Bob Clare who has worked as a volunteer for Brothers of Charity Services since 2011 has just had a book published called ‘100 Walks in Lancashire’.
The book published by Crowood Press aims to provide a comprehensive guide to walks in all parts of the county. Bob claims that Lancashire’s countryside is a ‘Cinderella’ compared to nearby Cumbria and Yorkshire.
Bob said the reason for this is “Because the M6 fast tracks visitors up to the Lake District and the Dales the wonderful walking Lancashire offers can be overlooked.”.
After receiving the commission to update the 1995 edition Bob set out to explore every part of the county. Working within a tight deadline of nine months he was able to call of the support of two walking groups. Members of The Norwest Fell-walking Club base in Preston & Leyland checked a significant number of the book’s descriptions especially in the Forest of Bowland and on the West Pennine Moors.
Bob said “I would particularly like to acknowledge the immense contribution made by the club’s secretary David Johnstone. As someone who has walked the footpaths of Lancashire for more than half a century his knowledge and experience helped me tremendously.”
Bob was also assisted by the Lancashire Dotcom Walkers formed through the Lancashire Walks website which Bob co-founded with John Griffiths in 2007. “As a group its membership comes from all parts of Lancashire so they were able to check routes in areas I was less familiar with.”
A strong contingent of the group is based in the Burnley area. Edward Walton, leader of the Burnley Contingent commented: “Because of its industrial heritage Burnley is much neglected as a walking destination yet it would make an ideal base for exploring the South Pennines,”
One of the distinctive aspects of “100 Walks in Lancashire” is that it highlights a number of the county’s Tramper Trails – routes designed by Lancashire County Council’s Countryside service for people with mobility issues.
Bob commented further: “If it was not for Kathleen Page I might not have thought of this aspect of the outdoors.
“When I told the Voice for All group about being asked to update the guide Kathleen said ‘Good – then you can make sure it has walks for people with disabilities.’ The more I thought about it, the more I knew she was right. Luckily, Lancashire County Council have done a lot to make our beautiful countryside accessible so I did make sure that there are plenty of these in the book.”
