Monday 13th October 2025

Monday 13^th October 2025

First Circular Walk of the River Irwell.

This series of walks aims to follow the northern section of the Irwell Sculpture Trail (IST). The Trail links the centre of Manchester with the moors above Bacup, extending over thirty-three miles, through Salford, Bury and Rossendale. Since 1987, various sculptures have been sited along the Trail; the intention was that, on completion, there would be fifty in place. Sadly there is little evidence of many of these works of art today.

The walk started from the car park opposite the Rose N Bowl pub, in Stacksteads, where seventeen walkers first crossed the main road and headed down the street opposite to Stacksteads Football Ground, where we had the first glimpse of the River Irwell. Once through a wooden gate, we made our way to Farholme Lane, where we turned left and walked back up to Newchurch Road, which we crossed, and walked up Hammond Avenue and Hill Crescent, turning right into Newchurch Old Road.

After a steady climb which took us out of the morning mist, we stopped to look at the variety of animals at the Animal Quakers Sanctuary, eventually arriving at Bankside Lane which we followed into the centre of Bacup. Once in the centre of the town, we turned left and walked up Burnley Road as far as Cooper Street, on our left. We had not had sight of the river for some time, but on consulting our map, we could see that it was flowing beneath our feet. At the back of Bacup Cricket Ground, we turned left and headed onto the moors.

After a short climb, we were greeted by the sight of The Sentinel, a stone and felt sculpture. By this time, the mist had started to clear, and we enjoyed the views of the valley below whilst drinking our morning coffee.

Once refreshed, we continued along the IST, soon arriving at a very attractive ruined bridge, that reminded us of Cromwell’s Bridge in the Ribble Valley. Eventually, we arrived in the village of Weir, having had several sightings of the river along the way. The IST now climbed back up to Burnley Road, and the area of Deerplay, which was the site of a coal mine and stone quarry. From here we turned right and made our way along Burnley Road, where, after a short distance, we turned right through a stile and headed to the source of the River Irwell, which was in a very boggy field. As a reward, we made use of a broken-down wall to eat our lunch and contemplate our finding.

Our return journey back to Bacup was along Bacup Old Road and once in the town we spent some time admiring the Wall of History, an outdoor heritage feature at the Bacup Natural History Society Museum, which displays a collection of historical artifacts and objects in a wall setting.

Continuing our return journey, we made our way through Stubbylee Park, which is managed entirely by volunteers, and is a credit to them. Once through the park we joined the IST and followed it back into Stacksteads having covered 10.5 historic miles.