WEDNESDAY 18th JULY 2018
6th of 9 circular walks to complete The West Pennine Way
WHITE COPPICE to RODDLESWORTH
Great Hill Summit
Nine walkers left White Coppice Cricket Club car park and made our way through the kissing gate and over the bridge, which crosses The Goit, that takes water from the Roddlesworth Resevoirs down to Anglezarke Reservoir. The first section of this walk follows the West Pennine Way (WPW) and is way-marked to Roddleworth. Once over the bridge we climbed the steep path that leads over the moors first to the ruins of Drinkwater Farm and on to the summit of Great Hill with its views overlooking the Ribble Estuary and beyond to the Lakeland Hills.
The Well House Hollinshead Hall
From the summit we walked over the moor eventually dropping down to Belmont Road which we crossed and tuned left along a track that took us to the ruins of Hollinshead Hall, which was built in the 18th century. In the corner of the ruins stands a restored well-house, the waters of which were renowned for curing eye complaints.
Lunch at Roddlesworth
Continuing to follow the WPW we made our way into Tockholes Plantation where we enjoyed a pleasant walk through the trees to the café and information centre at Roddesworth for lunch.
Once refreshed we left the WPW and made our way back across Tockholes Road, through a kissing gate and onto a footpath that drops steeply down through the woods. On reaching a wide track, at the bottom of the slope we turned left and then right down to a stream which we followed until reaching a footbridge.
Happy wanderers
After crossing the footbridge, we followed a path along the western side of Higher Roddlesworth Reservoir turning left after the embankment onto a track that took us to Roddlesworth Farm and Roddlesworth Lane. From the lane we followed a short footpath up to Belmont Road, which we crossed and climbed a steep embankment onto a path that took us onto Withnell Moor. Eventually the path disappeared and we had to take a compass bearing to find our way to Wheelton Plantation and Edge Gate Lane.
Back to White Coppice
On reaching the plantation we walked through the woods down to The Goit and followed it back to White Coppice having covered 10.5 miles