Singing Ringing Tree Walk

We have been up in Burnley for a couple of days for a family get together. Rather than travel up for the event on the day, it being the Friday before a Bank Holiday Weekend, we travelled on Thursday, going via York to drop Sarah off for the new term.

So we had a day or so to explore. I found the Explore Burnley website...

"Our outdoors attractions are also well known. The Singing Ringing Tree on Crown Point Moor is one of the top ten pieces of sound art in the world. Standing 3m tall, it is made of galvanised steel pipes which make both an incredible and eerie noise in the wind. You can also enjoy breathtaking views across Burnley, which is surrounded by Pennine countryside.

The panopticon is only a short walk from the carpark and picnic area – but for those who are slightly more adventurous, you can set off from the Wayside Arts Trail from Towneley Park and follow the carved Lancashire oak marker posts."

That sounded interesting. I searched for a description of the walk, which I found here, but there was no map with it so we just had to follow the directions. This was our route...

We drove the 2 miles from our to park in Towneley Park and started our walk from there, where the route description starts. Here are a few photos.

We were very impressed with the park and its facilities....

...and Towneley Hall, seen here from below the ha ha. 

But we had a walk to do. A lot of it was waymarked as part of the Burnley Trail.

This bit was a bit steep and a bit overgrown, but fortunately only for a short stretch,

Soon we were up on the moors with great views unfolding.

We crossed Burnley Golf Course...

...and then took a meandering track across the moor, avoiding the direct route via the road. The directions were a little vague in places. We should have joined the track here rather than when we met the road, I think.

We came across a plantation of young trees, each with a commemorative plaque.

It turned out to be on of the woods being created by Life for a Life, a scheme where you can plant a tree and scatter the ashes to remember a loved one.

It was just a short walk from here to the Tree.

Alas, there was not a breath of wind, so we couldn't hear it sing. If I'd thought about it, I might have looked for a stone to tap it with to hear it ring at least.

But never mind. The views were fabulous. This is the view down over Burnley with Pendle Hill in the background.

We took a different route back down, avoiding traversing the golf course.

It was little tricky in places... not really family friendly, we thought.

Back at Towneley Hall...

...we were surprised to find that it and the Stable Café are closed on Fridays.

But we did get a yummy wood-fired pizza to share from the van on the right.

Well that was what I wanted to do.... in the afternoon Dawn got here turn to choose.... shopping at Boundary Mill! How did I guess?

You can see more details of our route here on MapMyWalk and more of my photos here on Flickr,