The wind and rain stopped and by first light it was clearing and cold with a frost on the ground. I was packed up and on my way by 7:15am. There was a bit of light around and as I walked down to the shop to leave my rubbish in the bin someone was sorting the papers. I think it was May but I wasn’t sure. I asked her for the post code and phone number for future reference. The road was quite slippery due to the frost and it wasn’t good for walking on. I decided to leave the tarmac at the first path heading up the moor. The path was an old disused track called Hold Lane.

Sunrise from Standing Stone Hill

Distant view of Stoodley Pike

Reap's Cross looking NW

As I got higher it became considerable wetter underfoot and I decided to head back down and pick up Edge Lane again. Back at the lane it was better underfoot and at the ‘Egypt’ turn off I headed out on to the moor again. I crossed to Reaps Cross then set off on a faint path towards Raistrick Greave.

The path was difficult going due to the rough and occasionally very wet surface. Raistrick Greave came in to view in the distance. I was surprised how much remained of the 17th century farmhouse. I followed the path down to the Gorple Reservoir access track and the wooden shooting hut adjacent. The weather was pleasant and sunny as I continued up the fell by Dicken Dike but the occasional patches of frozen snow caused problems. I reached the Gorple Gate track and turned left towards Worsthorne.

Raistrick Greave

From the Gorple Gate Track

At Hare Stones Hill I reached the boundary between Yorkshire and Lancashire and then crossed back into Lancs. I had good distant views as I wandered down the steadily improving lane and reached Worsthorne shortly after 11am, just in time to miss the bus by a few minutes. I had less than 30mins to wait for the next one so called in the village shop for a pie. The bus took me to Burnley bus station where I missed my next connectin, the 152 to Preston, by a few seconds. So I had another half hour wait. I took the next bus to Preston then home on the 125, which I didn’t miss!