Walk Description

As the car was well and truly frozen this morning I decided to walk from home.  Rather than just walking around Watergrove Reservoir or going up onto thickly snow clad hills, I decide to walk along the Pennine Bridleway (PWB) to Summit and then follow the Rochdale Canal back to Smithybridge. 

Although it had snowed overnight and was still very cold, we hadn’t had the extremely low temperatures that had been forecast and therefore the paths weren’t frozen.  Once I reached Watergrove, I decided that I would walk around the reservoir and then pick up the Pennine Bridleway.  The Pennine Bridleway is a long distance path that was officially opened in 2002.  It is a lower level path than the Pennine Way and goes fromDerbyshire to the Mary Townley Loop in between Rochdale and Burnley.   Mary Townley was an enthusiastic horse woman who campaigned for the redevelopment of the ancient bridleways and packhorse routes. 
The paths around Watergrove Reservoir were easy enough to follow as this is a popular area.  Once I left the reservoir behind and headed out on the Pennine Bridleway the fun began.  There had not been as many people walking on this path and in places I was doing my best to walk in previous foot prints in the knee deep snow.  This section of the Pennine Bridleway is along the edge of the moors just above the last walled fields.  Although it avoids the highest hills there were still good views across Littleborough towards the M62 motorway and the start of the Dark Peak.  I didn’t see any body at all on this section of the walk. 

Just before I reached Summit, I went past one of the large railway ventilation shafts.  The Manchester to Leeds mainline runs through what was the longest railway tunnel in England.  The tunnel was built because the Summit Gorge was too narrow to take the Rochdale Canal, a road and a railway line.  The Summit tunnel was constructed by George Stephenson.  The novel “The World from Rough Stones” by Malcolm MacDonald, although fictional, is based on the life and achievements of George Stephnson and traces his rise from a navvy to a wealthy and influential engineer/businessman.

The PBW parted company from the Mary Townley Loop and I stayed on the PBW and I descended to the busy A6033, Todmorden Road. Here the Summit pub was advertising “Good Home Cooked Food” and after a couple of hours walking through the snow the idea of a warming bowl of soup was just too tempting.  When I tried to order some hot food, I was informed that there wasn’t any food as the chef couldn’t get in because of the adverse weather conditions.  So after half a pint of Guinness and a couple of my sandwiches, I set out for the return leg of my walk along the Rochdale Canal.

The Rochdale Canal was completed in 1804 and was used to transport goods from small manufacturing towns between Sowerby Bridge and Manchester.  It was an important navigational link as it joins up with the Calder and Hebble Navigation that runs from Sowerby Bridge Wetherby where it meets up with the Aire and Calder Navigation.  the Aire and Calder Navigation goes to Goole on the East coast.  The western end of the Rochdale Canal joins the Bridgewater Canal in Manchester and runs to the River Mersey near Runcorn.  The completion of all these canals meant that there was a navigable link between the West and East coast of Britain. The Summit pub was built next to lock 37, which is the highest broad lock in England.  From here my journey to Smithybridge would be all down hill, literally.  Summit also marks the end of the semi-rural Summit Gorge and the start of the heavily industrialised section of the Rochdale Canal.  It wasn’t long before I reached the first of the large mills that used to line the canal.  Unfortunately very few of these cotton mills or engineering works still exist.  Some of the ones that are still standing are now Grade 2 listed buildings. 

There was very little wild life to be seen today apart from one robin and the ducks at the reservoir and on the canal.  However there were plenty of tracks to be seen in the snow on top of the ice on the canal.  It was interesting to see the strange patterns made by the ducks as the crossed the canal. 

I left the canal at Smithybridge and made my way home.  This was the part of the walk that I was least looking forward to, it’s approximately one and half miles from here to my house and all of it is up hill!  I was glad to get home, get out of my cold clothes and have a hot bath. 


Today’s walk had taken approx 5¼ hours, which had included plenty of photos stops and time for lunch at the Summit pub.

Route & Planning

Details and Route Map

Photo Opportunities

Walk Profile

The route map shown here should not be used as a replacement for the appropriate map(s). Before attempting the walk you should check the suitability of this route in relation to your capabilities and experience.