Hacking boat

T

Terry

Local
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Does anyone remember Hacking boat, or if people still visit there. As kids we were taken there by our parents often on Sundays to have a picnic. We would catch the Ribble bus in Melbourne St and get off at at Whalley then walk through an old abbey then through the fields where the Calder is and arrive at the Ribble. It seemed a long way to go then but obviously wasn't. Sometimes we would get off at Gt.Harwood and walk across Whalley nabs to get there.but I didn't like going that way. Too much like hard yakka:D
 
Me, me, me ... I remember Hacking Boat extremely well Terry ... used to do exactly the same as you. Did seem a long way, didn't it ? particularly on a hot summer's day .... yes, memories are that we did have them now and then. Have photo somewhere of boat (but taken by my grandad before even my time). Have photos in me swimmin' cossie as a child,etc.
You must have been there same time as me.

Remember when you joined the country road again and there was a solitary tree in the middle of the junction surrounded by a little wall; the long field full of cow crap. Ah :e29: Yes, I remember it well :e29:

Think you can still do this walk, however, have to run the risk of the A59 to get there and, of course, no ferryman to pay anymore.

Sighs.. those were the days, eh ? ;)
 
Katex you may very well have been there at the same time I was. There were sometimes many families there, especially on a nice summers day. I couldn't do it nowadays despite the fact that in reality it was a relatively short walk. Mostly I remember the cow crap and the little wooden styles we had to climb over. The tree only vaguely. Was it a horsechestnut or conker tree? I remember also getting stung by those horrible wasps which no amount of bashing would kill.:D
 
Terrry ... how long you been in Queensland ?.. horse chestnut and conker tree the same.:) Not sure about this ... big tree anyway.
Didn't ever get stung by a wasp .. but remember a few of those thistles in the field which scratched my legs now and then.
Funny, strong recollections of walking there, can't picture myself walking back .. must have been too tired from all the paddling, cricket, rounders games we used to play.
 
I can remember going down to the river through the Abbey, but I don't remember the boat. I remember picnicking under the viaduct when it came on to rain. Whalley Abbey was one of our favourite places for Sunday picnics. I do remember that my mother would often take her umbrella "then it won't rain"!

There were some great places to go for a Sunday then, and it cost no more than the bus fare. I can remember walking from Whalley to Hurst Green, and then walking down to the river there - there was a pool which was a natural swimming pool, just deep enough and not much current. The family of one of my school friends had a cabin there - whatever happened to those?
 
Here are some pictures taken by my brother in March of this year, still looks lovely to me. :) HackingBoat01.jpg

HackingBoat04.jpg

HackingBoat03.jpg
 
Hey, congratulations to me .... just worked out me first attachment, only took 2 hours !:D Not quite lined up nicely yet, but hope you enjoy the piccies Terry.

Tee hee. Think I'm gonna go attachment mad now.
 
I remember Hacking Boat very well ,having been born in one of the sands cottages in Whalley we used to go there a lot and stop for an ice cream just past the viaduct on our way up what we called water side,My Father would call the Farmer who owned the rowing boat to come and ferry us accross for a few pennies
Ah yes those were the days
 
Yes, I remember going to Hacking Boat with my mum & dad and I also remember loads of people picnicking and swimming in the river and the boat, but I don't think I ever crossed the river on it. Later when I was about 14 or 15 I use to fish on the Calder. Like the rest of you I caught the bus from Melbourne St then walked under the railway arches and fished my way down the river all the way to Hacking Boat. I've lived in the Dales for the last 34 years but I still travel down to a couple of times a week to fish on the Ribble, I was down at Hacking Boat last year.
 
I googled somewhere, sometime :rolleyes: that the boat was now housed in a museum in Clitheroe (think was Clitheroe).

Coincidentally, my next door neighbours are moving down there next week, a sort of caravan park, but they have also built some log-type houses. They say still very peaceful down there still.
 
Kate, that’s where I started, I Googled Hacking Boat and got some information about a ferry that was later replaced by a suspension bridge in the 1950's at Dinckley and it also said that the ferry boat was in Clitheroe Museum. I was confused because Dinckely was not the place where I use to go as a kid, so it was nice to hear other people from Accrington talking about the place I remember as a kid. Maybe there were two ferry's that crossed the Ribble? I'm not sure of the exact date when the suspension bridge at Dinckley was built, but it was in the 1950's when I was taken to Hacking Boat for picnics. I certainly remember the walk I did it often enough when I was fishing the Calder as a kid. I also remember walking all the way from Accrington a couple of times when I wanted to get to the river at dawn or I didn't have the bus money both ways. It's hard to think of doing that now, all the way to Hacking Boat in wellies.
 
I've just had to go and get the Ordnace Survey out of the car, after I realised what place you are all talking about.

We always called it Sail-Away Woods, which makes sense because of the boat, I suppose, though I can never remember a boat in the late sixties, though there is now a suspension bridge at Dinckley.

It was my favourite place for us to go walking when I wasa child, and is still a beautiful place.:)
 
When I was in my early teens we use to get the bus to Cock Bridge and follow the river into Whalley, I was very interested in bird watching in those days, the feathered variety, I only graduated to the ones with skirts a few years later, and having given it much thought I should have stuck to the feathered variety:D:rolleyes:
 
Terry said:
Does anyone remember Hacking boat, or if people still visit there. As kids we were taken there by our parents often on Sundays to have a picnic. We would catch the Ribble bus in Melbourne St and get off at at Whalley then walk through an old abbey then through the fields where the Calder is and arrive at the Ribble. It seemed a long way to go then but obviously wasn't. Sometimes we would get off at Gt.Harwood and walk across Whalley nabs to get there.but I didn't like going that way. Too much like hard yakka:D
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My Dad,s fav spot....rest his soul......in those days all the family used to pile into the Austin 7.....park in Whalley.....then walk...we visited on average every fortnight. Dad got adventurous later in his life and drove through the trough to Morecambe.......:D
 
All this chatter of Whalley reminded me of a café in Whalley where cyclers and hikers gathered that sold the best cups and mugs of coffee for miles around. Their Eccles cakes were superb also.

It was located a few yards to the left from where the main road from Accrington arrived at the centre of Whalley. You went right for the bus station and left on the road to Billington for the café.
 
Used to love Whalley in the 50s & 60s. The dog Inn, The Swan, . My aunt Mary & uncle Herbet had a cabin at Hacking Boat, some happy memories there. Worked at Brockhall & went down to the river quit regular, good place to take the nurses in the summer. Ahh the memoris.
 
Spent my youth there. lived a Brockhall. 2 of my friends drowned there when i was 18. found the boys bodys where the ribble joined the calder aparently the 2 rivers meeting causes a trench at the bottom once pulled down you can not go up against the water pushing down, or so the police diver said. there used to be a boat there before my time i found the old mooring posts about 200mt down from the ribble/calder join. As a boy i swam to the other side and found the oars in an old barn. firther back from the water was an old farn house that sheep lived in from time to time. there i found the origional boat. about that time i got chased off as it is was a private estate. maybe the old boat is still there. as i remember it was about 15ft to 20 ft covered in tar and needed 4 oars.
 
I remember the suspension bridge down the side of the Tanners Arms, it got washed away years ago, did they replace it?

2 rivers meeting causes a trench at the bottom once pulled down you can
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There has been a whirlpool there for as long as I can remember. I think the area is called Sale Wheel Wood, between Ribchester and Dinkley. You used to be able to see the river from the woods but don't know if you still can. The trees were covering the view years ago.
 
we don't get the summers like we used to,the weather is against us for picnics at our favourite spots.
 
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