Ramsden Hill & Wood Near Todmorden

Introduction

It was a beautiful morning today, so I decided a moorland walk would be a perfect way to spend it, before cloud and rain arrived in the afternoon.

Botomley is in Calderdale West Yorkshire, just over the border from Rochdale, a 55 minute drive from Cheadle Hulme.

The walk is 7.9 miles with 560 feet of ascent.

It took 4 hours 15 minutes to complete, plus a 15 minute lunch break.

The walk would suit a dog walker, with plenty of fenced tracks, though there are cattle and sheep roaming on the open moorland.

I walked in a clockwise direction.

The walk is on OS Explorer Map OL21.

There is easy free roadside parking along the A6033, I parked at What 3 Words //certainly.boot.manicured

Bottomley To Middle Ramsden

I crossed the main road and set off, rising quickly from the valley.

I loved this ancient stone signpost at the top of the first climb.

A little further on I came across this unexpected collection.

Out onto the moors there were cattle, and the now demolished White Slack farmhouse, where the garden was still being managed.

The hills here are covered in wind turbines. There are also views over the small reservoir at Cranbery Dam.

Around Ramsden Hill And Rough Hill

There were numerous stonechat and meadow pipits bobbing around the stone walls as I made my way along Long Causeway.

On the hilltop, the views over Manchester also brought the approaching band of vloud and rain into view.

Here, the sheer size of the wind turbines is evident!

After Rough Hil, my route began to descend.

The Lost Reservoir And Ramsden Wood

That small plantation provided a lovely sheltered spot where I stopped for lunch.

At Ramsden Clough Reservoir, I was surprised to find that the site was abandoned, and vegetation was quite well established in its place.

It seems the abandonment was due to peat infiltration making the water unusable, so the water supply transferred to the more recently developed Gorpley Clough Reservoir.

I was soon down into the softer landscape below the moors.

I located the path into the Ramsden Wood valley, ancient woodland and a stream cascading over waterfalls make this a delightful place.

I emerged at a small fishing pond, turned left beside some new houses, and then took a steep, and not well marked path up the hillside.

It was worth it for the views along the valley.

The Rochdale Canal

The final section of the walk is an easy stroll along the canal towpath. The sun had now left and had set completely for this half sunken cruiser.

This was a great walk to experience the moors and enjoy the varied scenery on the way up and down!

And Finally….

Westfield Cowboy are going to be the next big thing in Manchester. This is Paperchains from their newly released debut album It Goes On