Llanferres Circular. A story of bad stiles and cows.

 Tuesday 12th May 2026. Llanferres Circular walk.

10.12 km, 298m ascent. 

4hrs including much map reading and a lunch break of about 25/30 minutes.

Weather mixed, mainly rain with sunshine later.

From our accommodation we watched the rain sweep east to west across the Clwydian hills and I thought of those people doing the Offa's Dyke trail getting up out of warm sleeping bags, looking out of the tent at the mist and horizontal drizzle right now. The weather forecast for today was a mixture of everything and considering that we were not going onto any ridges or tops today I thought I would chose a lightweight set of gear. It was a big mistake.

Driving to Llanferres was in sunshine and we parked up on the main road, the A494 just adjacent from Plymog village in a large lay-by which was packed end to end with the vehicles of a walking group. Luckily there was enough room at one end for us and they went off in a different direction to our plan.

Our luck with the weather ran out before we got out of the car, it started raining, that light stuff that wets you through and the views of the surrounding hills disappeared in minutes. The walking group were fully clad in head to toe wet gear and set off up the lane across the main road, presumably to do Moel Famau, just a guess on my part.

My gear was very light weight, I took my RAB 2.5 layer Downpour Eco jacket which has to be the worst waterproof I have ever owned. It cannot cope with prolonged rain and I knew this was a bad decision, it was obviously going to be a soggy hike. Still, it didn't matter too much as we were only doing a day walk. If we had been backpacking I wouldn't have taken that jacket. I took and old pair of RAB over trousers made from eVent and I expected them to succumb to the weather which they did. My boots were perfect, a pair of Decathlon Quencha MH500 which have been absolutely superb unlike Sheilas Adidas Anylander Rain dri which kept her feet constantly swimming.

Anyway enough gear talk. Through the first gate and we met a small herd of young bullock, most took no notice of us but one scaredy cat/cow didn't like us walking passed. Not sure who was more scared, him or Sheila waving her walking pole like a conductor in an orchestra. But we made it across the field to the bridge over the river Alyn.  Here we met the only people we saw on the walk, two runners of the very fit type, who didn't like the rain.

Afon Alyn

There is a kissing gate but we didn't go through it, instead we followed the Bryn-yr-ardd woodland boundary fence north through above ankle deep grass and low hedgerows, getting even wetter. We entered the woodland a couple of times, the pungent  smell of wild garlic as well as carpets of bluebells was wonderful. After crossing a couple of fields we came to a good path in the grounds of Mount Pleasant Farm. This led us through pedestrian gate next to a smart set of wrought iron estate type gates. We were now on a good path which leads to the old mining village of Maps-y-safn or Maeshafn as the sign post reads today.

Mount Pleasant farm in the background.

Reaching the village and the minor road we were not persuaded to try the pub even though it may have got us into a dry space for a while. Maeshafn village grew up because of the mining in the area. I presume the Mostyn's and Grosvenor families held the mineral rights and issued the leases around here.

We headed west along the road until we came to a small hamlet called Pont-y-Mwynwr, with a low bridge over the river and a ford which is still used today. It is a quaint spot, ever so peaceful. The path follows the river downstream where there are a few small falls and signs of leats.The rain was still with us but it didn't detract from the beauty of this area, but we did have to take care on the slippery rocks.

If only photo's had a smell. This wild garlic was incredible.

Not far along the narrow banking the path opened out into much wider ground. There are two arched bridges which used to carry water along an aqueduct to the lead wash house. The ruins of the wash house still partially exist but nature is taken hold. There are many signs of lead mining here and I am a little surprised that more is not made of the area as it is part of the industrial heritage.

River side path.

One of the aqueduct bridges

Part of the ruined Lead ore wash house.

The other side of the wash house.

The path on the newest OS map shows reaching the A494 road via a field gate. Getting there we found the gate locked and completely covered in barbed wire. No way over it. I don't see any reason why this has been done unless people have been leaving the gate open. Anyway looking round for a way to exit the field another gate was spotted in the boundary fence to the right. This led through a small wooded area and onto the road. This will become the main exit point as what looked like a diversion notice must have been readable at one time.

An old gatepost. Look closely and you can see the drill lines where it was blasted from the quarry.

The gate with barbed wire.

A short stretch on the A494 brought us to the village of Tafarn-y-Gelyn and a footpath through 6 fields which contoured the nameless hillside. Many of the stiles on this walk leave a lot to be desired and across this area was no better. Missing or rotten steps, wobbly ladder stiles, high top rails with missing lower rails epitomise the issues. In a couple of places small badges say stile by Clwyd ramblers, so some effort has been made to improve the mess but really Clwyd Council environmental dept have responsibility for maintaining public rights of way. They are not doing very well.

In the last field before climbing another stile onto a good farm track many cows spotted us and they had that curiosity to find out who we were. They came over and once the brave one had a good sniff of us the rest came down. A bit scary at first but they were no problem I think its just the size of them and the horns of course and the vision of Spanish bull fighting comes to mind. At least the rain had eased off to just a spit.

A typical stile on route.

We stayed chatting meaninglessly to the cows before setting off again passed the isolated farm of Cwm Bach. In the garden was an old tilling machine. The sign posts were all for Moel Famau but we were not going up there. We headed into the forest up a very steep and slippery banking where we got another soaking from the trees. This was by far the steepest section of the walk.

At the top of the banking we alighted onto a decent forest track where after a bit of map reading and pondering we found our route. We had to walk a little right before the track turned on itself to go left. That's what we wanted, a left path. The path contoured the Clwyd forest boundary and then joined a wide new lumber road. Lots of tree felling was taking place and Health and Safety notices were everywhere. 

We kept looking for a place to have a coffee but couldn't find anything suitable and so we carried on. The rain had now stopped and blue skies appeared. The views unfolded down Bwlch Penbarras across Loggerheads to Mold and further towards the sea. 

This area is signposted to watch out for mountain bikes and horses as well as logging trucks and machinery but the road is wide and today we saw nothing. Nothing except a beautiful valley with a number of properties that had the wow factor. We made our way down hill until we came to a large picnic area, car park with toilets too. At the minor road we headed east and took the first exit passed the lovely house of Pen-y-waun. At the next house there is a choice of taking a bridleway or a footpath. We chose the footpath and climbed over a good stile into a field where there is no sign of a path. Checking the map once again and finding that the path rises diagonally and then skirts the boundary of Fron Hen farm buildings. We commented about how untidy this place looked but did notice a small MF tractor parked next to the sheds.

Once through the farm we found some large concrete blocks which served ideal for a late lunch stop.

MF135 Small tractor 45hp. 3 cylinder Perkins engine.

Contouring the hillside, crossing a small stream with very little water, we found the path down to the A494 beside Llwyn Moelyn house with it's lovely garden. We crossed the road to walk on grass rather than road stone and came to the car park in just a couple of minutes.

This circular walk was only 10.12km in length but because we had to check the map so much, stop to take photographs or generally look at the history, the flowers, the animals etc, it took is 4 hrs to complete. 

Todmorden to Littleborough along the Rochdale canal.

 Saturday 25th April 2026.

This post is just for my records as a reminder of doing this walk along the Rochdale canal. 

We actually did this route previously on 4th November 2025 so this link here will take readers to the post if required. 

We decided to do this walk again for a couple of reasons. 1, we were up a bit earlier than usual. 2. It was a lovely day and we had no plans. 3. It is such a lovely walk to do especially on such a fine weather day. 

So we got the bus to Rochdale train station and then within 2 minutes got on the trans Pennine express train from Chester to Leeds which dropped us off in Todmorden. 

The train was absolutely cram packed, ridiculously so. 4 carriages and people were crammed against the doors. For a train doing such a long journey this overcrowding really is unacceptable. We are not a third world country, yet, but I think we are approaching such. 

Off the cattle truck we started by calling into the Boardgame cafe as we did last time. Then away we went. 

We did spot a couple of things on this trip that we didn’t spot before. A London brick and an OS benchmark. 

Not a rare brick but one I hadn’t come across. 

It seems from records that a third of all brick houses in UK are from the London Brick Company. They have been going over 100 years and production peaked post 2nd world war when they produced 16,000,000 bricks per day. It's a miracle this is the first one I had come across.

OS benchmark located at SD93298 23717. 

Summerseat to Heywood.

 Tuesday 14th April 2026.

Who walked:- Just Sheila and I today.

The Route.    11km, Left to right.

We drove from home and found parking in Taylor Street, just off the main road in Heywood. It was perfect for the bus to Bury. The 471 turned up with only 2 minutes to wait. Once in Bury Interchange we found the 477 bus to Ramsbottom already at the stand. We asked the driver if he went to Summerseat railway station,  which he did. We were the only two people on the bus but there was no bus stop directly at the station which was a surprise. We had to get off at the next stop which was on the corner of Rowlands Rd and Crag Lane. As it turned out it was quite a blessing as the road from the station is quite a steep up.

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.

The last cottages on Rowland Rd.

View North West to Holcombe Tower.

Steam Train in the dip.

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.

Falshaws farm shop and cafe.

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.

The waterless reservoir. But boggy ground.

Path across the old reservoir.

Remains of Stones Farm. (Probably).

A good stile onto Walmersley Old Road.

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. 

Walmersley Old Road with Longcross House and Cottages.

Lower Longcross cottages now one residence in the making.

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.

Approaching Whitewall Cottages. (Now one house)

Stunning property

Letters above the door. Meaning unknown to me but this date is the time when John Metcalfe, or Black Jack the civil engineer/road builder lived in the area. Maybe there is a connection.

The route through the garden to a small stile.

Longcross bleachworks mill pond now returning to nature.

Fallen trees on the track.

Onto the footbridge between the two ponds.

Unusual step stile over the wall.

Remains of the bleach works. 

I managed to find some history of the Longcroft "specialist" Bleaching Works. In the late 19th century and early 20th century it is was being run by the Whitehead family. R.K. Whitehead in this works.

They were an industrial dynasty in the Bury and Rossendale areas.

The Whiteheads were relatives of John Kay the inventor of the "Flying Shuttle".

Other members of the Whitehead family were involved in the cotton spinning and weaving business so the bleaching of the fabric kept the process more or less in house.

 

Here is an old photo of the bleach works from around the 1920's that appeared on Facebook during my search  even though I don't do Facebook. I think that this picture was taken from roughly the same area as my photo of the demolished site.

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.

White Carr in a wonderful location.

Stile at entrance to Walmersley Golf Club.

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.

White Carr and views across to Holcombe.

Are you sure this is the right route?

Yes it says Durham Farm

Approaching Durham farm

The fine residence Deep Moss.

Ford Tractor zoom shot at Deep Moss. I think it is a 7720.

Scotland Lane above Cheesden Valley.

Midday was approaching so we started to look out for a place to stop for lunch, An old stile led to a  farm track which leads to Kershaw Bridge Farm. This place looked a bit of a mess from above but it is in a lovely spot and has great potential. 

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.

Leaving the track that leads to Kershaw Bridge Farm

Lunch break.

The imposing building that is Heywood Farm complex.

A lone tree shielding the sun. (what bit there was as it started raining)

Heading off again we soon passed Heywood farm, a complex and old and new builds which house a Law Firm as well as rented cottages. We dropped down to a stream which had a rope hand rail, it was quite slippery although the photo doesn't do it justice.  Past the property a gate on the left led us to a completely blocked right of way. Blocked by a very large and thorny rose bush. There was no way through it so we entered the field to the east and circumnavigated the obstacle. It looked like many others had done the same as the boundary stone wall had been damaged. I have reported this to Rochdale PROW management team. The OS grid reference being SD84054 12882.

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.

A slippery brook crossing with rope handrail. 

Heywood Farm and cottages complex

Finding our right of way blocked by fallen trees.

Across another disused reservoir the path led down hill to Fernises Farm, a strange name and strange buildings. Not particularly farm like, more like workers cottages. Maybe from the old coal pit. However, notices made sure you didn't go through the yard and a good track led us all the way to the B6222 road. We noticed that both Higher Moorgate Farm and Gristlehurst farm were undergoing complete renovations or re-building as was the Bird I' th' Hand pub.

The capped off coal mine shaft.

Crossing another reservoir that was. This one was dry underfoot.

Fernises Farm buildings

Was Higher Moorgate Farm property.

Gristlehurst Farm construction work.

Bird I' Th' Hand pub.

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.

The B6222 road.

Entrance to the River Roch side.

Remains of Hooley Bridge Mill, Heywood.

Road and track leading to Queens Park Footbridge over the River Roch.

The River Roch

Lake in Queens Park

Nice cricket ground.

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. 

Heading to the car in Heywood, parked near the church.

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.