Wilderswood in the snow , Horwich , Christmas day walk 0C to -3C

http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/gb/rivington/203129323512595105
weather good , small family walk

 old gate post at start of Wilderswood

 sledging again

Rivington pike from wilderswood

 deep snow

 ice river
I had been down this the other day , the river goes into one of the water tunnels which is blocked ,
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adit for mine ,
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 iron trough
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 mine building for the main shaft at wilderswood

http://www.d.lane.btinternet.co.uk/wilders1.html

http://www.d.lane.btinternet.co.uk/wilders3.html

 shaft -capped

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main colliery  winding buildings

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still blowing cold air - which is warmer than the surrounding rocks melting the snow!

 cabin pit shaft buildings
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 quarry terrace

I love running in the snow

me back at the car ,
note from dad:Two lads is to the left , Georges lane in the snow , the compact snow made it easier to drive on as the road is normally heavily potholed


http://www.mineexplorer.org.uk/winterhill.htm another mine site
http://www.horwichheritage.co.uk/heritagecentre.htm  Horwich Heritage centre
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=52990  Horwich history overview

Rivington pike , Rivington, winter Hill ,Horwich in the snow -4 to -6C

 Wilder's moor -centre two lads , left is Winter Hill Mast

http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/gb/rivington/203129323512595105

good conditions - temp -4 to -6c when sun went down , good  level walk,

 Rivington Pike from georges lane

Tracks from the old mines

looking down from the wilderswood drift mine mine entrance  -look carefully tramway is clear line down the hill

old shaft capped  - vented

boundary stone - Chorley  and Horwich ?

Brown Hill with Rivington Pike on right hand side

ice river -water is moving under the ice

Note From Dad: Jake has been across this section before , the ice was enough to hold Jakes weight and being shallow was low risk - please be careful not even Walsh trainers gripped on this - Jake had been practising moving safely on ice ,  Jake is keeping to snow where possible after testing what is under the snow,
Jake is using his hands and a low centre of gravity to negotiate the tunnel below, temp in this tunnel was around - 6c  plus wind chill with very cold water , Jake has 3 layers on his lower body of water resistant/thermal and quick dry material ,  we have spares of dry clothing in case!
http://jakeofwinterhill.blogspot.com/2010/12/wilderswood-winter-hill-horwich-in-snow.html

going into the tunnel 

in the ice tunnel 

watching dad !

on my hands now !

careful ! water and ice very slippery !

thigh high snow between the tufts of heather

Brown Hill

sledging down Brown Hill

Brown Hill with Mast just appearing

Rivington drift mine buildings

Old entrance to Rivington drift  mine

bottom half of the Pike -sledging

 the pike and Winter Hill Mast -crooked hill on right

very steep slope !!!! me and the sledge , I fell out of the sledge !!
http://www.boltonmrt.org.uk/go.php?page=news#3380
Note from dad :these slopes are rated by Bolton mountain Rescue, this slope is  very steep and we moved Jake onto a more gentle slope!

down a more gentle slope

Sunset over Horwich with Fiddlers ferry power station can be seen on left  red moss in front of it ,

there is a solitary gate post in the middle of the field  ,  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddlers_Ferry_Power_Station

http://www.ukqaa.org.uk/PowerStation.html

Last look at the Pike before Christmas eve ,

http://www.about-rivington.co.uk/acatalog/Rivington_Pike.html

http://www.angelfire.com/in/rivington/

http://www.bolton.org.uk/pike.html

http://www.rivingtonboardingkennels.co.uk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivington_Pike

http://nwex.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6595

if you wanted to know what it looked like at the top of the Pike !

http://www.d.lane.btinternet.co.uk/winterpike.html

http://www.about-rivington.co.uk/acatalog/Rivington_Pike_Folklore.html

Two lads , Rivington, Winter Hill ,Horwich sledge and Roly poly -4C Snow 3 inch to 3ft

temperature good at start , the wind picked up and the chill factor became more intense dropping the feels like temperature another 4C
GPS failed to track for part of the route,but approx just under 2 miles
http://www.sanoodi.com/routes/two-lads-winter-hill-in-snow-304326/

sledging down the road

 climbing up the snowdrift 

 the mast is in the distance as we go up to Two Lads

 Adam hill and White Brow

Wilderswood and Wilder's moor

me climbing up after sledging down the hill  

me doing a roly-poly  

 the mast from Two Lads

 Rivington Pike ,Brown Hill and Crooked Edge Hill

on top of Two Lads 

http://jakeofwinterhill.blogspot.com/search/label/Two%20lads

http://jakeofwinterhill.blogspot.com/search/label/Two%20lads?updated-max=2010-12-12T17:54:00Z&max-results=20

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sliding down on the sledge

this was really fast

where the wind has blown the snow. It looks like sand

http://www.about-rivington.co.uk/acatalog/Two_Lads_Cairns.html
about the two Lads
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Pennine_Moors
good background to this area
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/jed/latest_walk29.htm
good local walking site
http://www.mypennines.co.uk/west-pennine-moors/walks/310510.html
another local walking site
http://justramblingon.co.uk/tag/rivington-pike/
Good Walking site
http://www.boltonmrt.org.uk/go.php?page=news#3370
recent incident on sledging
Note from dad : you have to careful - these slopes had very deep snow and soft landings where we went , there are rocks hidden under the snow in other parts of these slopes , please be careful
-Jake spent a lot of time learning how to up and down deep snow slopes safely, also how to enjoy himself  safely , there is always a trade off of undertaking more extreme forms of outdoor activities (for a 7 year old) and  safety, have fun but do this safely,


http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/dec/20/best-and-worst-sledges
this link taken from the Bolton Mountain rescue article above