Monday 10th November 2025

Monday 10^th November 2025

Second Circular Walk of the River Irwell.

On a misty November morning, twenty-one walkers, including three new to the group, set out from Exchange Street in Edenfield, and after crossing the main road, we turned right into Gincroft Lane and started our steady climb up to Sand Beds Lane.

The route was very wet in places, but as we climbed up to Cowpe Lowe (440m), the mist started to clear, and we had good views over to Pendle Hill. We soon arrived at the area now known as The Valley of Stone, because of all the many stone quarries in the area, and after passing through the remnants of the quarrying activity, with the leftover stones providing seats on which to enjoy our morning coffee. The place at which we stopped was once part of the Crag Quarry Tramway, which was operational from 1867 to 1920.

Once refreshed, we continued along the route until we reached Rooley Moor Road, where we turned left and made the steep descent into Stacksteads, and our continuation of the Irwell Sculpture Trail (IST). There is very little evidence of the trail, so we used the river as our way marker and continued to follow it through the two disused railway tunnels, which were part of the line from Bacup to Manchester.

After crossing Bocholt Way, we walked past the Rossendale Civic Trust Museum, said to be one of the oldest properties in Rawtenstall, which was originally built as weavers’ cottages in the 18^th century. Our lunch stop was at Railway Tavern, located at the end of the East Lancashire Railway, where we made use of the outdoor seating.

Resuming our route, we turned right into New Hall Road and made our way to New Hall Business Park, where we rejoined the route of the IST. The path, alongside the river, was very muddy in places and was not for the fainthearted, but the bonus was that several of our walkers did catch sight of a kingfisher.

After passing under several bridges, we eventually arrived in Irwell Vale, where we crossed over the river for the last time and headed through the village to Lumb. Once through the railway underpass, we climbed out of the valley and headed back into Edenfield, having covered twelve miles that included lots of our industrial heritage.