September | 2015 | Grand Up North

One of my all time favourite childhood memories is picnicking in the Trough of Bowland with my grandparents. Every summer they packed the car up with my sisters and I, the dogs, copious amounts of delicious homemade food and wellies for paddling.

The Trough of Bowland is a valley between Marshaw (northeast of Garstang) and Dunsop Bridge (northwest of Clitheroe) in the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), Lancashire.

AONBs are areas in the countryside that have been designated for conservation due to their natural beauty, in a similar way to national parks. If you haven’t yet experienced the Forest of Bowland, you are missing out on one of the country’s most breathtaking natural environments.

While most people know of the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales, the Forest of Bowland is their lesser known but equally impressive neighbour.

The landscape is wild and untouched; a vast expanse of fells, valleys and moors that will stir and exhilarate you. At the same time, tall trees shelter and flowing water soothes. It’s the stuff of epic legends and enchanted tales.

The Trough pass is a ‘scenic route’ if ever there was one, traversing through the magnificent Bowland fells and rising almost 300m above sea level at its highest point. The Trough is only a small part of the Forest of Bowland, which is dotted with picturesque villages as it reaches just into Yorkshire to the northeast and to Pendle Hill at the southeast corner.

There are 312 square miles to explore in total and you’ll need more than a day to do that!

I’m so grateful to my grandparents for introducing me to this special place that has become a favoured destination for walking, eating out, pottering and, of course, picnicking. My family continues the tradition every summer (with my grandparents accompanying us in spirit) and it’s always a riot.

You can drive along the Trough road and pick one of umpteen perfect spots to park up and lay your picnic. Sheep roam free, dragonflies skim the water that runs downstream to the River Wyre and dappled sunlight warms through the leaves of the trees (if you’re lucky!).

All the things we did decades ago are still a source of laughter and enjoyment – lazing in the sun sandwich in one hand, sausage roll in the other, paddling, playing with a bat and ball, letting the dogs run and roam – and I have just as much fun as I did when I was 10!

When summer is drawing to an end and you can feel the first hints of autumn in the air, blackberry picking is the perfect way to enjoy the last warm days of the year.

From the end of August and through September, blackberries can be found growing in hedgerows up and down the country. My favourite spot is along the old railway line from Knott End to Preesall, which used to serve the Pilling Pig locomotive transporting passengers from Knott End to Pilling and onwards to Garstang in the early 1900s.

The Knott End to Pilling stretch of the line closed in 1950 and a section from Hackensall Woods in Knott End to Park Lane in Preesall is now a footpath. It’s about a mile long and you’ll experience both the shelter of woodland and the full force of the elements as you cross wide open countryside.

From the top of the steps at the Preesall end (which is well hidden at the roadside), you can see much of the footpath laid out before you (pictured). There are a number of points to veer off the line and change course, including a six mile route that picks up the Wyre Way.

Blackberries line much of the footpath and I have wonderful memories of picking them with my grandparents as a child. I still follow my grandad’s advice: select berries at the same height as you (higher are for birds, lower may have been watered by dogs), wear something long sleeved and leave some for everybody else!

Taking advantage of nature’s offering and the chance to eat ripe, seasonal fruit for free is a must! The dog comes too, meaning we both get our daily quota of exercise and fresh air (and she’s partial to a blackberry or two).

So what to do with your haul? My nana made big pans of blackberry jam but for me, nothing signals autumn like crumble. My favourite recipe is Deliciously Ella’s Apple and Blackberry Crumble (pictured), which uses only a handful of ingredients to make a wholesome and nutritious version.

The smell as it bakes and the delicious mouthfuls that follow are the fruits of your labours to be enjoyed. And with this virtuous recipe, you can enjoy cold crumble for breakfast the next morning!

From hedgerow to bowl in hours – soul food indeed.

Grand Up North

Monthly Archives: September 2015

Picnicking in the Trough of Bowland

Blackberry picking in the late summer sun

A blog: uplifting things to do and places to go in Lancashire and beyond