Saturday 2nd April 10 a.m. start
This walk will start at Castleton, take us through Rochdale and onto Littleborough – approximately 6 miles.
When the group last walked this section of the Rochdale in 1991 Littleborough was the head of navigation from the east. There were two major roads – at Castleton and in Rochdale – blocking the canal, and a factory had extended its land into the canal. Many bridges had been culverted and a few locks needed restoring. During the morning we will be looking at the solutions to these problems starting at the M62 crossing at Castleton where there is a floating towpath.
We will meet at 10 a.m. at The Canal Wharf, Canal Street, Littleborough. Postcode: OL15 0HA, What 3 Words: drop.snake.patrol, grid ref: 940163. Leaving a few cars here we will then drive to Castleton for the start of the walk. For those coming by train there is the option of joining the group at Littleborough or a little later at Castleton, however if you opt to join at Castleton it will entail an extra walk down the towpath to the M62 crossing.
The lunch stop is pretty much the half way point of the walk at The Hornet, a Hungry Horse pub:
https://www.hungryhorse.co.uk/pubs/greater-manchester/hornet/menu/main-menu
Pre-orders are not needed but the pub does want to know numbers in advance, so if you wish to eat there please let us know by Friday 25 March. Otherwise e-mail or ring/text by Friday 1st April:
janandvernbrown@gmail.com /07443834997
In the afternoon we leave Rochdale and head into the countryside, passing the historic grade two listed Clegg Hall and nearby weavers cottages to the end of the summit section of the canal.
Hope to see you there.
Jan and Vern.