Radio silence and a post Christmas walk…

Our adventures have been a little thin on the ground recently as we had a short notice house move and then the chaos that is Christmas, but now that that’s over, the adventures can begin again!

And we have wasted no time. The first free day we had I planned for us to go out but I was’t sure where. I’m a big snow lover but unfortunately Preston has it’s own little micro climate and it very rarely gets any, that being said, every Winter I go on snow watch and as soon as I hear the word mentioned I am checking the Met Office daily. We had been forecast some snow but I couldn’t find it for the life of me and I was getting frustrated, what was making it worse was seeing the occasional car with piles of it still on the roof drive through town so I knew it couldn’t be too far away. Eventually I got lucky, a friend had put some facebook photos of themselves up out and about and there it was, the last remnants of the snow. And so it was decided, our post-Christmas walk was going to be up Rivington Pike in the West Pennine Moors!

We told the kids (who by this point had reached maximum cabin fever levels), got their puddle suits, sorted a snacknic (like a picnic but without food where you need to sit down to eat it), got in the car and headed off into the hills.

It was crisp and clear, perfect for a walk to burn off a little of the Christmas dinner, and knowing we had a long drive for New Years Eve the next day, tiring out the kids was only going to be a bonus. We had only planned to go for a half an hour walk or so and have a little play in the snow, but we ended up walking for 3 1/2 hours and having a couple of good snowball fights. The views were spectacular, we could see right across to Runcorn. There was lots for the little ones to look at, plenty of birds and farm animals, and with the wide view on the left hand side there was so much for them to point at and look at such as the football stadium. We were aiming to get to the “castle” (Pike Tower) but when we got there we discovered that the steps were treacherous due to the ice and that people were slipping on them so we decided against it, but we are looking forward to heading back for more adventures in the future so will check it out then. We decided to eat and then head back to the car stopping for plenty of snowball fights along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

Fun had (according to the kids): 100’s/10

Tantrum level: 10/10 Tom threw a massive tantrum about half an hour from getting back to the car, it was part tiredness, part bloody mindedness, but it didn’t spoil the day.

Worth it: Oh yes, definitely.

Worth knowing: There is a nearer carpark to where we were wanting to end up, so always double check before you leave. The toilets up there by the garden are locked and in the snow, the steps up to the tower.

50 things acheivement: 15. Play in the snow, 28. Climb a huge hill

Cost: Nothing!