Manchester Weekend Walkers lead public transport walks into fantastic countryside all year round.
Train & Bus based walk
Leader: Matthew B (meeting at Salford Crescent)
Meet Point: Near the ticket barriers, or on the platform at Manchester Victoria Station. Alternatively, meet the group on the train, or at the Walk Start at Entwistle station.
Transport to Walk Start: 09:43 train from Manchester Victoria (final destination Clitheroe).
Suggested Ticket: GM Wayfarer £17.40. A single rail ticket to Entwistle and bus ticket from Rawtenstall may be cheaper, depending on where you are coming from in the morning.
Walk Start: Entwistle Railway Station at 10:25
Waypoints: Wayoh Farm, Longshoot, Hog Lowe Pike, Calf Hey Reservoir, Clough Head Visitor Centre, Rossendale Way, Haslingden Moor, Cob Castle Road, Haslingden Town Centre, Haslingden Halo, Height End, Whittaker Park, St Mary’s Church
Return Services: From Rawtenstall Bus Station, services run direct to Shudehill Interchange in central Manchester every 20 minutes until 6:30pm, after which they switch to half-hourly, taking about 48 minutes to get there. It passes by Victoria Station on the way, and from Shudehill trams run in several directions including Piccadilly.
Extra: Please use the toilet on the train. No toilets at walk start. Toilets at Visitor Centre which we should reach at around 13:30pm. Optional drinks at the end of the walk. Please do not bring your dog (apart from assistance dogs)
This linear walk passes through some picturesque woodland alongside a stream heading north to Wayoh. After this we pass into more open countryside with views to the right of big farmhouses and country houses. We then climb Hog Lowe Pike - at 383m above sea level, the triangulation pillar marks the highest point of this walk. We then head downhill through some very lush green woods and then between two reservoirs before reaching the lunch stop at Clough Head Visitor Centre, where there is a cafe and some seating and toilet facilities.
We then head past various quarries on the Rossendale Way before switching to the higher ground on Haslingden Moor. After this we drop down steeply to Haslingden, before passing an old mill on the way up to the Halo - a metal lattice sculpture you can walk around. From the Halo it is all downhill into Rawtenstall, past the Rossendale Ski Slope, through the gorgeous Whitaker Park and then past St Mary’s Church before reaching the Rawtenstall Bus Station.
For more information about the Round Manchester Hiking Trail, see
https://roundmanchesterhikingtrail.co.uk/
