Wednesday, 17th March 2010
| Walk: | Great Hall Barn, Pigeon Tower, Rivington Pike, Two Lads Hill, Winter Hill, Hordern Stoops, Lower Hempshaw's, Lead Mines Clough, Pike Stones, Alance Bridge | ||
| Start Point: | Great Hall Barn | Grid Ref: | SD 628 138 |
| Distance: | 9.5 miles | Ascent: | 1,650 feet |
| Weather: | A dry but dull day | ||
| Accompanied by: |
On my own |
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| Comments: | This walk was made up from various sections of walks I had done previously as I only had time to do a walk close to home. Taking the route beside the woods behind Rivington Hall Barn I climbed to the Pigeon Tower. After visiting Rivington Pike I took the circuitous route to Winter Hill, via Pike Cottage and Two Lads. I was pleased to see that some reconstruction work had been carried out on the cairns at Two Lads and that the orange netting had disappeared. With the digital change-over now a thing of the past there was no need to detour around the masts and it wasn't long before I reached Winter Hill trig point, for yet another photo. Descending the steep path towards Hordern Stoops and continued on to Lower Hempshaw's. I then decided to try the path across Sam Pasture - the last time I had gone this way it had been extremely boggy. Fortunately, today it was quite dry apart from a couple of rather wet patches. En route to Lead Mines Clough a new waymarker indicated a path I had previously missed so that I was able to walk directly across to the memorial to those killed when a Wellington Bomber crashed on the moors. From here I made my way up the clough and round the forest to the Pike Stones. Heading back to the Lead Mines Clough, around the other side of the forest, I spotted a path that lead directly to Alance Bridge. From here it was a short walk through fields to Rivington Village and along the edge of the woodland back to the car. | ||
Scroll down to see photos of the walk
Heading up past Rivington Hall Barn . . .
a short climb brings me to the Pigeon Tower . . .
with a view over to . . .
Rivington Pike
From the Pike the direct path to Winter Hill can be clearly seen . . .
but I opt for the route past Pike Cottage where the view over the garden takes in the Pike again
There seem to be a number of theories about Two Lads. There are three cairns now and these have been partly restored since my last visit in 2009
It is believed that on the 'Two Lads' two young men walking from Chorley to Rochdale went mysteriously missing from the site during a winter storm in the early 20th century. Two memorial cairns are built on the site in the memory of the men. Another theory is that this was the burial site of a powerful Saxon king with a burial mound and bodies found at the site.
The larger of the three cairns
Trig point on Winter Hill
The memorial to those killed . . .
when a Wellington bomber crashed on the moors
The Pike Stones, the remains of a 5,000 year old Neolithic long barrow, or burial chamber
Yarrow Reservoir, taken from a new path I found today
Looking up Lead Mines Clough from Alance Bridge
Spring is on its way - in the church yard in Rivington Village
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