FRIDAY 18th MAY 2018
WALK 2 of the COME WALKING SERIES
HOLCOMBE BROOK, PEEL TOWER, HAWKSHAW CIRCULAR
This walk was also included in the Transport for Greater Manchester Walking Festival 2018
Peel Tower
The second of the Friday night walks started outside the Hare and Hounds Pub in Holcombe Brook. Forty walkers set out, on a very sunny evening, to climb to Peel Tower making our way up the old cobbled road as far as Darul-Uloom Islamic College where we turned left and walked up to Moor Bottom Road, passed Hey House (1616 circa.) which is one of the oldest houses still standing in the area. Once across the road we joined a steep path which lead up to the tower. Peel Tower was built in 1851 to commemorate the work done by Sir Robert Peel in changing the Corn Laws which at the time controlled the price of corn and made too costly for poorer people to afford.
Heading for Moor Bottom Road
Once at the tower we spent some time admiring the views over Ramsbottom, Rossendale Valley and Scout Moor before we joined the West Pennine Way (WPW) and continued our walk by following the WPW way markers across the moor, in a westerly direction, stopping again to admire the views overlooking Holcombe Valley. From this position we were able to see as far as the Fiddler’s Ferry Power Station, in North Wales and to the west Winter Hill and Darwen Tower.
The WPW then descends down a footpath leading back to Moor Bottom Road where we turned right and walked as far as the ruins of Taylor’s Farm where again we re-grouped before we made the steep decent down into Saplin Wood walking through the wood and up onto The Ridge, where we stopped to look at the ruins of Higher Ridge Farm.
Saplin Wood
High Ridge Farm
We followed the track that leads behind the ruins down to the stepping stones which cross Holcombe Brook, which at times can be a torrent but on this occation was only a trickle due to the recent dry weather.
Bluebells in Redisher Wood
It is at this point that we left the WPW and turned left across the boardwalk leading us into Redisher Wood. The final section of the walk took us passed Simon’s Lodge, which looked splendid in the evening sunlight, which was also shining on the banks of bluebells on our way back to Holcombe Brook, have covered a distance of 4 miles.