Walk leaders :
Geraint W
Description :
A local walk for local people.
Sunday’s walk starts and ends at Hadfield, made famous as Royston Vasey in the BBC TV series The League of Gentlemen (all episodes now available on BBC iPlayer)
This is a fairly easy and largely level walk of some 10km (6 miles) which follows the Longendale Trail from Hadfield along the Longendale valley as far as Torside Reservoir and returns to Hadfield by way of tracks and paths alongside three of the Longendale reservoirs – Bottoms, Valehouse and Rhodeswood. On their completion in 1877 the Longendale reservoirs formed the largest body of ‘man-made’ water in the world and were Europe’s first major conservation scheme. Longendale Trail is a disused railway line and we will walk the first 4km as far as Torside dam – another level country walk for which we are indebted to Dr Beeching. Here we will cross the dam and head west back to Hadfield. There is an option for anyone who would like to do a shorter walk to cross the valley at the Rhodeswood dam and rejoin the walk at the other side. This option knocks a couple of miles off the walk.
There are no shops/cafes/toilets on the walk so please bring lunch and drink with you, we will stop at a suitable spot for our lunch break.
As always, please wear suitable footwear and come equipped for the weather conditions on the day.
At the end of the walk there is a Robinsons pub – The Palatine which looks nice enough although they don’t appear to do food. There are cafes in the town but these may be closed by the time we return to Hadfield – see below.
Start time and meeting point :
Meet at 12:00 at the war memorial directly opposite the railway station and at the junction of Station Rd, Railway St and Platt St.
The Postcode is SK13 2AA
OS Ref is SK 02337 96080
Directions to start :
From Manchester – A57 as far as Denton, join the M67 and at its end follow the A57, turning right after 2km at the Gun Inn onto Woolley Lane / A57. At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Woolley Bridge Rd then turn right at the Pear Tree pub onto Hadfield Rd. Follow this road past the Anchor pub and turn 2nd left onto Railway Street. There should be ample on street parking nearby.
Please note that there may be some diversions in Hadfield due to road works and also bear in mind that Mottram in Longendale on the A57 is a notorious bottleneck.
Public transport :
For those wishing to travel by train from Manchester there is a train from Piccadilly at 10:56, arriving in Hadfield at 11:38. Trains back to Manchester leave at 11 and 41 minutes past the hour. Off peak return fare is £6.30.
Contact :
Geraint 07904 628188
War memorial Local shop
