Читать книгу Walking on the West Pennine Moors. 30 walks around moorland Lancashire онлайн

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More recently, the beacon was lit on the coronation of King George V in 1910, and on the ending of the First World War in 1918. Today it is just a very popular vantage point, and rightly so.

The square building on the pike today is a tower, built in 1733 by John Andrews, when he became owner of the Rivington estate in 1729. The stone used was taken from the original fire platform and from the bed of the River Douglas. At one time it had a wooden roof and windows on all four sides. The single internal room was 4m (13ft) square, with a stone-flagged floor, a fireplace and a cellar. It was used for shelter when grouse-shooting parties visited the moors, but this stopped in 1900 when William Hesketh Lever bought the estate. The tower is now bricked up and is a Grade II listed building.

From the top of the pike, descend a constructed pathway that goes steeply down the western face (or use the slightly easier circling path around the northern edge). Both routes rejoin just below the pike and descend to meet the main track near an isolated building. Turn right, and walk as far as a tall, slim building – a dovecote or ‘pigeon tower’.