Tuesday 14th April 2026.
Who walked:- Just Sheila and I today.
The Route. 11km, Left to right.
Back onto Rowlands Rd we soon reached the last row of stone terraced cottages and into farm land, a good track giving us 360 degree views. A loud whistle broke the silence of the moment, a steam train heading to Ramsbottom on the East Lancs Heritage railway could be heard but not seen due to it being in a deep cutting, but the smoke or steam gave away its position. We did look at going to Summerseat on that very train but at £38 we thought it was way too expensive. Especially as the bus trip only cost us a total of £2.
Our first sighting of a tractor came at Nabbs farm, a John Deere 6R 215 fully equipped with slurry spreader. Just passed the farm can be found Falshaws Farm shop and Cafe. This is all new territory for us, we didn't know about the cafe, and so we tried the coffee shop. It's a lovely spot that does a wide variety of hot food, sandwiches, ice creams, cakes and pastries and also breakfasts and Sunday Lunches. Well worth checking out if you are in this area. The view from the cafe conservatory is wonderful and the staff are most helpful and chatty. Web site Here.
On our way again we crossed Walmersley Road, the A56, the footpath is straight ahead. This path at first we found to be very marshy as the surroundings portray, full of high reeds and the fact that it used to be a Bury and District reservoir prior to Hawswater reservoir being built, says it all. Then a dip through a wooded copse leads to an uphill section heading for the M66 motorway.
It is easy to go slightly askew here as there are a number of farm tracks that distract attention. We went right up to the motorway fence passing the ruins of a building which I am presuming was Stones Farm and then handrailed the fence right until it brought us out at a good stile on Walmersley Old Road. This is a minor road and is cobbled in a few sections.
Across the motorway bridge we passed Longcroft house which may have been the residence of the owner of Longcross Bleach Works which we will pass in a while. Turning right over a cattle grid we came to a property undergoing a complete renovation. This was No.1 and 2 Lower Long Cross Cottages. Now one huge residence in waiting.
A little further along the lane we came to a superb looking 16th century house. Now known as White wall Cottage, it was in a former life three individual cottages, numbers 1,3 and 5. It is splendid and we were in two minds whether the route led through the garden or went elsewhere. Sheila noticed a "Please close the gate" sign and then a small passage way to a stile. We stopped for a minute to admire the building.
Across the stile and we were into an area of history, a number of old mill ponds now returning back to nature, weirs and a hydraulic pump house, all related to the Longcross bleach works. A couple of felled trees were a bit of an obstacle and then a footbridge led to a very old wall stile onto Sales Lane. Here we met two dog walkers and chatted for a short while looking at what remained of the Longcross Bleach Works. Probably will have houses on the site before long.
We parted company with the dog walkers at a split in the lane, our route eventually passing White Carrs House with superb views before getting to the gates of Walmersley Golf Club. At the entrance to the club a newly repaired stile was crossed and a short field walk brought us out onto a farm track with a stile beside a wide gate.
We had to check the map here as there was three routes. Our route which had a sign on the fence announcing Dunham Farm. This is another very old right of way and has fantastic views across the moorland to the ever present Knowle Hill, across Cheesden Valley and Deeply Vale.
The lane we were on was named Scotland Lane and once we passed Dunham Farm the farm track changed to a narrow path. A fell runner passed us, only the fourth person we had seen all day. For a short time we joined the Greater Manchester Ringway trail which we did earlier this year but instead of taking the track towards Birtle we headed east towards Clegg Wood. The path undulates along the edge of a very steep embankment and care has to be taken in wet conditions.
We found a stile, broken, which led into a field with good views towards Blackstone Edge and Holme Moss and decided that this was as good a spot as any for lunch. The weather had treated us really good so far but five minutes after sitting down we felt the first signs of rain. For now it was just a quick shower and didn't spoil our break.
At the end of this green lane was a broken gate and the path ahead was nowhere to be seen. A quick check of the map showed an old coal shaft and we spotted a concrete capping stone. We headed down to it for a look and it is quite substantial. The info plate was missing unfortunately.
The walk down the road was only short and once over the River Roch Bridge a yellow marker post showed us the path down to the Roch banks. I was quite surprised how big the River Roch was here and tried to imagine just how busy this area was a hundred years ago when there were many large mills along the banks, now gone.
We came out beside Hooley Bridge Mill. This was a water powered mill built in 1826 for cotton spinning and weaving by Joseph Fenton. Now looking dilapidated but still standing. We crossed the road to follow a narrow lane leading us to a footbridge into Queens Park. The Queens Park Road Bridge which has recently had lots of money spent on it is quite an impressive structure. The park was quiet, probably because it was raining, but it was a nice walk round the lake and the Cricket ground beyond.
We now only had a short section to go, out of the park and into Heywood town where we had left the car. Luckily the rain had been only light so far and the car was only 5 minutes away.
We really enjoyed this walk and there are numerous options to make it longer or shorter. The terrain is very mixed, from suburbs to moorland, rivers, lakes, deep valleys, old and new properties and the views are excellent.
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