Monday 9th June 2025

Monday 9^th June 2025

Monthly Long Walk, Barrow Bridge, Smithills Moor, Winter Hill, Wilderswood and Burnt Edge.

One of the aims for this walk was to follow part of section fourteen of the Greater Manchester Ringway, the route that is designed to circumnavigates the whole of the Greater Manchester Boundary.

On a bright but cool morning twelve walkers met in the model village of Barrow Bridge. The picturesque cottages were built in the 18^th century to house the workers in Dean Mill, which was the first cotton mill to use Samuel Crompton’s Spinning Mules. After walking through the village, for a short distance, we climbed the sixty-three steps that were used by the coal miners when walking to the pits, on Winter Hill. Once at the top of the steps we paused for few minutes to get our breath back before heading through the woods and across the fields to Walker Fold.

After crossing Walker Fold Road, we joined a footpath down to a footbridge, over Dean Brook, and once across the bridge we climbed several more steps, through the woods until we arrived at Cote Farm. From here we turned left and headed down to another footbridge before climbing even more steps and eventually arriving at Holden Farm, on Coal Pit Lane, where we turned right and headed down the lane.

Still following the Ringway signs we eventually arrived at a track on our left, at the bottom of which is the Winter Hill Rights of Way memorial stone. The stone commemorates the largest mass trespass in Britain,1896, which was a response against the landowner, Colonel Ainsworth, who blocked the access along this track, that leads to Winter Hill. The protest was not successful, and it was not until 1966 that the track was open to the public. Continuing along this track we climbed steadily onto Smithills Moor eventually arriving at the Winter Hill television mast where we turned left and headed down the access road to the Two Lad’s cairn and morning coffee.

 

Once refreshed we continued down the hill side to Rivington Pike Snack Shack, where we turned left onto George’s Lane, still continuing along the Ringway, we turned right and headed down to Wilderswood, where we turned left leaving the GM Ringway route, for another day. After walking through the wood, we arrived back on George’s Lane where we crossed the lane and climbed up a narrow footpath that led into fields, overlooking Horwich, where we enjoyed the views whilst eating our lunch.

After lunch we headed through Pilkington Quarry eventually arriving on Burnt Edge where we turned right and made our way back to Walker Fold, retracing our steps, to the Miner’s Steps and Barrow Bridge having covered eleven energetic miles.