Darwen Tower and Back Sat 13th Aug

On our run this morning we were 5. JtE, EtU, TF, Kev Latham (does he have a wfdbwgua moniker?) and TY (late arrival, joining at ammunition corner). Dropping over Spitlers on our way to Piccadilly we came across the 'improvements' to one of the paths.

Coupled with the ongoing work at Great Hill, JtE and I mused about what plans are afoot for the West Pennine Moors. Bit of searching and this website came up
http://westpenninemoors.com/managing_plan
I think EtU had previously posted a link to this regarding the 'West Pennine Moor' loop. Anyway a quick scan through the weighty document brought up a few initial points of interest.

1) p47
[4.5D] Investigate potential to develop surfaced footpaths on popular moorland routes (e.g. Spitlers Edge) and those identified as ‘upland challenge’ routes in the WPM Bridleway Strategy.


2) p48
[4.7A] Provide information and feedback to assist United Utilities in
developing/implementing a car parking and transport strategy in popular areas (e.g. Rivington).
Introduce further Pay & Display parking across UU car parks.

So will 4.5D be funded by 4.7A? Shame, as most of the occupants of the cars/motorbikes parked there only make it as far as the cafe!

JtE and I returned via Belmont (showed him the new shortcut) and banked 14.7m. The direct route to Darwen Tower having netted 6.7m. Thank you to one and all for a enjoyable 'free' morning out.

TF