*Hollingworth Lake, Lancashire*
SATURDAY, 14th March 2026
The coach will leave Hollingworth Lake at 4.45 pm
Please note, unless otherwise notified on the day, this will be a “drop off and pick up” with the coach parking elsewhere. So please, be ready with boots on etc to leave the coach quickly in case it needs to move away promptly. The coach will pick on the opposite side of the road from the drop off – again please board as quickly as possible and we will have a stop at birch services on the way home to do bookings etc.
Some useful information: Public toilets at Hollingworth Lake, the Visitor Centre and the Pavilion Café which is halfway around the lake – all free of charge. Two pubs – The Wine Press and The Beach Pub. Olive & Pickle Café, Lakeside Café, Woodland Cafe, Pavilion Café, Mr Thomas’s Fish & Chips.
‘A’ (Strenuous) Leader: Carole Rankin
Distance: 9-10 miles
We make our way to the Country Park Visitor Centre, then along the Rochdale Way to Hollingworth Hill and Benny Hill. Passing Whittaker Woods we carry on to cross the M62. Over Town Hill to Piethorne Reservoir to rejoin the Rochdale Way to Ogden Reservoir. Here we go north then NW at Dick Hill and on to Rakewood via Castle Hill. Then round Hollingworth Lake and through Smithy Bridge for a jaunt along the Rochdale canal back to Hollingworth Lake.
Not as hilly as it sounds as we bypass most of them…but expect mud.
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‘B’ (Moderate) Leader: Laura Birch
Distance: 7 miles – total Ascent 186 metres (610ft)
From the lake we commence a steady ascent along a bridleway, via Syke Nab and Benny Hill, then north towards Lydgate, using moorland tracks. We briefly walk down the A58 to a footpath that takes us to the towpath of the Rochdale Canal at Littleborough.
At the locks at Durn we leave the canal and pick up tracks upstream, through woodland to Ealees, Cleggs Wood and along Weighvers Way, back to the lake.
There is some mud in parts, but the bridle ways are generally good. No livestock encountered. One stile.
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‘C’ (Easy) Leader: Sue Davies
Distance: 5 miles
Leaving the car park, we walk around the side of The Beach Pub, down to Hollingworth Lake and enjoy walking a section of the lakeside path. We follow a cobbled path off the lake, past Peacock Farm and down a short section of Wildhouse Lane (to avoid a waterlogged public footpath). Continue onto Clegg House, cross over the Rochdale Canal heading to Littleborough. Leaving the canal, we walk through Ealees alongside a spring and a woodland area. Past a picnic area and onto the Visitor Centre with public toilets. We finish off walking along Hollingworth Lake and back to the car park.
‘D’ (Easy Amble): Kay Smith and Jackie Gudgeon
Distance: 2.25 – 3 miles
After our customary coffee stop, we will have a pleasant flat walk around the lake. (2.25 miles). There is a picnic site and toilets halfway round, where we can relax and enjoy the view of the lake. There should be an opportunity to walk a little further if anybody desires.
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When available please make sure you read the notes on the walks carefully – they will help you to decide which walk will be the most suitable for you.
If you have any doubts, do not hesitate to ask the leader for advice. For the safety and enjoyment of yourself and others, please try not to join a walk which is beyond your capabilities.
Please respect the wishes of the walks leader and remain with the walk until the end. If you are struggling – inform the walk leader so that he/she can make a decision to shorten the walk, have more rest, etc
* Notes on the area *
Built around 1830, Hollingworth Lake was a reservoir to maintain water levels in the Rochdale Canal but, in early Victorian times became known as the “Weavers Seaport”, a popular place for excursions with pleasure gardens, picnic parties, and boating trips. Things have not changed so much; today the bustling country park has a tremendous variety of water activities, picnic facilities and the pleasure gardens have been superseded by a nature reserve. There are walks around the lake and connecting to the nearby Pennine Way and Blackstone Edge.
The moors and hills around Hollingworth Lake were riddled with small coal pits and quarries. The slag heaps from these mines can still be seen at Syke. Syke Farm dates from 1758, the name meaning Homestead by the River.
The viaduct carrying the M62 east to Leeds dominates the valley to the south of the lake. The motorway was completed in 1972 and is the highest in England.
The rocky outcrop on the skyline to the north east of the lake is Blackstone Edge. The stone here is not really black, but gun-metal coloured with substantial deposits of white silica. ‘Blackstone’ is a corruption of Blatchstone (bleached stone) edge. The Blackstone Edge ‘Roman road’ is still a controversial structure. Long accepted as such, it became the subject of much argument in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The paved section appears suddenly at about the 1000ft level, 16ft wide, climbing steeply (nearly 1 in 4) to the crest of the ridge. There is little doubt that the road existed during the time of the Roman occupation and would have formed part of a route from Manchester to York or Ilkley.
The Rochdale Canal was first proposed in 1766, but it was not until 1794 that construction began. By the end of 1798 it was complete from Sowerby Bridge to Littleborough and Rochdale, and reached Manchester in 1804. It was the first trans-Pennine canal and by far the most successful. Built to take barges 70’ long by 14’ wide (rather than the traditional 7’ “narrow boats”) it’s peak years were the 1880’s when it carried around 750,000 tonnes annually. Traffic declined after 1920 but it was not until 1952 that the trans-Pennine section was closed to navigation. Now it has been restored, and boat travellers can once again experience one of the most spectacular canal journeys in the country.
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* Coach Pick Up Points: *
Burscough War Memorial 8.20 am
Ormskirk Bus Station 8.30 am
Ormskirk School 8.30 am (ready for pickup)
Skelmersdale War Memorial 8.40 am
ASDA Bus stop 8.50 am (the coach will pick up at the bus stop on Northway near Asda – on the opposite side of the road to Bannatyne’s).
Upholland Labour Club 9.00 am
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NEXT RAMBLE:
Saturday, 11th April 2026. Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire
Skelmersdale Churches Rambling Club 