GM Ringway stage 11 Littleborough to Norden
Sat, 20 Jul
|Littleborough
This adventurous stage offers lovely moorland walking interspersed with canals, reservoirs and waterfalls. Est time: 7 hours 5 minutes Distance: 12.4 miles / 19.9 km Ascent: 512 metres Grade: Challenging
Time & Location
20 Jul 2024, 09:00
Littleborough, Winton St, Littleborough OL15 8AR, UK
About the event
Overview
This is one of the 20 stages of the GM Ringway – the new walking trail for Greater Manchester.GM Ringway Stage 11 (Littleborough to Norden) is an adventurous stage offers lovely moorland walking interspersed with canals, reservoirs and waterfalls.
- Highlights include:
- A pretty section of the Rochdale Canal
- The shores of the expansive Watergrove Reservoir
- Panoramic views from the Pennine Bridleway and from the ‘Cotton Famine Road’ on Rooley Moor
- A full circuit of the gorge-like Healey Dell, with its spectacular waterfalls and dramatic railway viaduct
- Beautiful views over Greenbooth Reservoir.
Note that parts of the trail may be damp, muddy and slippery at any time of year and especially after periods of wet weather. Please bear this in mind when planning your trip.
Map and directions This walk is available on the user-friendly Go Jauntly walking app. Here, photographs and written directions will enable you to follow the route on your phone. You can also download a printable PDF of the directions from the same link.
Alternatively, you can follow the route (without written directions) on the mobile-friendly Plotaroute site. To use Plotaroute on your phone’s browser, simply click the map. Then, when you’re ready to start walking, click the tracker icon (bottom right) to show your position as you follow the route.
We recommend carrying an additional power source and/or map when following online routes on your phone.
Terrain
The route includes a substantial total ascent of more than 500 metres. However, it does not go as high as the previous stages and most of the climbing is gradual and on well-made paths (such as the Pennine Bridleway. It therefore has a less challenging feel than some of the other Pennine stages.
Many of the paths used are broad, clear but sometimes stony paths. Some narrower grassy paths, for example after the 1-mile/1.6-km point west of Todmorden Road and in the woodland in Broadley on the approach to Healey Dell.
Facilities
The only public toilets en route can be found at the 7.5-mile 12.5-km point in Broadley, shortly before the descent to Healey Dell. There are also pubs and cafes in Littleborough at the start of the walk, a cafe/takeaway in Broadley, the tearooms in Healey Dell, and a pub, café, and fish and chip shop in Norden at the end of the walk.
Cut-off points
If, for example, you only want to walk a section of the stage, the only convenient location where you can leave or access the route is in Broadley, at the 7.5-mile (12.5-km) point. From here, buses run to and from Rochdale 7 days a week.
Go to person: Shahid