Beam me up Scotty!

We decided today might be the last chance for a while to get out and about on the bike.

As usual, we had nowhere specific in mind so headed off towards the Rossendale valley.

Mr A wanted to see the panopticon in Haslingden (which is only a couple of miles from home and where I work on Tuesday's).

It's called the 'Halo' but looks more like a ufo to me! Judge for yourselves.

The Halo is an artwork set on the expended landfill site (or "top 'o' slate") overlooking the town of Haslingden in Rossendale, positioned to be clearly visible from the M66 and A56 approach to Lancashire. The Halo was the fourth and final Panopticon to be constructed in Lancashire and was launched in September 2007.

The Halo is an 18m-diameter steel lattice structure supported on a tripod five metres above the ground. The core is open at the top, framing views of the sky. It is lit after dark using low-energy LEDs powered by an adjacent wind turbine and glows a sky-blue colour, giving the effect of hovering above the town. It was designed by John Kennedy of LandLab.

The views up there were fantastic, on a clear day you can see right across to Jodrell Bank. The farthest we could see today though was the Manchester Hilton.

From there, we had a 'mystery' tour, taking turns to decide right or left at the next junctions. We ended up in Hebden Bridge which was as good a place as any to stop for a coffee.

Mr A said we would go to Keighley next, but we ended up in Halifax! We took a random road which meandered for miles across the moors, we had absolutely no idea where we were and really didn't care as it was such a lovely afternoon and great scenery.
The road finally dropped down into civilisation and we found ourselves in.....Hebden Bridge!

We decided that was enough adventure for one day and rode back home, just in time for tea.

What a great day.