Friday 5th July 2024
Come Walking Series: Turton Tower and Cheetham Close
On a dry but chilly evening thirty two walkers, including eight new to the group, met at Turton Tower to begin the short, but steep walk up to Cheetham Close. The tower was originally built as a Pele tower in the 1400s and has been extended over the years. In 1682 it was bought by Humphry Chetham, of Chetham’s School of Music and Chetham’s Library, in Manchester. After leaving the tower we joined a section of the West Pennine Way (WPW), first crossing the Victorian Railway Bridge and then following the track on our right as far as the kissing gate on the left. We were pleased to see that the herd of cows were not in the field, that we were about to cross.
Turton Tower
We then began to climb the steep slope up to the trig point, stopping occasionally to admire the views, behind us, over towards Longshaw Head. The trig point is 325 metres above sea level and has commanding views and it provides good views of the surrounding countryside. There is little evidence of the bronze age stone circle which a local farmer is said to have demolished to stop the Victorian tourists walking over his land.
Climbing Cheetham Close
Summit of Cheetham Close
Descending the hill
On the decent to Cox Green Road, we had good views over to Winter Hill and Delph Reservoir, before passing Dimple Hall built in the 17th century and extensively extend in the 21st.
Dimple Hall
When we reached the road we turned left, leaving the WPW route, and headed up to Torra Barn where we enjoyed a brief talk on the history of the barn, and the surrounding area.
Tora Barn
Returning to the tower
From here it was a short walk around Turton Golf Course back to Turton Tower, having covered a comfortable four miles.