In what is reckoned to be the worst (or best depending upon you viewpoint...) winter for thirty years, the opportunities to ‘get out’ on rock have been pretty rare of late. Slowly though, there are signs that winter is coming to an end – even if it is that the snow, when it comes, doesn’t last for long – Scotland excepted that is!

 

The last dollop of snow to hit the Pennines, a week or so ago, came and went in a day or so but it gave some pretty good scenics if you were in the right place at the right time.

 

Taking a trip over the Snake Pass and hence into deepest darkest (well snowest...) Lancashire, I couldn’t resist pulling over in the car and grabbing some shots. Here are a few shots from my travels about the Pennines...

 

A grey and sombre view up Fairbrook up onto Kinder

 

A snow-bound Os, in this case Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire

 

Another Os, this time Osbaldeston in the Colne Valley and a ruined farm out-building from the Top of Ramsgreave

 

Alastair Lee’s famed (if distant) Pendle Hill complete with grazing sheep on the Top of Ramsgreave

 

 

What a difference a day makes; a day after the Fairbrook shot above was taken, the sun is out and the snow has nearly gone (again)