Turton Walk 3

THE WEST PENNINE WAY & LINKS TO THE WEST PENNINE WAY

FRIDAY 6th MAY

6.10pm at Toby Carvery Greenmount or Turton Tower Car Park at 6.30pm.

  TURTON TOWER / CHEETHAM CLOSE / EGERTON / TORRA BARN /TURTON TOWER

This is a very interesting walk over the ornamental railway bridge at Turton Tower and up onto the moors visiting the remains of an Early Bronze Age Stone Circle then down towards Egerton before returning through Turton Golf Club. On this walk there is a chance of hearing many moorland birds.

Starting point Turton Tower Car Park

Grid ref.  731 152   Post Code BL7 0HG

Turton Tower is a grade 1 listed building, set in attractive woodlands and gardens, built around 1420 as a two storey stone Pele tower, over time it has been extensively altered and was given to the public in 1929 and now belongs to Blackburn and Darwen council.  It is open to the public and has a Tea Room.

The large ornamental railway bridge is over the Bolton to Blackburn railway which fully opened in 1848.

Route : –

Leaving the car park we turn right and go over the ornate railway bridge following the lane uphill to the T junction.  Here we turn right to continue following the stony track with stone wall on the right as far as the kissing gate on the left, which we go through and continue uphill passing a barn on the right, then through a wood and field then a kissing gate onto moorland. Here we can look down to Bolton and Manchester before turning right on the well- trodden path to the trig point on Cheetham Close, an excellent viewing point.

Close by we can see the few remains of an Early Bronze Age stone circle. Until 1871,  7 of the estimated 11 stones still remained, varying in height from 30cm. to 1.2m with another 2 stones outside the circle, but a tenant farmer angered by the many visitors it was attracting, took a sledge hammer to the stones and destroyed most of them. There are small stone circles all over this moorland which are very difficult to detect, but arriving here one bitterly cold morning, after the moorland grass had been frozen flat by very strong gales, it was amazing to see clearly all the many stone circles covering this moorland.

Continuing in the same direction then going over the stile in the wall ahead before turning sharp left to follow the wall downhill through the heather and round the corner down to a stile at junction of walls.

Once over the stile we turn sharp right through a kissing gate.  Then Keeping to footpath with stone wall on the right, shortly passing a bench.  We continue on this higher path through the heathland and more kissing gates until reaching a farm track. Turning left down this stony lane passing a bungalow and then a sign saying ‘Private Drive’

This is just before Dimple Hall, a private residence built in 1688 for barrister Sergeant Welch.

Just after Dimple Hall the footpath goes through a field down to a minor back road at Egerton, after an easy walk down the road passing Holden’s farm and Old Globe cottages before taking the lane to Whittle Hill Farm. Just before the farm we go over a stile to follow the fencing and over more stiles to the next farm passing their Cattery and then through a site of old abandoned caravans, then over a stile and through a gate to Turton Golf Course. We follow the good track through, passing Torra Barn on our way back to Turton Tower.




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