Horwich moors

Stonechat, Rivington Pike

It was set fair to be a nice, if crisp, Autumn day so I thought I'd catch up with some exercise and give my knees and wind a bit of a workout with a walk on the Horwich moors. I set out later than planned and had to get the bus into Bolton, which then get stuck in Walkden for half an hour due to a road traffic accident. When we finally arrived at Bolton Interchange it was just in time to see the 125 setting off. I didn't fancy waiting twenty minutes for the next so I got the 575 into Horwich and decided to head for the moors via Lever Park instead.

Along Roynton Road 

Just over the border into Lancashire I decided to turn into Roynton Road and take the pack road up to Rivington Gardens. The trees along Roynton Road were busy with woodpigeons and squirrels and a small mixed tit flock could be heard but not seen in the trees by the school playground.

Magpie, Rivington

I joined the old pack road which makes a relatively gentle ascent to the gardens. Both knees and wind made heavy weather of it at first, evidence both that I needed the exercise and I'd been sat too long on buses this afternoon. Luckily it was good walking, the weather was glorious and the road was set with cobbles of millstone grit set end-up so as to give the pack horses traction in Winter weather. 

The pack road up to Rivington Gardens 

The thin woodland gave way to moorland pasture to the right and a slope down into the woods on the left which was hidden by a high sheltering bank most of the way. Magpies and jackdaws foraged amongst the sheep while robins, wrens and great tits worked the thick vegetation on the banks. Woodpigeons clattered about the trees and a jay made a noisy performance of collecting acorns from the young oak trees its ancestors had planted along the way.

Walking towards Rivington Pike 

Getting to the boundary of the gardens I took the path on the right that doubles back then rises gently round to Georges Road below Rivington Pike. Up till now I'd been wondering if I'd dressed too warm for the afternoon but now I was away from the shelter of banks and trees I was glad of having the extra layer on. There were still whinberries on the bushes and here and there there'd be extraordinary looking stands of Pernettya bushes with big, candy-pink berries, presumably planted to supplement the diets of game birds. I was walking well now and thoroughly enjoying the scenery.

Looking towards Rivington Reservoir 

Carrion crows and magpies accompanied the sheep while down the slope a field of horses were accompanied by a flock of rooks and jackdaws. A young stonechat jumped out of the furze by the path and gave me the eyeball for a minute before deciding I wasn't important enough to make a noise about and went back to fossicking in the depths.

Georges Road 

I joined Georges Road and started the gentle descent to Rivington Pike Cottage. I kept an eye on the pine plantation for any birds and was rewarded by a couple of chaffinches. A coal tit surprised me by feeding on the only birch tree on the other side of the road. I was almost at the cottage when I heard a goldcrest in the pines and stopped to check it out. The goldcrests were easy enough to spot as they were working the pines next to the road and kept darting out to catch flies in mid-air. The blue tits and coal tits were harder work as they were deeper in the pines. Further in a couple of robins sang at each other.

Fieldfares, Rivington Pike

I got a cup of tea and the cottage and sat down by the road to admire the scenery, the low sun providing a superb modelling light and rendering luminous greens in the fields. Some movement at the bottom of the field in front of me caught my eye. Eighteen fieldfares and a mistle thrush were feeding in the grass at the margins of a line of sedge.

Walking down Georges Road 

Walking down Georges Road 

Rivington Pike 

Passing Wilderswood and anticipating a sudden ascent

It was a gentle walk down Georges Road. At the edge of Wilderswood a kestrel flew out of the trees and started to hunt the open slopes, one of those pictures that look wonderful in Ladybird books and the camera cannot capture. I decided not to get grumpy about the stretch of road that suddenly rises by the row of houses then falls down again and my reward was a female sparrowhawk that powered past at head height over a bank of ivy and shot between a couple of houses, flying sideways along the hedge to try and put any panicky birds to flight.

Along Georges Road 

The final descent of Georges Road was in the company of a very fine sunset. I got the 125 to Bolton and the trains home after an excellent walk.

Along Georges Road