On the way to the meeting place – Beehive, 2.30pm – I met the run leader, who told me that permission had been obtained to take us through Dean Woods. We should only just be in time, for on March 1st, a gentleman is taking them over for private grounds, and no one would be allowed inside. As it is, it is rather hard to get inside. The day was bad – at least as far as weather was concerned – rain was making fine headway, and we were reconciled to an afternoon inside capes. But one never knows, and when eight of us started for Horwich, our capes were out of sight. From Horwich, we took the road through Lever Park to Rivington village, then joined the Anglezarke road, soon coming to a gate, which we passed through. Now there were ten of us, and leaving the machines at the villa in the grounds, we started the walk through the woods. The footpath dropped down to a stream, which was crossed by a rustic bridge, then we wound in and out, through the sylvan glades in a delightful fashion, climbing gradually out of the vale. From above, were some wondrous scenes of this beautiful valley – and in winter, too!, when most folks think the country is ‘dead’. The valley came to an end at a fine waterfall with a sheer drop of something like 30 feet. The return journey encompassed the whole, all of us deciding that this is easily the prettiest scene around Bolton. More rain fell as we made our way over Anglezarke Moor to White Coppice for tea. We started back in the dark, and through slushy bylanes to Limbrick, Cowling and thus home via Chorley and Horwich, arriving home about 8.15pm.
30 miles
