Manchester Horizon 7 27 August 2022

Quentin ferried Bridget, Dave G and David A on another dry day to Edgworth for the final stage of the Manchester Horizon Walk.  After indulging in Donuts and croissants from the bakery we made our way over the fields with glorious views across Wayho reservoir, via the Black Bull for any straddlers, to cross the dam wall and wind our way to Chapeltown village.           . 

A leafy lane lead over the railway crossing to   the track ascending to the trigpoint at Cheetham Close before traversing to Turton Heights  where a ditch and dike descended to the edge of grotty woods.  A faint track lead over a stile past a PNFS sign to emerge on the busy Blackburn Road from where we followed the far verge to the edge of the woods and over the wobbly stile to the path across the fields and reeds circling Grindle End to Whewell’s ruin by a solitary sycamore.  (A couple of reccies around and over Grindle End proved it to be inhospitable with waist high tussocks or deep reed beds.)

With relief we descended the grazed field to the corner of the fence to reach the causeway ascending beside Cranshaws towards piles of rubble. (After the final stile a track ascends to the Big Grey Stones from where a faint track across the heather reaches the Hanging Stones).  We opted to continue by the fence to the corner, from where a short bog trot lead to a stile onto the good track of the Witton Weavers Way.  It was a relief to finally have some easy walking up to the crest by more PNFS signs and we enjoyed a good lunch on the memorial benches with views of the route ahead.            

We descended on the wide track to the busy Belmont Road before ascending on the obvious track and, just before it ends, followed the quadbike tracks up onto the paving stones over Redmonds Edge. The obvious path lead over Spitlers Edge and down to Hordens Stoop.  Across the road a stile provided access to the brutal ascent of Winter Hill, with all the communications mast and the trig point,

From there we had views through the mirk to the horizon we had almost completed.  Black clouds threatened in the east as we descended the road past the TV station and followed          

the wide track across to Rivington Tower.

There we were greeted by a crowd of sunbathers and astonishingly with panoramas to Snowdonia and Black Coombe and Lakeland Fells.  A final decent on stony tracks led down through the woods to the Low Barn, already closed at 4pm!, where we were collected once again by Avril who ferried us to Edgworth and home.

Sadistics: 15.3miles 850m 2800ft  Although shorter this had been one of the tougher

David Allen