South Rochdale
Forest Trail
South Rochdale Forest Trail
1 Library
woodland area
bus stop
built up area
viewpoint
area of water
Start
am
oldh
roa
b al d e r s
2
ad
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k in
rus hi
llt
op
d
la n e
CAS
3
d
te
crip p l e ga
p
was
ave
public house
industrial area
)
7 (M
A62
The gentle walk with
several stiles and a
sharp slope up to Tandle
Hill will reward you with
fantastic panoramic
views of Manchester,
Rochdale and the hills.
The walk can be started
at various points along
the route.
r ive
2
M6
TLE
TON
There is plenty of wildlife
to see including
lapwings, rabbits,
woodpeckers, skylarks
and herons. You can
explore the magnificent
beech woods and heaths
in Tandle Hill Country
Park along the way.
KEY
trail route
alternative start points
cycle route
roads/motorways
canal
1
ton
e ro
ad
An exciting 5 mile
walk through the
often ignored historic
and rural landscape
between Kirkholt and
Tandle Hill.
s lane
trow
Fishing Lodges
4
ad
m new ro
5 thornha
2
M6
to
r o c y c le
ut e 6
6
SH
AW
A627
(M)
A664 Rochdale Road
Cycl
al
e Ro e 66 le Can
alonguRt ochda
7
St Johns
Primary
School 6
12
ne
m la
nha
thor
Tandle Hill
Tavern
Royton War
8 Memorial
il
ke h
sta
Tandle
A627 (M)
Stake Hill
Industrial
Estate
Hil
Cou
l
lane
Visitor Centre
11
Fishing
Lodges
l
ntry Park
9
ROYTON
10
BUS TIMES
M
ID
D
T
LE
O
N
Instructions
No 409 every 10 minutes from
Rochdale Bus Station to Oldham Road,
opposite Balderstone Library (Start of
the Walk).
No 17 every 10 minutes from Rochdale
Bus Station, to Rochdale Road (A664),
near the entrance to Thornham Lane.
Instructions to correspond numbers on the map:
1 The walk starts outside
Balderstone Library. With the
library on your left, follow the
path around and turn left past
the playground on your right,
across the park to the corner of
Wasp Avenue and down to
Balderstone Road. Cross the
road, turn right and follow the
road up the hill, for about 10
minutes, until the Strand shops
where you turn left into Ruskin
Road (Opposite the shops).
2 Continue up the hill, across Hill
Top Drive, through the green
gates at the end of the road and
over the motorway footbridge.
Follow Cripple Gate Lane down
the hill until the footpath
junction before the houses.
3 Turn sharp left down the
narrow track along the back of
the houses for 400m until the
path meets Trows Lane,
opposite the forge. Turn left
here and follow the road round,
keeping the fishing lodges on
your right and continue down
'Grange Mill- no through road'.
4 Follow the public footpath sign
past the right hand side of the
garage and continue alongside
the fishing lodges, over the
motorway and through a little
wood and out onto Thornham
New Road.
5 Cross the road and follow the
track opposite for about 350m.
Look out for the white barrier
where the track turns left, turn
right here down a short grassy
path to a stile into the field.
Turn left over the stile and
follow along the field edge, over
4 stiles, up to the house at the
field corner. After the stile
follow the narrow path for 50m
until it meets Thornham Lane.
6 Turn left up Thornham Lane
and continue along this road,
over the A267 (M) motorway,
and round until you come to the
'Tandle Hill Tavern' pub. Turn
right and up the track
immediately before the pub.
7 Continue between the farm
buildings and through a small
gate into a field on the left.
Through the gate head
upwards, heading slightly right
and up to the Royton
War Memorial on top
of Tandle Hill.
8 After the Memorial, take the
path on the right (from the
direction you came in) down a
steep slope and a set of steps.
At the bottom of the steps turn
right and follow this path until
it meets a rough tarmac track.
Turn right and follow this
down, through the woods to the
pinch gap at the bottom and
onto the road. (To explore the
beech woods turn left at the
steps.)
9 Turn right and follow the road,
marked 'the Oldham way', past
the farm buildings and through
a farm gate across the road.
Ignore the turning on the left
and follow the track round and
underneath the motorway
bridge.
10 After the bridge go over the
stile on the right, follow the
path alongside the motorway
hedge and over two more stiles.
Go through the gap in the
hedge on the left, cross the
field and go through the break
in the fence. Immediately after
the short path between the
ponds, cross over the three
bar stile on the left into the
corner of the field. Turn right
over the stile, head upwards
and across the field towards
the opposite hedge. Follow the
hedge along and over the stile
in the left hand corner of the
field.
11 Veer to the left, across the field
to the far left hand corner and
over the stile near the farm
buildings. Follow the path past
the garages onto Stake Hill
Lane. Turn right along the road
which eventually narrows and
passes a row of cottages and
over the motorway. After the
bridge continue down the road
to the junction at Thornham
lane.
12 Turn right and follow the road
up past the school. Turn left
onto the narrow footpath
alongside the house where you
joined Thornham Lane earlier
on. Retrace your steps back to
Thornham New Road (map
point 4). Over the road take the
right hand footpath along the
woodland edge, over the
footbridge and onto the road by
the fishing lodges (Map point 3).
Turn right opposite the forge
along the path behind the
houses. Turn right
where it meets
Cripple Gate Lane
(Map point 2), over
the bridge and back
down Ruskin Road
to the Library.
Pennine
Edge Forest
Woodlands in the community
An investment in our futures
WORKING FOR WOODLANDS IN OLDHAM, ROCHDALE,
STOCKPORT AND TAMESIDE DISTRICTS
For more information on the Pennine Edge Forest,
please contact Rochdale MBC Strategic Planning:
01706 924234
℡
Pennine Edge Forest,
Rochdale Council, PO Box 32,
Telegraph House, Baillie Street,
Rochdale, OL16 1JH
Tandle Hill means 'Fire Hill' and was
the venue for many fiery political
meetings connected with the Peterloo
Massacre at St Peters Field,
Manchester in 1819. The beech wood
was planted to prevent it being
suitable for other political meetings.
Placesof
Tandle Hill Country Park is 110
acres of beech woods and open
spaces. Tandle Hill itself is nearly
728ft (222m) high and gives excellent
panoramic views across to
Manchester and the Pennine Hills
(Map point 8). The Park was opened
in 1919, a gift from Mr Norris
Bradbury Esq. J.P. to celebrate peace
after the First World War, to be used
for “people's enjoyment and freedom
forever”. It became a Country Park in
1971. The Royton War Memorial sits
at the highest point. During October,
the beech woods are one of the best
places to find fungi in the region.
interest:
[email protected]
The Royton War Memorial, (Map point 8) situated
at the highest point of Tandle Hill, commemorates the
men of Royton who lost their lives in the First World
War. It was unveiled in 1921 and originally included a
bronze figure of an angel, which was unfortunately
stolen after the Second World War.
The fishing lakes (Map point 4) were once used to
feed the huge Samuel Barlow's Bleach works
which stood at Stakehill where the industrial estate
is today. This was in operation between the mid1800s and 1930s. Many of the footpaths used today
where created by the people from Slattocks and
further a-field travelling to work there.
Thornham Lane (Map point 6) was an old
packhorse route, thought to be the first route in the
area connecting Lancashire to Yorkshire. The Tandle
Hill Tavern (Map point 7), an important hostelry
along the route, is a good place to stop for lunch at
the weekends. Many more trans-Pennine routes
where to come, culminating in England's highest
motorway, the M62, which opened in 1971.
Countryside
CODE
•
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Be safe, plan ahead and follow signs.
Leave gates and property as you find them.
Protect plants and animals and take your litter home.
Keep dogs under close control, consider other people.
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south rochdale forest trail
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For this walk we recommend wearing stout shoes or boots
and taking waterproofs, some food, a drink and a first aid kit.