The Anglezarke Amble (or ‘Amble’ as it has become to be known), is a challenge walk hosted by the West Lancashire branch of the Long Distance Walkers Association. The group host the event around the 8th-14th of February annually which coincides with the conjunction of the coldest and wettest times of each year.
There are two routes, the easier 18 miles and the more arduous 24 miles version. The longer trek adds-in the traversal across the marsh of Longworth Moor, passes-by Turton Heights and Turton & Entwistle then ascends and descends Darwen Hill before remerging with the easier (but no less dramatic) route that has crossed the long footpath known as Catherine’s Edge from the dryer section of the afore-mentioned Longworth Moor. The two routes part at the section of the walk referred to as ‘Paddy’s Pole’, the rule of the event being that if a walker has not arrived at the (marshalled) ‘pole’ by 10:30 then they must continue on to the shorter route. This rule was amended from the previous ruling of 11:00 in 2015.
The overall route takes in some of the most scenic and striking landscapes of the West Pennine chain stretching from Rivington village and heading east then northeast, across Hills and various moorlands. Amongst some of the hills taken in are Rivington Pike, Winter Hill, Darwen Hill and Great Hill and there are other inclined sections to catch out the unwary. The battle is mostly against the energy-sapping mud liberally sprinkled throughout the entire course but more condensed at the foot of the otherwise unnoteworthy Green Hill and again nearer to the end of the course at the start of the climb to Great Hill. Indeed, this section lies at roughly eighteen-miles into the fuller route where energy levels can already be low.
The event is open to anyone who feels they are up to the challenge, but an adult must accompany entrants under eighteen. The cost of admission, which increases by £1.00 each year, is around ten pounds to current members of the LDWA and an extra £3.00 for non-members.
Both runners and walkers can take part in the event and to reduce congestion at the stiles and narrower sections of the route, the runners take flight one hour after the walkers (who begin the event at eight a.m.). Runners are allowed to partake in only the longer (24-miles) route. Generally, there is a turnout of roughly two-hundred ‘Amblers’ but the event typically caters for 250.
External links:
LDWA Main page: https://www.ldwa.org.uk/index.php
West Lancashire LDWA Home page: https://www.ldwa.org.uk/clubs/club_list.php?club_id=48
LDWA’s event page: https://www.ldwa.org.uk/challenge_events/show_event.php?event_id=20455
West Lancs LDWA detailed description: https://www.ldwa.org.uk/WestLancashire/W/2968/anglezarke-amble.html
TheGreatGalleymo’s 2013 Anglezarke Amble video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI4jGhYWKRs
Fat Goat Walk’s 2016 Anglezarke Amble video on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-k1cikM37s
Note: This page was originally submitted as a wiki page but in the opinion of David.moreno72 it read more like an advert and was not appropriate for an encyclopedia …whereas articles on Pokémon are just fine! It is debatable whether the aforementioned ‘editor’ is indeed a self-loving, pedantic prick, who needs to get a life!