Tuesday January 24th

 Forest of Bowland- Cross of Greet, Bowland Knotts, Ravens Castle and Raven's Castle

The mist was down and remained so for the day, but nonetheless, we managed to get out and do an 8-mile walk. It started out at Cross of Greet Bridge, the old dividing line between Yorkshire and Lancashire. We followed the line of the River Hodder and then up the hill above Catlow Farm and past a barn,

Passing Catlow Farm barn
working our way up to Bowland Knotts.
On the way to Bowland Knotts

Bowland Knotts- the views (apparently) are excellent

Bowland Knotts views
At Bowland Knotts, we followed the wall in the (increasing) mist- it went up and down, not as easy walking as the guidebook suggested. Due to the conditions, we didn't get the views over the Yorkshire Dales and the Three Peaks. We carried on past Copy Nook and Cold Stone to the first Ravens Castle (no apostrophe) and then on to Raven's Castle (with the apostrophe).
On the way to Ravens Castle
At this point, we were able to cross the boundary fence and work our way down and back to the Slaidburn-Bentham Road. From there, it was 1½ miles (downhill) on the road. We could see the track of the industrial railway on the opposite side of the River Hodder Valley- which conveyed stone from the nearby quarries to build the Stocks Reservoir a hundred years ago. 
A nice introduction to Forest of Bowland walking, despite the mist.
8 miles, 400m ascent.

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