miles (10.3 Km) |
| Estimated walk time: | 3 hours 10 minutes |
| Height climbed: | 470 metres |
| Grade: | 2-C: A medium length walk that has rugged terrain and some steep climbs |
| Peaks / summits: | Pendle Hill (577m) |
| Map: | Ordnance Survey - Explorer OL41 (Forest of Bowland & Ribblesdale) Buy this map from Ordnance Survey |
| GPS/GPX file: | GPX download available from Walks4all.com |
| Facilities / refreshments: | Assheton Arms pub, Downham ice cream shop and Greendale View Tearoom - check out the walk description and video for further details. |
| Nearest town: | The walk starts in Downham |
| Local self-catering accommodation: | View self-catering accommodation close to the start of this walk from Sykes Holiday Cottages or from Holidaycottages.co.uk |
Ordnance Survey Mapping App
Use on any device and make it easy to explore the great outdoors for just the price of a coffee a month. Premium allows full UK access to all OS Explorer and Landranger mapping, and the ability to import and export routes, save maps offline, aerial 3D, and print A3/A4 maps.
This Pendle Hill walk from Downham is a circular walk that initially sets off past Longlands Wood and the historic Worsaw End before passing up beside Burst Clough onto Worston Moor. As soon as height is gained, there are wonderful panoramic views of the surrounding Ribble Valley and beyond.
The walk then passes the Scout Cairn and a weather shelter before crossing Pendle Hill and on to the trig point at its summit.
On a clear day, the Southern Lakeland fells and the Yorkshire Three Peaks are visible from the top of Pendle Hill. Whilst Pendle Hill is synonymous with the Pendle Witches (the 400th anniversary of their hanging was in 2012), it is enjoyed by many thousands of people each year.
The descent back into Downham is via Downham Moor and then through pleasant fields.
This Pendle Hill walk from Downham starts in the car park in Downham, a village in the Ribble Valley in Lancashire. Walk out of the car park in the direction you drove in, heading towards Pendle Hill, following the route cars used to drive into it.
The car park, toilets and unmanned information in Downham
Upon meeting the road, turn right and immediately keep right down the short, gravelled track enclosed on both sides by walls. Pass through the stone stile to the right of the wooden gate and walk straight across the field.
A wide grassy path leaves the corner of the field, which is enclosed on both sides by fences and trees. A wall soon replaces the trees to the right of the path, and the path becomes partially gravelled underfoot.
Continue by the side of the wall, heading towards the gate in the corner of the field. Once through the gate, walk up through the next field by the side of Longlands Wood, which affords great views to the left of Pendle Hill.
Looking across at Pendle Hill from Longlands Wood
Carry on to the corner of the field, pass through the stone stile or the wooden kissing gate, and keep ahead by the side of the wall. Shortly afterwards, the wall bends uphill to the right, leave the wall here and head diagonally left across the field towards the trees. Pass around the right-hand side of a fence and then on to the left of a line of trees ahead and another fence. Walk down to the gate in the corner of the field.
Go through the stile just to the right of the gate and follow the yellow waymarker arrow, which points diagonally to the right. From the kissing gate, follow the yellow arrow along the footpath that runs alongside the right side of the hedge.
Soon, you'll reach another wooden kissing gate where the path splits. At this point, if you did continue straight ahead toward Worsaw End, you'll meet up with the lane we left earlier. Ignore the lane for now and turn right through another wooden kissing gate, again following the yellow waymarker on the gate.
After passing through the gate, continue straight along the right side of the hedge and wall. Follow the path until you reach a wooden gate in a wall near the buildings at Worsaw End House. Go through this gate, and if you look back, you'll see Worsaw Hill behind you.
Worsaw Hill
Downham was one of the filming locations for the 1961 movie Whistle Down the Wind, which starred Hayley Mills and Alan Bates. Much of the film was shot at Worsaw End, and local schoolchildren were included as extras.
Head downhill away from the gate towards another gate about 20 yards away. Pass through the kissing gate to the right-hand side and head along the track for a few yards before turning right to pass through a metal gate.
Once through that gate, keep ahead and turn left after about 20 yards through a gate in the left-hand fence. Head across the field towards Pendle Hill, ahead in the distance, to reach a wooden stile in the corner. On reaching it, pass over the stile.
Once over the stile, turn right along West Lane. If you walked along the lane from Downham or dropped onto the lane at Worsaw End and turned right, this is where you would rejoin this walk.
Follow West Lane for just over 100m. As the lane bends around to the right, keep straight on following the Cul-de-sac and Moorside Farm signs. Follow this lane for about 150m, and as the lane ends, keep straight on up the grassy path, ignoring the entrance for Moorside Farm on the left.
The enclosed grassy path passes by a few trees before reaching a stile a couple of hundred metres further on. Pass over the wooden stile and head diagonally right towards a wooden waymarker. Upon reaching that, turn left to walk steeply uphill, up the right-hand side of the 'mini-valley' - Burst Clough.
Looking at the path climbing the right-hand side of Burst Clough from the gate
The climb begins to flatten just before a stone waymarker is reached and as Pendle Hill again becomes visible ahead. The onward climb up across the side of Worston Moor can be seen ahead, heading up diagonally right.
The path after Burst Clough, which can then be seen climbing diagonally up across Pendle Moor
The path bends around to the right, following a series of small stone waymarkers, before it eventually pulls in and starts to climb up by the side of a wall. As the wall bends sharply around to the right and starts a gentle descent, the path leaves the wall to head diagonally up to the right as it starts its ascent from Worston Moor up to Pendle Moor.
The view back over Worsaw Hill, Downham and across the Ribble Valley
Pass the final waymarker and head up onto the well-worn track, and keep climbing along this 'nick' cut into the side of the moor.
Looking out to the west in the direction of Blackpool
As the path almost reaches the top of the climb, the path is interspersed with small cairns. As a much larger cairn approaches, take the path that branches off to the left about thirty yards before it and continue climbing. Keep ahead past several smaller cairns until a couple of hundred yards further on, the large stone memorial cairn is reached – the Scout Cairn as it is known locally.
The Scout Cairn on Pendle Hill
Walk straight past the left of the Scout Cairn and continue in the same direction towards the weather shelter visible on the horizon about 400 metres ahead. Continue past the weather shelter and towards the gate in the wall ahead.
The weather shelter on Pendle Hill
There are wonderful views from the gate over Clitheroe and the Ribble Valley, around to Ingleborough, Pen-y-ghent and the Yorkshire Dales.
The view over Clitheroe and the Ribble Valley from the metal kissing gate
Looking out towards Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent
Pass through the gate in the wall and follow the broad grassy path as it swings away from the wall to the right. For about half a mile, the path is a broad, green 'grassy' path, which affords excellent views of the Ribble Valley off to the left and the trig point on the summit of Pendle Hill to the right.
The wide grassy path heading across the top of Pendle Hill towards the next wall
Keep on this path until it reaches a gate in a wall that we will return to once we have visited the summit of Pendle Hill. Pass through the gate in the wall and head directly away from it the final few hundred yards up to the trig point and summit of Pendle Hill.
Approaching the trig point on the top of Pendle Hill
The triangulation point at the top of Pendle Hill stands at 557m, and because of its isolation from other hills, it provides a magnificent all-around panorama. The extensive nature of its flat top requires some wandering if all the views are to be seen at their best. Mountains as far away as the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, and landmarks such as Blackpool Tower can be seen from the top.
The view out towards the Yorkshire Dales from the trig point on the top of Pendle Hill
Pendle Hill is famous, amongst other things, for the Pendle witches and George Fox. If you want to find out more about them and Pendle Hill, check out our Ultimate Guide to Pendle Hill, where history, nature, and adventure converge in Lancashire's iconic landscape. From the haunting tales of the Pendle Witch Trials to exhilarating walks and pretty villages, this guide will unveil the mysteries of Pendle Hill, making your visit an unforgettable one.
Looking down at Upper and Lower Black Moss Reservoirs and Barley from the summit of Pendle Hill
After admiring the views, retrace your steps the couple of hundred yards back to the wall you just passed through. A few yards from the wall is a stone waymarker signed 'Nick of Pendle' to the left and 'Downham' straight on. This time, we take the path directly away from the wall following the Downham sign.
The stone marker, left is the path we walked up, we follow right to Downham for the return leg
The path's descent is gentle at first, and as it descends, it starts to contour around the hill to the left. As it contours around, Hookcliffe plantation and the return path to Downham become visible below to the right.
Heading down across Downham Moor on the descent off Pendle Hill
The path contours around the hill, but its rate of descent continues to get steeper. At a waymarker, the path swings back sharply to the right.
It then swings back to the left before heading down toward the Hookcliffe plantation, so it is now heading directly away from Pendle Hill. Go over the wooden stile in a fence and gently descend down to a wall ahead. Go over the stile in the wall and head directly away from the wall. This section can be boggy at times.
The path meanders through the reeds in the field down towards Pendle Road below. Before reaching the road, pass through the kissing gate, cross the road, and go through the wooden kissing gate on the opposite side.
Follow the path away from the wall, down some steps and over the stile, and then follow the path to the left a few yards further on, just before the fence, as it rises to head the short distance to the building.
There is a stile in the wall opposite the right-hand side of the building. Go over the stile and walk away from the wall down the right-hand side of the field, keeping just to the left of the fence.
The view from the wall stile of the footpath heading down the side of the woods
At the bottom of the field, proceed over the next stone stile and keep on through the next field, again by the left-hand side of the fence. At the bottom of that field, pass over the wooden stile and turn left along the road for a few yards before turning right to pass through another wooden kissing gate just before the wooden gate.
Turn left along the gravelled path, enclosed by a wooden fence to the left and trees to the right. Soon afterwards, the path crosses over a footbridge and enters another field. Keep to the right of the field, walking along the left-hand side of the fence, and continue down to the next stile in the corner of the field. Pass over this stone stile and on towards the fence ahead.
Upon reaching the fence, pass through the wooden kissing gate and head across the field towards the trees and the wooden waymarker. Pass the waymarker and continue for a few more yards to reach Downham Beck.
Keep on walking in the same direction, along the path down the nearside of the beck towards the buildings ahead. Pass through the kissing gate and out on to the road.
The old bridge over Downham Beck
Walk along the road, and at the junction, turn right towards the bridge. As the road approaches the bridge, turn left just before reaching it along another road, past the Downham Ice Cream Shop, before turning right back into the car park.
Downham Ice Cream Shop
If you want something to eat and drink after the walk, if you turn right upon meeting the bridge and head up the road into the centre of the village, the Assheton Arms is on the right-hand side of the road opposite St Leonard's church.
The Assheton Arms in Downham with Pendle Hill in the background
Looking across at Pendle Hill from St Leonard's Church in Downham
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