Pendle Way - Part 2

Walk Waypoints

1. 1 From Bancroft Mill turn right into Colne Road then right again into Manchester Road. After about 100 metres enter the lane on the left leading to Letcliffe Park. When the lane ends, carry straight on, bearing to the right to reach a stile in the wall. Turn right and continue for 150 metres then turn left on to the track which descends to the B6383.
2. 2 Turn left and then right into the lane before the school. After some 200 metres cross a stile to take the path which forks right from the lane, and continue down to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Cross the bridge and turn left onto the towpath. The Canal leads past old mills and new industry.
3. 3 Follow the towpath, crossing the road bridge to the opposite side after 800 metres. Once past the houses you emerge into limestone countryside, peppered with drumlins. The towpath continues on.
4. 4 Carry on past the locks for half a mile then cross the canal to the opposite towpath. Just after a sharp swing to the left, leave the towpath over a stile. Climb the field to the high fence and follow it to the right-hand corner. Turn left through the stile and, keeping to the left, cross the field to another stile. Turn left on to the road, crossing it to a gate opposite the factory entrance, and take the path uphill. Climb the stile and take the right-hand path through the St Mary-le-Gill churchyard.
5. 5 Enter the lane leading from the church turning immediately left then left again before the cemetery gates. Follow the walled path down to the stream then climb up to the golf course. Cross the course to a plantation, passing through it to a gate. Go straight across the field, over a stile and head directly for the church tower. From the stile in the far corner of the field drop down to the road. Turn right to Thornton Church. (NB The Pennine Way can be joined at Thornton.)
6. 6 Opposite the church, climb the stile and cross the field to a gate. Bear left to a stile then carry straight on to a gate by the corner of the road. Still in the field, bear right to a stile in the far fence. Go straight ahead over two more fields then bear left across the next field to the stile below the farmhouse.
7. 7 Cross two fields diagonally towards the church. Join the lane down to the main road at Earby. Turn right then immediately left into School Lane. After about 100 metres you reach the Old Grammar School, now the home of Museum of Yorkshire Dales.