White Coppice
Its been close to two months since I posted a blog. What with visitors; a holiday in Tuscany; spring work in the garden and then starting my freelancing again, there doesn’t seem to be enough time to keep to a daily story.
Anyway, on a glorious bank-holiday, we had a trip to White Coppice, a favourite spot above Chorley on the western edge of the West Pennine Moors. This village is famous for its sloping cricket pitch, backed up against the moors. Today it was busy with trippers visiting the ice cream and tea shop in the cricket pavilion.
Above the village is Great Hill, from which Dean Black Brook falls down to the lodges in the village. As the brook meets the edge of the moor it has eroded into the mill-stone edge, giving a series of small waterfalls and pools, with some fun grade 2 scrambling up the edge.
From the edge of the quarries, there is a fabulous view down to Chorley, over the water catchment. Here, on a good day like today, one can see across to Blackpool Tower in the distance over the Morman Temple in Chorley. Further to the left Snowdonia is often clearly seen, but not today.
Alongside The Goit, which now directs the water into Anglezarke Reservoir, there is a meadow, often full of butterflies. We once met a group of butterfly spotters, with extremely large cameras and lenses, excited by the rarity they had spotted. Today we had to be happy with a few Small Whites.
Antondotreks 