DAY 5 – 6th July 2022
Hurstwood to Barrowford – 20 miles
Ascent
Stages 49 to 45 (E7 to E3).
As I said in the Introduction to the “Full 400”, this day was completely re-organised. The day should have been a very ambitious 27 miles but was now scheduled to be 30 miles with Stage 49 i.e. the 3 miles from Hurstwood to Thursden, missed from Day 4. That would have been a tough day in any circumstances but I had not felt well the previous evening and not slept well too. So I knew I would probably have to make some changes to keep to my schedule. Firstly, I missed the climb to the top of Lad Law, saving about one mile, and went straight on to Wycoller and then had lunch at Laneshaw Bridge – the Emmott Arms. There are no shops here nor in Thursden or Wycoller. I started Stage 47 but on the outskirts of Kelbrook, rather than continue north to Earby, I headed west and cut across the valley to Bridge 149 on the Leeds Liverpool Canal. There I picked up Stage 45 and then turned south and picked up my route down to my scheduled end of the day in Barrowford. I therefore missed out the second half of stage 47 to Earby, the whole of Stage 46 to Barnoldswick and the first part of Stage 45. This reduced the day by around 10 miles. From Barrowford I took a taxi to the Barley Mow pub for my overnight stay. I had originally panned to stay at the Forest in Fence about 3 miles way from the Heritage Centre in Barrowford but there was a mix up over bookings.
Looking back to Hurstwood on a very damp and drizly day
The Panoptican know as the Atom on the hillside above Wycoller
The village of Wycoller, one of the prettiest in Lancashire
The pack horse bridge in Higherford
The old toll house just around the corner from the Heritage Centre in Barrowford.
