Egerton to Ramsbottom (successful!) 28/09/14

I had imagined that the trip to Pendle Hill would have had a much greater mileage than it did, somewhere in the region of 6 miles, so only putting down 4 miles seems a bit low for the journey to the other side of the Pennines. So, we look to a bonus stroll for Sunday, to get some miles down quickly before I head homewards, and I'm not fancying any hills after yesterday's escapade and the girls would rather play with Lego or take a trip to the park rather than tag along again, and we have to get it in before lunchtime too, which means options are naturally limited. Rivington Park is the obvious port of call but we've done that too many times already, and my idea of walking down the valley into Bolton won't take us anywhere near Moss Bank park, so that doesn't wash either, and the third choice comes together eventually to keep everyone happy, Dr G takes the girls to Nuttall Park, whilst My Sister and I make another attempt to do Egerton to Ramsbottom in under 3 hours.

Egerton to Ramsbottom (successful)  7.3 miles

Ascending Cheetham Close

Start out from Blackburn Road and the Thomas Egerton at 9.50am, with initial steps to the east follow a similar path to coming this way two years ago, winding up through the housing estate to Cox Green Road, but instead of making for Torra Barn, we hit the rising path that leads up to New Butterworth's Farm and beyond to rise onto the moorland of Cheetham Close, the hill that separates the valleys of Eagley and Bradshaw brooks. It's always slightly amazing that the outer perimeter of Bolton's suburbs are so close to the wild moorland, and I'm sure it's a prize reason for My Sister's family staying in Edgerton, where the views and other rewards of the wild country are right on your doorstep, indeed that view over Winter Hill will always be one for the scrapbook. I'm feeling in better condition than yesterday, thankfully, so pounding it out onto the marginal lands and stickiness among the long grass is not proving to be nearly as challenging as it might have done, and we can lament that even from a more elevated viewpoint, the panorama over Bolton is still lost in haze, as we've never managed to be out on a cool and clear day to see it, today brings overcast skies but virtually no breeze to break it up, ensuring warmth. We're not going to get to the top of Cheetham Close either, as our path swing around its breast, and that particular top will have to wait for that distant day when we finally get to the Witton Weavers Way, and so our view just above the 300m contour, offering the slab of Holcombe moor off to the east with the Ramsbottom Peel tower peeking above the distant nab of Harcles Hill, and despite the early gaining of elevation on this trip, we'll not be taking the high road to Rammy this time, instead taking the more direct low route, demanding actual map navigation for a change, starting with losing 100m of elevation as we plough downhill via a small woodland and a lot of long wet grass towards the settlement of Chapeltown, which will always be an outlying district of Sheffield or a less than salubrious corner of  Leeds in our minds. Our track takes us on down to cross over the Bolton - Blackburn railway line, where the rough remnants of a station endure, and my theory of any mill on my OS maps now being a housing estate proves true here, as a new build has recently gone up, completely failing to match the local vernacular and hopefully better suited to the capricious environment than many of the late 20th century developments in this wild corner of Lancashire.


Turton Bottoms

A cobbled lane leads us into Chapeltown itself, looking like a mix of Victorian villas and modern houses that have at least tried to blend in with the local stylings, and beyond the impressively spired church, it's not a village of much size, so it's a surprise to find it used to have a bank, housed in a building that would not look out of place on a small town high street, but seems to be the entirely wrong scale for here. Across the B6391 we follow the terraces down Wellington Road to look down on the houses recently developed in the valley bottom along Bradshaw Brook, a poor location which wants for sunlight and already suffers from bad moss problems on the roofs, but they still command high prices, we'd guess. A slippery path takes us from the road down to the stream crossing and into the most delightful collection of weavers cottages at Turton Bottoms, illustrating just well how the 19th century could do some things right, and as we navigate our way onto the enclosed bridleway that leads up from the valley, My Sister has to admit that this is a corner that she has never managed to visit before at any point in the last decade, which surprises me, but is probably surprises her even more. The track rises, muddily, to Birches Farm, where we gain a hard surface and bucolic smells, as we tramp on to cross the minor road and wander among the anglers who are taking their places on the shore of Walves reservoir, one of the most minor bodies of water in the West Pennines, another locale that could claim the name of the 'Reservoir District'. Approaching Quarlton Heights farm, My Sister indicates the view back up the valley, to show how low Wayoh reservoir looks, a far cry from the overflowing Entwistle Reservoir back in February, and our ongoing track gets vague beyond the farm, heading across the uneven fields of rough grass, feeling like moorland fringe despite being at only 250m elevation. Drop through the woods beyond, finding men doing wood cutting by the path, and descend to the path that goes around Lower House farm, where a bit of path redirection makes spotting the correct route difficult, our mistake is only noticed when we are two-thirds of the way down the driveway, and not walking in the direction of Holcolme Clough, so we detour down to the A676 on the edge of Hawkshaw, opposite the Red Lion pub (featured in Jane Horrocks's episode of 'Who Do You Think You Are?', apparently) before rising back up Hawkshaw brook to get back on track, at least once we've had a watering and cookie break.

Holcombe Clough

The route passes through some marshy ground around the stream, and I'm sure that the cones sitting among the reeds are there to guide us, which they do and that makes me feel clever, and then I'm made to feel stupid as I recognise an isolated standing stone as a megalith, which my Sister correctly indicates is actually a gatepost. Hawkshaw Lane, complete with unexpected traffic, takes us to Higher House farm, and we strike off through their equestrian fields to find our way onto the Holcolme Rifle Range and Territorials base, where no flags are flying again, but a group of Army cadets are having their Sunday Morning ruined with a hard dose of square bashing, and others are out having an exercise of pack drill. It feels wrong to wander through a military facility, and you feel like you are being particularly sneaky by taking pics as you go, though the Krypton Factor worthy obstacle course is definitely worthy of admiration. Our path take us right along the perimeter of the rifle range, before slipping down the slope among the trees that surround Red Beck before rising again on a sharp incline to get a great panorama of the moorland hills rising around you, and navigating our way around a building that has been so comprehensively ruined you wonder why it is still worth inclusion on the OS map. My Sister, being the older sibling, has already decided  that we are going to make a deviation from our planned route and will be taking in the Peel Tower as she feels it needs an inclusion on my 1,000 mile jaunt, and so we drop down to cross another beck before starting up the valley side to get to the high path at the 300m contour around Holcombe clough. The angled path though the woods is surprisingly easy going, and when it hits a switchback it seems like the right way to go, as the map might be vague as to its location, and it is easy progress again until we get to about 10 metres from the top of the wood, where it vanishes completely and the top can only be achieved by clutching our way up through bracken and heather. I'm sure that this wasn't the right path, and the route along the edge of the wood goes on for a long way before we meet the actual route coming up, so I'll put that down as a navigation failure for the both of us there, I'll also curse the off-road cyclists we meet on their way down, as I'll keep banging on how the footpaths are not their for their use, and I how I have no desire to get mown down by someone on two wheels, thank you very much.

Ramsbottom Peel Tower

Hit the high path, and as it gradually moves downhill, revealing the Irwell valley and the view that suggests that Manchester must be easily within a day's walk from My Sister's house, we meet the easiest route up to the Peel tower, a sharply rising track for about 60m of ascent, which my stamina doesn't want to take on right now, but My Sister easily burns off as I lag behind heavily as I have a flashback to Pendle hill, but keep on going because fortitude in adversity and all that. Progress reports and selfies are made once the ascent is done, and we take the well made route on the path that gains many casual walkers as we rise to the tower that celebrates Sir Robert Peel, the local boy who became PM twice in the early 19th century and was one of the founders of the modern British political system too, Conservative, in his case, unfortunately. One day I'll start stitching all these hill towers and pinnacles of the Pennines together, but this is a good one to get in now before the season is done, and it's actually open to be ascended today, but only if you are willing to participate in abseiling down it, which I am not, but many others are, judging by the crowds. We continue along the hard track, which seems to not coincide with the right of way at all, before finding the field path that starts our rapid descent towards Ramsbottom, dropping us onto the twisting alleyways above Emmanuel Church, where my Sister has to point out Chapel Lane as being one of the few hills that has defeated her when cycling, and we'll avoid it too, too steep, narrow and busy with traffic for the walker, instead going down through the churchyard and wood below to descend to Dundee Lane, where the villas have a fine view over the Irwell Valley. Descend further among the terraces on Tanners Street and Rostron Road to find the path that sneaks round the back of the Library and Adult education centre and from there it's only a short walk down Carr Street to meet the Market Place and the ewer, which forms part of the Irwell Sculpture trail, which marks the centre of Ramsbottom to me, and whilst we missed the 3 hour target, completing at 1.05pm, it's good to finally get this destination down after failing two years ago. Family arrives for lunch at the Chocolate Café, a well earned baked spud and chilli for me, and I can ponder the maps to show there is only a relatively short distance from Rammy to Todmorden, which would have completed an unbroken line from Morley to My Sister's place, but sadly, there probably isn't season enough to get that in, that'll have to be another one for 2015, I suppose.

Next on the Slate: No more major excursions, but the map still has plenty of blanks to be filled in!


1,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 1336.2 miles
(2014 total: 423 miles)

(Up Country Total: 1240.6 miles)

(Solo Total: 1109.2 miles)

(Declared Total: 1128 miles)