Walking a Wintry Darwen Moor Through Hoar Frosted Birch Trees

On leaving the house, I usually glance up at Darwen moor to get an idea of what weather is heading our way. Last week, to my surprise, the trees below Darwen Tower were standing out white with hoar frost against the darker moorland. Intrigued, we changed our plans and made our way up the hill so we could witness the effect up close.

My favourite routes follow the footpaths that criss-cross the moor rather than the main ones. Underfoot, imagine a slender, uneven path that suits itself to the contours of the land, leads over the crests; around miniature valleys; skirts streams, drops and denser vegetation; and heads straight through a series of boggy crossroads.

While the paths are easy to make out, they’re almost always muddy (which means slippery) and are littered with uneven stones. Ideally designed to twist an ankle.

The ground rises and falls underfoot to take account of an unassuming patchwork of mosses, heather and other low-growing, tufty, moorland plants which together make interlocking little mounds, broken up by ferns and grasses. The frost was giving them highlights, but my locally attuned eye delights in them on the drabbest day.

Strategically placed stepping stones make it possible to cross the worst of the waterlogged bits. Historically placed by fellow walkers, not local authorities, most ‘crossings’ show signs of just-in-time planning, providing the bare minimum needed for passage. Excess provisions will, over the years, have been repurposed to help navigate a new worst bit.

On a winter’s day, the stepping stones don’t look much different to the rest of the mud, and may or may not be loose underfoot, but have faith: barring a new, recent landslide, there will be a way.

While we hardly see anyone else during our climb, the mud offers proof that we’re never really travelling alone up there. A hodge-podge of footprints, pawprints and hoofprints show how many have recently passed this way.

Today, the trees are stealing the show. Darwen Tower is wearing a white scarf of frosted birches.

Close up, the effect is remarkable. I hope you can feel some of the magic.

We passed above farmland on our way up – you might just be able to pick out a white horse, recently immortalised in a video about the town. We’re really not all that high or far from Darwen, but it always seems like another world.

I’ll leave you with proof that we reached Darwen Tower. Sadly no cakes or hot chocolate were on offer. It’s grim up North.

Shared for the lovely Jo’s Monday Walk.