| Going Against The Grane |
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Date : 10th June 2010
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Leader : Sue Larder |
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Report by : Sue Larder |
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Photos © : N/A |
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A select group of 4 met up on Thursday evening at Plantation Street and set off to Grane Road Haslingden. We parked up at the entrance to the old now disused Rossendale stone quarry just further up the road from the Duke of Wellington Pub. The weather looked ominous but nothing ventured nothing gained. From the car park we took a gate on the right taking the opportunity to read the information board and, by winding a handle, hear the voices of original quarrymen describing what it was like working in the quarry and the sorts of jobs they used to do. Some of the stone from the quarry is said to have gone to pave Trafalgar Square in London. We then continued up the path to the right of the plantation. Keeping the quarry on our left we followed the fence around until we came back to the main road, coming out just below Clough Head Picnic Area. We crossed the road taking the gate opposite and followed the path through the wood coming out onto Calf Hey Picnic Area. We then followed the lane to the right which brought us to the remains of some farm cottages which came under compulsory purchase when the water board bought up land to create the reservoirs, the only occupants now being grazing sheep.
We continued along the tarmac footpath which took us down on a level and at the top end of Calf Hey Reservoir, going through the gate at the bottom and taking the steps up the grassy bank we followed the obvious path through the woods at the end of the reservoir. Crossing a footbridge over the stream we followed the path which lead up towards a gate, we turned left at the gate and followed the path which runs parallel with and looks down on the reservoir. We were walking into a brisk breeze which had broken up the clouds and on reaching the end of the reservoir path turned to see the gradually setting sun reflecting off the surface of the water. At the end of this path is a curious tunnel through a man made bank which, on further inspection, appeared to be the remains of a route to the top of the quarry and where they possibly used trucks which were pulleyed up and down the path bringing stone from the quarry above the reservoirs down to be cut, dressed and transported wherever it was required.
At the next gate we then turned left crossing the top of what was Holden Wood Reservoir which upon first inspection appeared to be just a dry bed but as we followed the path round to a ladder stile on the left a small section at the far end of the reservoir still had water in but was a mere shadow of what it used to be. Going over the ladder stile we made our way up the field and through the gate which again brought us out onto the main road just below the Duke of Wellington, we crossed the road to the pavement on the other side and followed the road up past the pub and back to our starting point at the quarry car park.
