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| Pike, Tower and Castle |
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Date : 16th May 2010
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Leader : Gail Bedson |
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Report by : Phil Bedson |
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Photos © : Phil Bedson |
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| The way to Rivington Pike | |
Seven people turned up on a slightly overcast and unseasonally chilly Sunday morning for the advertised 8 mile walk around Rivington. Parking up at the car park at the southern end of Lower Rivington Reservoir the days’ first target was Rivington Pike, our high point of the day at 364 metres.
Crossing the road to enter a small woodland next to the school, the clear trail went up through the trees and bluebells to join a track. Turning right to a gate we then took another track virtually back on ourselves to start the long ascent up the lower reaches of the hill. The track was roughly cobbled and made quite an impression as it led straight on through the vibrant yellow of the gorse bushes either side. We weren’t the only souls about either as a myriad of people were not only walking but jogging and cycling both uphill and down. There also seemed to be an abundance of young lads with full backpacks on (probably Duke of Edinburgh) going this way and that. The track once again came back on itself to give us our first real view of the Pike to join a further track and then a gate on our left doubled back yet again for us to begin the ascent of the Pike just as the sun shone through. It can be quite a slog up the steep part of the hill but arrival at the tower at the top of Rivington Pike is worthwhile for the view is quite astounding.
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left:
The woodland trail |
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right: Gorse and cobbles |
Built in 1733, Grade 2 listed Rivington Pike Tower was formerly used as a hunting lodge sheltering shooting parties from Rivington Hall. After decades of disrepair and vandalism the castellated tower has been renovated though the door and windows are now bricked up. Inside, and now unable to be seen, are a fireplace and a small stone-flagged cellar. Due to erosion the doorway now stands a good forty inches above the soil rendering the Tower's foundations clearly visible.
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left:
The only way is up... |
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right: ...to Rivington Pike |
After a brief pause (the breeze was extremely chilly) it was decided that we would drop down towards the attractively named Pigeon Tower for a break and a cuppa which is located directly underneath Rivington Pike and sits at the top of the terraced gardens of Lord Leverhulme’s estate. Lord Leverhulme was a very wealthy industrialist whose most outstanding legacy is probably Port Sunlight and its soap factory which had made him millions. He bought the Rivington Estate in about 1900 and endowed it with not only the terraced gardens, whose inspiration is the Japanese Willow Print on popular tablewares, but also a small zoo! The gardens however are now vastly overgrown and the zoo no longer exists whilst the Pigeon Tower itself is internally inaccessible. The whole estate was given to the people of nearby Bolton by Lord Leverhulme and is known as Lever Park.
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Two views of the Pigeon tower |
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After a spot of refreshment the way was now downhill along a very rough and extremely eroded track. Arrival at a small car park led us along the access road passing a strange tree which, having looked like it had been uprooted at some point, seemed to be growing sideways! Joining the main road we continued on along the small path until the point where the road took a sharp left where a turn off to the right was taken. This lane was then followed until just before Wilcock’s Farm where a kissing gate led onto an enclosed path alongside a wooded conservation area to another gate into a field. The field path led towards Yarrow Reservoirs dam and veering northwards through the fields with the water on our left we emerged on the lane just south-east of Alance Bridge. With lunchtime being mooted we followed the lane around Yarrows northern edge to a bridleway which afforded great views back to the Pike and Tower. One of the group spotted a small glade amongst the trees and so lunch was declared in a most attractive spot.
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left:
Strange tree roots |
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right: View over Yarrow reservoir |
Leaving the glade was hard work as out of the chilly wind the sun was quite warm but the walk was far from complete. Continuing on along the bridleway we crossed over the overflow from Yarrow that leads down to Upper Rivington Reservoir although it hasn’t seen water for a while. The track joined another and we turned right, past a small herd of curious young cows congregated at a gate, to emerge onto Horrobin Lane. An ideally placed ice-cream outlet caused a brief halt before proceeding around past Rivington School. There has been a school on this site since 1566 and one has to wonder how many pupils had the misfortune to ‘use’ the whipping post in the grounds. Leaving the school behind us the clear path led into woodland and then into human squirrel territory as the canopy above us has in recent years been turned into a treetop adventure playground.
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left:
If I could talk to the animals... |
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right: The whipping post |
Dropping down to the water’s edge the shoreline of Lower Rivington Reservoir was our companion up to the point where the stonework of Liverpool Castle came into view. No we hadn’t taken a wrong turn but had arrived at another of Lord Leverhulmes creations. This reduced scale replica of Liverpool Castle was built between 1912 and 1925, and not completed. The original Liverpool Castle was built in 1235 although after being badly damaged during the Civil War 1642 - 1650, was demolished in 1725. This copy however was built as a ruin to recreate a period in Liverpool's history.
From here it was but a small cannon blast back to the car park. It had been a thoroughly enjoyable day and all had enjoyed the walk immensely.
Views of Liverpool Castle
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTURES IN THE GALLERY
| OS EXPLORER |
WEST PENNINES 287 |
START POINT |
SD 634 128 |
| WALK LENGTH |
7 mls / 11.6 km |
TIME WALKING |
3 hrs |
| MAX HEIGHT |
362 mtrs |
MIN HEIGHT |
127 mtrs |
| HEIGHT ASCENDED |
370 mtrs |
HEIGHT DESCENDED |
370 mtrs |
This map is for reference only and MUST NOT be used to do the walk.
Please use the correct OS map for all these walks.
Click on an image to enlarge, click again to reduce
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