THE cluster of whitewashed farm buildings at Burholme may not seem of any great significance today but back in the 17th Century this was a thriving hamlet and the birthplace of a Quaker family who later sailed to America and became some of the earliest settlers of Pennsylvania.

Nicholas and Anne Waln, brother and sister, were born at the farm at Burholme and left this remote corner of the West Riding in 1682 on board the ship called the ‘Lamb’. They bought land in America from founding father, William Penn, and Nicholas Waln (1650-1721) became a prominent politician in Philadelphia.

There is much more hidden history revealed on this fascinating walk which uncovers the dramatic geography of the middle reaches of the River Hodder.

We pass Thorneyholme Hall, once owned by the Towneleys, who were lords of Bowland in Victorian times. The walk includes a short climb over Hodder Bank Fell and drops to the stately Knowlmere Manor, a gothic pile once owned by the Peel Family.

Don’t forget to check out the phone box on the green in Dunsop village. A plaque reveals this as BT’s 100,000th phone box which had a celebrity opening in 1992. It was unveiled by the explorer Ranulph Fiennes.

1. From the village car park entrance cross the lane and almost directly opposite walk down the access drive to Thorneyholme Manor bordered by magnificent tall redwood pines.

Cross the bridge over the River Hodder and if you look to your right you will see the point where its tributary, the River Dunsop feeds in. Turn immediately right after the bridge between the river and farm buildings.

Keep the river on the right and follow a large pasture to a stile at the opposite end near the ornate footbridge that carries a water pipeline under it.

This pipeline is part of the Victorian engineering scheme constructed by Blackburn Borough in the 1880s to carry water to the town from the Bowland Fells.

2. Continue straight ahead ignoring paths to the left. You pass on the right the point where Langden Brook feeds into the Hodder. The path soon leaves the riverside and crosses fields via further stiles and a little footbridge. Aim slightly left to the farm buildings at Burholme. A ford and bridge over a stream is reached behind the farm.

3. Do not cross the bridge but instead turn left and follow the waymarked path that starts to climb uphill crossing stiles with a fence on the left and the stream down to the right.

Take care as this path may be boggy and slippery. You soon reach a ladder stile at the upper boundary and reach the open fellside. Continue straight ahead along a faint grassy path waymarked by stone posts.

At the highest point reached there are excellent views of the Bowland Fells. The path continues straight ahead descending gently between two woodland plantations aiming for the valley below. Go through a gate and cross pastures via waymarked stiles to reach the path junction at Giddy Bridge.

4. Several paths converge by the waymarker post at the bridge. Do not cross the bridge but instead turn left at the bridge and join the farm track signed as a permissive route.

The fine valley track is followed for nearly a mile passing Knowlmere Manor on the right and the farm at Mossthwaite.

When you eventually reach a junction of paths leave the main track on the right via a stile and aim more directly straight ahead towards Dunsop Bridge across a riverside pasture running gently downhill.

You cross a stile in a fence and walk directly ahead towards Thorneyholme Hall. Pass the hall on the left to reach the access bridge crossed at the start of the walk.

Turn right and cross the River Hodder again to reach the lane through the village. Turn left along the lane for the cafe and phone box.