Birtle - Deeply Vale - Washwheel Mill - Birtle

alec jackson

You need to log in as a member of Walkingworld to access the details for this walk and have an active subscription. Please join, or log in above if you are already a member.

This walk starts on the outskirts of the village of Birtle. The first section is a steady climb along a rural road which goes alongside a golf course before heading along a green lane linking the road with another rural road. It then goes alongside two reservoirs and the remains of two mills. It follows a waterworks track before dropping down to Cheesden Brook and an old mill chimney with more remains. It then climbs to walk along the top of Cheesden Gorge with the brook below you.

The final section returns via a farm access road before descending a third rural road. It continues past some newer properties (mill conversion) and past two more reservoirs before a rough track returns to the start point. Although the total height gain is 243 metres, most of the slopes are short and gentle, with the exception of one long uphill section.

England - North England - Manchester - Countryside

Features

Birds, Butterflies, Church, Flowers, Great Views, Pub, Restaurant, River, Wildlife, Woodland

1/7/2018 - alec jackson

Thanks for the feedback David. I parked on the pub car park several times when developing this walk. No problems but it does seem to get busy lunchtime in the spring, summer and autumn. Just check if pub open as I did. Sunday mornings it is used by churchgoers.

1/2/2018 - DAVID DIXON

We really enjoyed this walk even though it was very wet underfoot where the description says it could be. The view towards Manchester is great in the early and late stages of the walk. We weren’t expecting the climb to be so steep between WP12 and WP13 but we just took it steady and were rewarded with a great view from WP13. The route description is very good and there were no access problems. The Church Inn car park has warning notices about parking and CCTV but Castle Hill Lane just before Saint John the Baptist Church is very good for parking. We also did the walk a second time but shortened it by going from WP4 to WP13 along Scotland Lane.

11/6/2017 - alec jackson

Did the walk (05/11/17). WM10 there is now a wider path, which slopes diagonally to about 1-2 metres from the bottom of the slope, next to the path in the WM picture