Over to Bolton again for the end of my late summer break, mostly to get together with the family to celebrate my parents' 45th wedding anniversary, and with dinner out on the slate for Sunday, I've still got a Saturday to use to my own ends. Fortunately, with my Mum being away on other business for the day, and Dr G's 7-seater car being in the garage with all manner of mechanical difficulties, we only have My Sister's 4 seat road-bug as available transport, so if a trip to Witton Park is due for my nieces, at least two of us are left to our own devices by default. So that's as good a reason as any for My Sis to come walking with me for the afternoon, and having viewed a most uninviting morning, the day turns to a blazing hot afternoon, so this must be time for an assault on Winter Hill.
Egerton to Rivington Park, via Winter Hill. 7.9 miles
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| Longworth Clough |
An early lunch and out at 11.40am, and the quickest route towards Winter Hill from the A666 appears to be down Longworth Road, dodging traffic on a road diversion from the A675, and striking out along the farmtrack down into Longworth Clough. I really ought to have known that there was a river valley down here, as there are various reservoirs north of here and Blackburn Road is clearly on the right side of a descending valley edge, I might even have walked down here at some point in the previous five years. However, I'd completely failed to acknowledge its presence so going down hill into the calm and oven-like heat of the clough comes as something of a surprise. My Sis relies on me to navigate, and for a while at least that's pretty straightforward as the stream is followed north and things only start to get complicated as we venture into the trees and sight lines toward our destination are lost. Encountering the derelict and fenced off remains of Springside Paper mill, which feels like it has been randomly dropped into the valley, I defer route finding to the local as she can pick out a path when the one I had favoured seems to have disappeared behind the security fences. So skirt the works for quite a way before descending towards the stream again, before a sharp ascent leads us to field walking. A notice tells us to avoid the path to Ornamental Reservoir and we debate for a while as to whether that was our intended path, before deciding that it probably wasn't and head up to the works' access road which leads up to the A675 Belmont Road, not the most exciting of paths but worth if for the 'I can see my house from here' moment near Greenfield farm at the top.
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| Winter Hill |
For reasons unknown, finding the path onto Winter Hill is harder than it should be, and I muse on the stupidity of getting lost whilst on an A-road, but find that the footpath sign had been well hidden and march up through the woods to hit the ascent hard beyond. It's about 200 metres of ascent from the main road, and this is probably the sharpest path up the hill, which presents its most dynamic face on its east side, one which should be familiar to anyone who has driven over the M62. Last time I came this way it was ridiculously cold, and today it's ridiculously hot, and many pauses are made to take in the improving views of the oddly unnamed valley below, and rising hills beyond. Eventually, a rest stop is in order and as we water, I'm glad to find that I now have fund of walking stories to draw on to go against My Sis's many cycling exploits (and she has 15 years of walking and climbing tales to draw on too). Apparently, this is a popular off road cycling route, despite it being listed as a footpath, and it's common for lots of folk to cycle over this way in the late evenings. No sight of them right now, only another couple of serious walkers as this is much less favoured as the rote up Winter Hill, despite it being the much more interesting walk. Near the crest we get a breeze again, for the first time since setting out, and acquaintance is made the many masts and towers built for telecommunications and emergency services radio, as well as the monster that is Winter Hill TV transmitter, 315m tall and built of tubular steel, a much more substantial body than your average latticed transmitter (though it's shorter and less bulky then the concrete beast of Emley Moor).
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| Rivington Pike |
Having not attained the summit, hidden somewhere off to the north among the masts, we head under the guy wires of the transmitter, greeting the adventurous sheep and other folks heading over the top to hit the road down to the other side, which was apparently built by the Lancashire constabulary back in the day. The western face of Winter hill is much less dynamic than the east, and the descent is much more gentle, but we decide to not take the road all the way down to the lateral path on the west face, choosing to take a short cut and go cross country to Rivington Pike. The trod in that direction is pretty straightforward but the moorland hides the River Douglas and many rivulets running downhill which need careful negotiation and the going is somewhat moist after all the rains we have had this summer. The Pike, being the most prominent point on the west side of winter hill has a folly upon it to delight the visitor, and there are plenty of those around enjoying the views and tending to duelling dogs. A great spot for views too, with the Reebok Stadium in Horwich and the Mormon Temple in Chorley being local highlights, both Snowdonia and the Lake District are visible in the right conditions, but today we can only see as far as Jodrell Bank and Liverpool Anglican Cathedral.
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| Great Hall Barn |
Far below are the Rivington Reservoirs and the sharp descent takes us on our way down into Rivington Country Park. Originally laid out in 1904 as Lever Park by Viscount Leverhulme, co-founder of Lever Brothers and all-round Edwardian Philanthropist, it has been Bolton's country park ever since, and while it might have lost its manicured edge, it makes up for it with entertaining wildness. My Sis knows her way around these parts well, leading us off the path to take her favoured cycling route down via the Oriental secret garden and lake, and a lengthy zig-zag down the remains of the terraced garden, now hidden beneath a dense canopy of trees. This is good cycling territory it seems, and with pedigree having hosted the events of the 2002 Commonwealth games, and broader paths lead us into the Pinetum and it's always fun to learn a new word (noun: an arboretum specialising in growing conifers) before emerging at Great House Barn. Built as a tithe barn in the 16th century, it now stands as my favourite tearoom, where you can enjoy your tea and cake beneath its massive cruck-framed oak beams, though today we join the throng outside for soft drinks and a heart-attack inducing portion of cornflake slice, accompanied by many bold and hungry Chaffinches.
Despite being on time at 3.45pm, our ride home has not arrived as getting my nieces home from Witton Park has taken a lot more negotiation than expected, so we two are left to put another stretch on to our day, wandering down to road to the terrace of trees that lead down to folly replica of Liverpool Castle, an entirely conjectural plan and also unfinished but a good real / fake ruin to add to the landscape. Take the path back alongside Rivington Lower reservoir and speculate on further routes to take around these parts on future visits before returning to the barn at 4.45pm to await our ride home. As Dr G has decided to let us drive back and for him to get his evening cycle ride in too, before we head back we can discover that it is actually possible to collapse a mountain bike and get it in the back of a Peugeot 107.
1,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 353.2 miles
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