Boggart Hole Clough

Boggart Hole Clough 

I had a lunch date with an old friend in Rochdale. I was tempted to visit somewhere en route then remembered what a colossal pain in the arse the commute to Rochdale used to be, and that was back when my local train stopped at Deansgate and you could easily get the tram across the city centre. I'd have a wander round somewhere on the way back.

It was a sunny day when I set off. The robins were singing at the station, the jackdaws and magpies were canoodling and the parakeets flew in to have a squawk from the treetops before flying off to delight the primary school kids down the road.

It got greyer and mistier as the train moved North. The cloud was quite heavy as I tried to pick out the runners and riders amongst the gulls and waterfowl on the pool just after Mills Hill. The black-headed gulls and coots were conspicuous enough, the mallards lurked at the side with at least one teal.

Arriving at Rochdale I noticed there were even more carrion crows than usual around the station. There was no obvious reason other than pickings being easier in town than out during the recent cold spell. There was no sign of the peregrines on the Town Hall tower, the absence being confirmed by the line of woodpigeons on the nearby roof. A dozen black-headed gulls haunted the market; the white farm geese were by the Yorkshire Road bridge, a crowd of Canada geese were in their usual favoured spot by the bus station; and a grey wagtail skittered about the flotsam on the river.

On the way back I decided I'd get the 17 bus and call in on Boggart Hole Clough, to get a bit of exercise and walk off a very nice rag pudding if nothing else. I'd forgotten how long it takes the bus to escape Rochdale town centre and then we hit roadworks and the school run and I wondered if the walk would be worth the candle. In the event there was twenty minutes before sunset when I got off the bus and the clouds had disappeared so I had hopes of an extended twilight to finish the walk.

Boggart Hole Clough 

Robins sang and the titmice ran through their roll calls as I walked through the trees to the main path. Nuthatches, goldfinches, bullfinches and a great spotted woodpecker a called from the treetops and blackbirds muttered in bushes. There was a lot of treetop activity as jackdaws, magpies and carrion crows settled in to roost.

Walking by Boggart Hole Brook

There was a mist over Boggart Hole Brook which lent a spooky air to the comings and goings of magpies and crows. Overhead a squadron of lesser black-backs looked to be heading for the reservoir in Heaton Park. The small birds settled down into quiet until only the robins could be heard.

Boggart Hole Lake

The Canada geese on the twilit lake seemed to be drifting to sleep, the coots and moorhens were still actively feeding. A heron flew in to roost and settled in a tree which upset the pair of carrion crows already in occupation.

Heron and carrion crows 

I wandered off to Charlestown Road, got the 119 into town and went home. It had only been forty minutes' pottering about but it been a nice close of play visit.

Charlestown Road