Walking on the West Pennine Moors - Northern England

• Location
• Description
• Contents
• Introduction
• Sample Route
• Maps
• Further Reading

The West Pennine Moors, located between the towns of Chorley, Bolton, Horwich, Ramsbottom, Haslingden, Oswaldtwistle and Darwen, comprise 233 sq km (90 square miles) of moorland and reservoir scenery. The area has been a place of recreation for many generations of Lancashire folk; indeed, long before the much-vaunted mass trespass on Kinder Scout, there were organised trespasses in the late 1800s (small and large: around 10,000 people in 1896) and court proceedings on both Winter Hill and Darwen Moor in an attempt to keep rights of way across the moors open. The West Pennine Moors were very much the vanguard of the campaign for access to our countryside, not that you’ll find many so-called authoritative texts on the matter admitting as much. But the facts speak for themselves; it happened here first.

Dissected by wooded cloughs and characterised by skyline features like Rivington Pike, the Peel Monument on Holcombe Moor and Jubilee Tower (also known as Darwen Tower) on Darwen Moor, the moors are a highly valued and much-appreciated region for recreation and study. Almost the entire area is water catchment, and the successor to the North West Water Authority, United Utilities, owns around 40 per cent of the land, and operates four information centres – at Rivington, Jumbles Country Park, Roddlesworth and Clough Head, Haslingden Grane, which also offer refreshment facilities.

For the walker, the area has much to offer. This is gritstone country, and the landscape is often dark and sombre as a result. And there is a clue in its use as a water catchment area; in all but the driest of climatic periods, it is wet, boggy and invariably muddy. This might lead you to suppose that it is unappetising, unappealing and unattractive. But nothing could be further from the truth. This is a beautiful, semi-primeval landscape, a moorland theatre of considerable appeal and attraction, and a superb canvas for interests in flora, fauna, biology – even the modern leisure pursuit of geocaching. Come here at any time of year, and you will find others doing the same. The West Pennine Moors are a rich and varied playground for the walker, giving pleasure throughout the year.

Geography and Natural History

Rising to a peak on Winter Hill (456m/1496ft), the area is predominantly upland, with myriad well-trodden paths and areas of historical and geological significance. Although a large area of moorland became freely accessible under the right-to-roam legislation introduced by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, 2000, much of the terrain is marshy and difficult walking, and the footpaths – of which there are a great many – generally remain the most convenient means of access.

The moorland occurs in fairly well-defined blocks – at Withnell, Anglezarke and Rivington Moors; Darwen and Turton Moors; and Oswaldtwistle and Holcombe Moors, where the prevalent land use is sheep farming. Unlike other areas of moorland in the north of England, the West Pennine Moors are not managed for grouse shooting (not for want of trying), and are characterised by rough grassland and peat bog. This is one of the reasons why the moors never suffered the same degree of ‘access aggravation’ that occurred further south, in the Peak District.

Providing useful habitat areas for wildlife, the West Pennine Moors are bisected by a number of wooded valleys and cloughs, the largest being the Roddlesworth valley, near Tockholes. Although there are some small coniferous plantations, particularly around the reservoirs, the woodland cover overall is nominal, and it is a fine sense of openness that dominates here, and this, coupled with the intricate network of footpaths, makes the area an ideal place to begin a lifetime of recreational walking and to practice the necessary skills of map reading and navigation.

The main valleys are consumed by large reservoirs constructed in the mid to late 19th century to supply water for Lancashire’s urban population. Evidence of this Victorian landscape is found in the form of mixed woodlands, styles of architecture and dressed stone walls. Along the valleys, the landscape is characterised by farmland pasture and meadows enclosed by drystone walls, built from the sombre gritstone that pervades great parts of the moorland area. Species-rich grassland is restricted in both area and distribution, mostly to steeper valleys or cloughs.

The valleys are very rural in character, with large areas of grazing land and broadleaved woodland and plantations, notably around Roddlesworth and the Turton and Entwistle reservoirs, which enable them to absorb high numbers of recreational visitors without feeling overcrowded. It is a curious paradox: you may always be able to see someone, or a farm or villages, but yet feel very isolated up on the moors. Although native broadleaved woodland is a habitat restricted almost entirely to valleys, there are fine examples of oak woodland, ash woodland, and wet woodland dominated by alder and/or willow, such as at Longworth Clough SSSI. 

The West Pennine Moors area is recognised as a Core Biodiversity Resource at both regional and sub-regional levels, supporting a range of UK Priority habitats and species. The moors and farmland that surround and meld with the West Pennine Moors have a high level of biodiversity. Where the moors are unenclosed, there are widespread areas of blanket bog on deep peat soils. Repeatedly modified by grazing, burning and attempts at drainage, the moors are in places dominated by purple moor-grass, along with distinctive species such as cotton-grass, heather, cross-leaved heath, cranberry, numerous species of sphagnum moss, as well as less prevalent plants like bog rosemary. Elsewhere there are rolling areas of upland heath, acidic grassland and upland flushes.

The extensive hill peat is of considerable importance for preserved plant and animal remains, and as a means of providing information about past climates and weather patterns. Most importantly, it has a significant role in future carbon-dioxide sequestration to mitigate climate change, and in water catchment.

Ornithologically, all of the reservoirs, especially Jumbles, Wayoh, Delph, Belmont and Rivington, are important to wintering wildfowl. Belmont is also significant for the breeding waders associated with the adjacent in-bye pastures. The woodlands and plantations are valuable for breeding birds, including woodcock, redstart and pied flycatcher. Moorland birds include peregrine, merlin, dunlin, wheatear, snipe, short-eared owl, golden plover, kestrel, buzzard, and an occasional sparrowhawk. Some of the more improved pastures still retain populations of breeding wading birds, such as lapwing and curlew, and particularly in the fields and margins around Belmont Reservoir there are often large groups of oystercatcher, redshank and sandpiper. The reservoir itself has nationally important populations of black-headed gull.

In addition to the natural heritage value, the cultural heritage is of similar significance, stretching from Neolithic times to the remains of 18th and 19th century industrial and farming activities – such as mines and quarries, field systems and abandoned farmsteads.

Human Influence

Evidence of pre-industrial use shows itself in field patterns on the lower valley sides, abandoned farmsteads, and buildings like the medieval manor house at Turton. However the construction of the reservoirs and pre-reservoir mining has destroyed many early remains of land use and settlement. Evidence of later settlement is widespread throughout the valleys, for example near Anglezarke where there are remnants of 18th-century lead mines.  

The cotton industry was well established in Lancashire by the 1750s. Cotton goods imported from India were highly fashionable and very expensive, so there was a demand for a cheaper alternative. By the 1840s handloom weaving was in decline, but Lancashire had some important advantages as mechanisation increased. It was close to sources of cheap coal, and to the manufacturers of machinery in Oldham and Manchester. In addition, Liverpool was the primary port in the UK for the importation of cotton from the America. 

As the Industrial Revolution progressed, so the local population increased, and in the 19th century the landscape was transformed by the construction of large water bodies to supply the surrounding conurbations. The reservoirs represent major feats of engineering and construction, and are of considerable historical significance. Victorian detailing of the built features of the reservoirs – Gothic-style valve towers and crenellated stone walls with decorative reliefs, for example – are important architectural heritage. 

The Witton Weavers Way

In Victorian times, Lancashire was the centre of the cotton industry, and mill towns like Blackburn and Darwen, very much at the heart of the West Pennine Moors, were known across the world. Before the Industrial Revolution, however, handloom weavers worked from home, from the lovely stone-built cottages that still serve as the nucleus of many of the Lancashire villages and hamlets. 

The Witton Weavers Way is a 51km (32-mile) trail around the industrial uplands of Lancashire – a commemoration, if you like, of those past times. It is a journey that leads past many of those ancient cottages, Tudor halls, Victorian estates, business-like villages and even Roman roads.

The full Witton Weavers Way can be completed in two days, but within its journey there are also four shorter circular walks that can each be covered in a day. Named after jobs within the cotton industry, these are the Beamers (10km/6 miles), Reelers (12km/7½ miles), Tacklers (15km/9½ miles) and Warpers (13.5km/8½ miles) trails. Many of the walks in this book encounter or use stretches of these individual walks, and all are waymarked. 

The official starting point is Witton Country Park, on the outskirts of Blackburn, but the way can be joined at many alternative points. Full details of the individual walks, along with route descriptions, are available from www.blackburn.gov.uk.