
July swells to a deeper green.
Riot of wildflower,
pointillistic specks
of yellow and blue,
in meadows left unmown.
Lazy smudge of ancient trod
under the steam heat of a
sunless afternoon,
while balsam and nettle,
and long, drooping grasses,
cross their sleepy arms
over seldom walked ways.
A short run out today, Hurst Green, Ribble Valley, a walk down to the new Dinkley foot-bridge on the river and a visit to Marles Wood. This is not a seldom walked way, indeed this attractive stretch of the Ribble is understandably very popular, but for some reason those lines came to me while I was walking it, as if I was the last man on earth.
I park the car at the village hall in Hurst Green – suggested fee £2.00, but I’m 20p short. It’s an honesty box and no one’s counting, so I don’t suppose they’ll know, or mind. It’s a stubbornly overcast day, with a steamy heat that saps the energy from one’s bones. I’m not really in the mood for walking far – just looking for a change of scene, and a run out to somewhere pretty. There’s a good circuit you can do on foot, down the river to Ribchester from here, then back up the Ribble Way, on the other bank, but something about the day has me spurning all ambition.
I find the bridge and cross it, then sit on the riverbank for lunch, while watching herons wading in the shallows, fishing for theirs. Big camera today, but not much to point it at yet, other than the herons. I never saw the original Dinkley bridge, a suspension type, built in 1951. It lasted until the floods in 2015, when it was finally damaged beyond repair. Work on a replacement was completed in 2019. This is a wider structure, firm under foot. The original had a reputation for being a bit wobbly.

The Ribble is a fine river, but very little of it is accessible to the public. I have traced my finger along it on the map from source to sea, always disappointed by how seldom the green pecked ways are able to hug its banks. Indeed, I read only 2% of England’s rivers are accessible to the curious pedestrian. This is irrespective of the so-called right to roam negotiated as part of the countryside and rights of way act. That adds up to over 40,000 miles of river we politely defer for private use. Yet rivers are such relaxing places to walk by, I wonder people are not more angry about being excluded from them.
Anyway, lunch done, we follow the path downstream. It dips in and out of company with the river. Photographic opportunities are few, not helped by the flat light. Just before we enter the gloom of Marles Wood, I chance upon a likely spot, only to find the view is occupied, and I should say significantly improved upon, by a couple of young ladies enjoying a spot of wild swimming. I defer the shot, not wishing to intrude upon their privacy.
After a mile or so, the path parts company with the river, and leads up to the Marles Wood car park. From here the way suggests a narrow stretch of road, by Salesbury Hall, along which the traffic seems to be moving too fast. Alternatively, the OS shows a network of paths that would provide a safer and more pleasant passage to Ribchester, but by now the sweat is dripping from my hat, so I decide to leave that adventure for another day. We turn around and retrace our steps, take in the views we’ve thus far had our back to.
Near Salesbury Hall, the river takes a sudden 90 degree bend, westwards. There is a fine view of it by a clutch of tree shaded rocks. I rest a while, reeling off shots, none of which do justice to the beauty of it. Here, in the mud, I spy a shiny 20p coin. It bodes good fortune.
We’ll take it back, for the car park.

Lovely evocative account, Michael, and the poem is beautiful.
Thanks, George. Much appreciated.
Loved the poetry, Michael; and good circular humour with the ending! I agree about the public being excluded from river paths in this way. Time they were automatically designed as public places – with provision for their protection, of course.
Thanks, Steve. It would be something to have the presumption of access to such places – as you say, with certain protections.
It’s about time rivers were made more accessible. But that’s not likely with a Government committed to landowners’ interests and criminalising trespass.
Enjoyed your post, mind 🙂
Thanks. The criminalizing trespass is particularly worrying, and I suspect will pass.
They have such a large majority they can do whatever they like – and they will. (Including rigging the electoral system so we cavn never get shut of them)
Sadly, I think you’re right. And even without overt rigging, a truly left administration seems such a long way away now. I think of the campaigning of the Ramblers and the mass trespasses, yet it was 2000 and early Blair, before we managed to get what little concession we enjoy today.
Yes a lovely rhyme to introduce your post.
I disagree with comments above. The Thames, through London seems to be subject to a byelaw such that each time a stretch is developed we are granted access. It seems a great idea but the result is a little sterile. Smaller rivers can shift their course, and should perhaps be free to do so unconstrained by public footpaths. …
Perhaps these issues should be discussed at a local level, but as you say, the public seem disinterested.
The English coast path work seems to have been interrupted by you know what, but my yacht club is up in arms as, unlike the ground nesting birds further up the coast in Barksore Marshes, our expensive property is not deemed good enough reason to keep the publick out!
I think it’s a tradition here in the north, agitating for greater access to the countryside. It goes back to the early mass trespass movements when factory workers wanted fresh air and freedom at the weekends, only to find the hills denied them by the factory owners who’d bought the estates. That all shaped the politics of the time, of course. And it did win some freedoms that we’d otherwise still be denied today. Much of the peak District, Bowland, and the West Pennines being forbidden to us. And there’s still nothing quite like a Private Keep out notice for making a north-country rambler grumble.
With rivers like the Ribble, it’s not just us walkers who have no access to much of the banks. Recreational boaters – canoeists have no presumption of access to the water either, and that seems a great pity.
I enjoyed that, Michael. Just catching up after being away, again, for a few days.
Most likely will comment further as it’s my home turf you are taking on.
Thanks. I was treading lightly, so as not to break eggs, though Hurst Green is starting to feel a bit like home now. I regret not doing the full round, and shall return on a cooler day. I’ve been studying your route.
You will be rewarded for your 20p honesty.
I would recommend the upper Hodder for exploration.
You have an honorary Bowland Passport, so no eggs shall be broken.
Thanks for that. It’ll be the only valid passport I’ve got at the moment, but the one I’m most likely to be using for the time being.