Horwich

Greater Manchester from Bottom Hole 

My knees were due a workout so I set off for an afternoon stroll on the Horwich moors. I got the 125 bus to Bottom o'th Moor, walked up Georges Lane, resisted the temptations of Wilderswood or a cup of tea at Rivington Pike and headed off up Winter Hill via Bottom Hole then back down via Bottom Hole, Burnt Edge and Walkers Fold. The weather was splendid though there was a decided chill in the air when the sun went behind a cloud and the wind was brisk up tops. The only downside was that I'd forgotten to put the memory card back in my camera!

Wilderswood from Georges Lane 

Walking up Georges Lane I had a scan over Curley's Fishery, just in case, and was rewarded by a black-headed gull and a pied wagtail, a positive glut compared to the usual fare. Moving on, there were lots of woodpigeons, crows and magpies flying about but nothing in the fields. A handful of swallows flew up the hill and a kestrel flew in and then over to Factory Hill.

Walking from Wilderswood to Bottom Hole 

The moors looked beautiful and bleak in the rich Autumn sunshine. At first glance they looked birdless but the heather and tussocks of grass provide ample cover. The wind in my ears meant I was relying on sight rather than sound for finding anything so I probably missed a lot.

A few meadow pipits flew about low over the ground, more of them stayed on the ground and only came into view when disturbed by passersby. A walking group came down from Winter Hill, there weren't many of us going up and nearly all of them on the road to the transmitter. Charms of goldfinches, each perhaps twenty or thirty birds, flitted between patches of thistles. A few carrion crows had passed by overhead, which was only to be expected. Less expected were the couple of yellow wagtails flying overhead up the hill. The wind carried the sound of a skein of eighty-four pink-footed geese long before they came into view. As I reached the end of the path a raven came cronking over, gave me the once over and carried on its way. 

Walking from Wilderswood to Bottom Hole 

I got to Bottom Hole and joined the road up to the transmitter. There was another charm of goldfinches by the pond and I spent a few minutes trying, and failing, to find the skylark calling from a grassy bank. Looking down towards Matchmoor Road there were a few carrion crows bouncing round one of the plantations. I thought some more were coming over but as they got closer they turned out to be four kestrels, sometimes flying together, sometimes splitting up to hover over some ground, always drifting over towards Rivington.

Greater Manchester from Bottom Hole
The line of white blocks is Manchester city centre 

The road up to Winter Hill was the least enjoyable part of the walk. It's easy going but busy and cyclists use it for drag racing down the slope. It's worth it for the views: over to my left were Greater Manchester and the Derbyshire hills, to my right Horwich then the Lancashire plain, the Mersey Estuary and the ghosts of the Welsh hills.

From Winter Hill

As I walked back down a house martin passed by and down the slope and another skein of pink-footed geese flew over, seventy-six birds this time. I took one last glance up the hill to see if anything else was coming over. A snipe rose from the grass ten yards away, flew a circle and disappeared whence it came.

Walking from Bottom Hole to Burnt Edge 

I strolled over to Burnt Edge, having to stop a few minutes while a charm of goldfinches, mostly juveniles, picked up grit from the path and twitted about the pathside thistles. Approaching Burnt Edge I got my paths confused and followed one that runs parallel to the North of the one I usually take. Which was no bad thing as at the first small plantation I bumped into had a spotted flycatcher in it. I'd stopped because a bunch of great tits and blue tits had caught my eye then I noticed a bird in the small maple tree I was standing next to. I saw enough of it to recognise what it was before it flew over the wall into the trees and out of sight but not sound. There can't have been much more than a couple of dozen small trees here — rowans, maples, hawthorns and alders — but they were so densely planted they provided excellent cover for flycatchers and titmice.

Walking from Bottom Hole to Burnt Edge
The late afternoon lighting effects are astonishing this time of year

Burnt Edge 

I walked along a path over a densely-wooded little beck and joined the path I knew down to Walkers Fold. I thought I'd gone astray again until I realised that the open vista I was seeing was caused by two years' logging activity. The slope that had been harvested last year has been planted with saplings and has enough cover of grass and cow parsley for pheasants to rummage around in. The slope nearest the path was bare and looked a bit devastated.

Walkers Fold Wood 

I went down Walkers Fold Lane to Chorley Old Road for the bus back to Bolton. At the top of the lane a small skein of pink-footed geese flew over, just sixteen birds this time. I was almost at Bob's Smithy Inn when a weasel scampered across the road. He must have been waiting a while, it's a busy road on a Saturday teatime.