A Walk Around Birtle

What to do on a rainy Saturday morning? Well I’m sure you know the answer to that, and yes it will involve some walking and one of my cameras. The moors around Ramsbottom, Walmersley and Nangreaves are all places that need to be explored as the OS Map shows lots of interesting places.

Armed with my Sony A6600 and the 16m to 55m f2.8 G lens, of we set for a walk up to the farm pod for a coffee and a slice of cake. To be fair the weather wasn’t as bad as Id expected or as bad as the weather apps predicted, yes it rained but not really heavily.

The road up runs under the M66 motorway and out past the access road to Walmersley golf course. Not many hardy souls braved the weather to play golf but there were a couple. Not that the start of the walk is in an urban area but we soon find ourselves striding up hill along some country roads that mainly lead to farms.

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I think it’s fair to say that this image could be anywhere in the British Isles, country lane, stone wall, trees and fields. This truly is a lovely country we live in and to be fair we probably don’t appreciate that until very recently. We followed a few lanes just like this one and eventually you come across a cross roads or two. Back in the day travellers didn’t have GPS trackers or OS map apps to guide them. But they did have a few aids. 

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I’m not entirely sure if the stone in this image is a way finding stone, but I love this sort of thing. I suspect it might well be a way finding stone as it is at a crossroads, but I couldn’t spot any town names or distances on the stone but those could have been worn away with the incessant battering they get from the elements year after year. I really do like this sort of thing.

We had a plan to head up to the farm on the hillside to have a coffee and a cake. The walk up is uphill and quite muddy but it’s hardly like climbing Everest. The authorities who look at the walkways and paths have tried to keep on top of the paths but lots of rain and the paths are mud soaked and in some cases are little rivers as the rain has to escape somewhere. 

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We decided to walk on the land on the field side of the path as that was probalbly easier but as I climbed onto the bank before the small wall, my eye was caught by the small wall stretching out into the distance. A focus on the wall in the bottom of this shot allows the background to be softly focused which adds to the appeal in my eyes of a scene stretching out into the distance.

If you look close enough you can see where the path and walls all join in the distance. Walls run an all directions both up and down the hill side, lovely location this is for sure.

This next image is taken from that intersection looking back down from where we had come. The farm that we walked through, the lone tree that was the subject of images on my Instagram feed this past week or so. This image does give you a sense of where we had come from and what the view is like back down the path, into the valley below.

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As you reach the brow of the hill the path levels out and you can see down into Cheesden Brook, which will be the venue of another walk to try to find the old mill that sits in the valley bottom. 

This last image is taken from the path as we walk away having had a lovely coffee although we did decide to keep the cakes for another day. This really is a good idea and folk walk up from all places to look at the views and sample the fine local produce that is on offer at this delightful little establishment. If ever you are in this neck of the woods give it a try Valley View Tea Pod.

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