Rochdale Pennine Edge North
Open hillside with valleys, reservoirs and many walks
Where?
Get there
- Public Transport
Bus - Private Transport
Carparks
Public transport: train and tram stations at Rochdale need buses to reach the edge. Train station at Littleborough has routes into the hills (try the canal to Summit). Buses on all major roads. Private transport: access and parking everywhere. Area is quiet, so parking not usually a problem.
Review
Walk any of these places, or between them. Whitworth Valley—the Cotton Famine Road, and Healy Dell with posh tearooms. East of Whitworth is the Naden Valley. Watergrove Reservoir—no facilities but flat walk round and, for the writer, finest hillsides in Manchester. In high moor, the Summit Pass. If you go here, you need to think on your walk and how to get there (e.g. Rochdale Canal from Littleborough, 2 miles). At Summit the Manchester and Leeds Railway crosses the Rochdale Canal and River Roch. Which railway drives into the Summit Tunnel, longest tunnel in the world… for four months (Box Tunnel). Also site of one of the world’s all‐time man‐made disasters. Outstanding examples of mill design nearby, though in bad repair. Why no visitor attractions? Ah well. If you fancy epic, Summit is down from Blackstone Edge…