Page 48 - Real Rochdale Issue 09 Winter 2020
P. 48

Take a walk at Watergrove



















                                                                                                                                                            The ruins of Littletown Farm


                                                                                                                                further up. At Littletown Farm there are some
                                                                                                                                picnic benches if you’ve brought a snack.

                                                                                                                                After Littletown Farm continue along the
                                                                Enjoy a circular walk with lots of                              cobbled road and go through the gate. At
                                                          history around this Wardle reservoir                                  Steward Barn you can stop to look down on
                                                                                                                                the woods and the reservoir. Here the road
                                                                                                                                continues up and to the right. Take the path to
                                                                                                                                the left through the gate - signposted Pennine
          Watergrove reservoir in Wardle is popular with       If you want to go through the gate in the wall on                Bridleway towards Whitworth.
          walkers, cyclists, runners and windsurfers.          your left to the other side of the wall, this will
                                                               bring you out at the windsurfing club, or you can
          This walking route follows public footpaths and      stay on the road.
          bridleways and takes about an hour. For families
          with younger children it will take an hour and a     When you reach the windsurfing club, turn right
          half (or slightly longer, depending on how often     up the sett-paved Ramsden Road.
          you stop to jump in puddles).
                                                               For an alternative route closer to the water (and
          Parts of the route can be muddy and wellingtons      out of the wind), turn left through the gate into a
          or walking boots are recommended. It is not          wooded area. The path is easy to follow around
          suitable for pushchairs or wheelchairs.              the reservoir but there are more steps and the
                                                               paths are narrower. It’s still a route suitable for
          Start from the car park at the foot of the           families.                                                         The path into Higher Slack Nature Reserve
          reservoir dam, which is about half a mile up
          Ramsden Road from the Globe Inn pub in Wardle        If you stay on Ramsden Road you will pass the
          village.                                             ruins of Littletown Farm and then Steward Barn                   Follow the path down into Higher Slack Nature
                                                                                                                                Reserve and when you reach a bridge over the
          This route is around the reservoir anti-clockwise,                                                                    stream to your right cross it and head up to
          so the water should always be on your left-hand                                                                       another gate.
          side.
                                                                                                                                Through the gate, there is another sign for
          From the car park head through the gate to the                                                                        the Pennine Bridleway, ignore the sign for
          right (if you are facing the dam) and along the                                                                       Whitworth this time and turn left here.
          road. As you draw level with the top of the dam,
          continue along the road to the left.                                                                                  This path is out in the open again and brings
                                                                                                                                you back down into another wooded area and
          Here, at the cattle grid you will see date stones                                                                     eventually down to the side of the reservoir.
          set into the wall. These are from Watergrove                                                                          Continue along the side of the water to the dam
          village (and surrounding farms) which was                                                                             and then turn left along the top of the dam and
          flooded to create the reservoir in the 1930s.        A date stone from 1709                                           back to the car park.

          REAL ROCHDALE - WINTER 2020                       48                                                                                                                    49                     REAL ROCHDALE - WINTER 2020
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