Shawclough & Healey August 2021

Syke Walk & Talk Group
BROWN WARDLE CIRCULAR
This month our walk is about 6 miles
and takes us around Brown Wardle Hill
looking at some of the local history
then look out for Alpacas near Lobden
Golf Club on the way back.
Setting off from Syke chapel take the road
northward and follow the tarmac over a cattle
grid then uphill with 2 reservoirs on your left
and Lousy Hillock on your right. When the
tarmac ends pause to get your breath and look
backwards – see if you can spot Jodrell Bank
on the horizon!
Passing through the gap bear slightly left
along a well-defined farm track – you’ll soon
see an old water channel on your right – follow
this around the back of the hill keeping it to
your right. This water channel and another
along the front of Brown Wardle were built to
feed water into the two reservoirs we passed
at the start of the walk.
Continue straight on keeping left when the
road forks to pass the old reservoir wall on
your left – at the end of the wall go straight
on towards Brown Wardle in the distance.
Continue on the unmade road for about half
a mile. When the tarmac starts again ignore
it and fork right passing over a farm track
and then through a gap in what looks like an
embankment – this as an old ‘tramway’ which
we’ll meet again later.
As you walk you can look down on Whitworth
and across to Cowm reservoir and the nearby
stone quarry that is still working. Continue
round the hill you’ll see an old building up to
your right – take the path that leads to it. This
is the remains of the target bunker for an
old firing range – you can see a second one
lower and to your right. There have been firing
ranges in this area since the 1800’s but these
2 were last used in WW2. If you look carefully,
especially after heavy rains, you can still find
old bullets that had been embedded in the
ground.
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