Stonyhurst College & the Ribble Way loop from Hurst Green

A very pleasant rural walk with connections to "the Lord of the Rings"

A walk with my walking group - Mindfulness On The Move. Note: Stonyhurst College is private land, you will more than likely be asked to leave the gardens. Be polite and agree to leave.

Lovely walk with friends in the Ribble Valley. By the River Ribble and Hodder. Tolkien spent a lot of time writing his epic novels here and some of the scenery certainly reminds me of the Shire. Plenty of sand martins, herons, egrets, lapwings and oyster catchers. Can definitely recommend it.

It's rare I venture north these days, but when I do, I'm reminded of why I enjoyed growing up in this area so much. I spent the first 25 years of my life in the Ribble Valley and still have somehow not walked, run or ridden many of the paths. My family have all walked the Tolkien trail many times, so during this visit north we all ventured out together. The route starts in the beautiful village of Hurst Green and quickly heads off-road through fields. This first section was the muddiest due to the recent high levels of rain. Once through here, you venture onto hard packed tracks past Stonyhurst College and gradually down to the river. The path is hard packed along here and provides beautiful views of the Ribble Valley and the river. The route finishes with a touch steep climb back up into Hurst Green. Family friendly and also great as a trail run.