Stalybridge to Greenfield via Ormes Moor and the 'Wilderness'
- Duration: 5 Hours
- Distance: 15 Miles
- Highest point:
- Difficulty: Challenging
- General terrain: Fields, Track, Footpath, Road, Rocky, Moorland,
- OS Map: OL1
From the White House in Stalybridge, walk down Caroline street toward Gorse Hall. Go through the gates and follow the path up into the trees. There are a number of paths but just keep heading upward until you come across the ruins of the 'New' Gorse Hall. Gorse Hall is famous in local folklore for the Murder of George Harry Storrs.
After enjoying the view the Storrs would have enjoyed, take the path toward Cheethams Park. After a few yards you will come across some wooden steps leading upward, take these and keep right, heading upward. You will emerge into an open space called the Mase Field. Head on upward through the fields until you see a dry stone wall. Take a look behind you, this is a view that stretches from Manchester to Saddleworth and is amazingly accessible.
Use the path along the wall until you emerge into a Mase Field Close. At the end turn right onto Milton Close and then Tennyson Avenue. Follow the avenue round and onto Yew Tree Lane. At the end, turn left and follow Yew Tree Lane which becomes a very rough dirt track. Follow the track until you arrive at the Rising Sun pub. Turn left and walk (carefully) up Mately Lane toward Mottram Road. Cross over and go up Gallows Clough Road. After a while the road bends to the left, there is a fork, take the right hand path and continue walking past the stables. Just past the stables there is path on the right which doubles back along the fence line behind the stables you just passed. This path isn't sign posted, it's a bit of a step up so keep an eye out.
Follow the path past the back of the stables and veer left, up toward Wild Bank. You will be rewarded with views almost immediately and they continue to improve :)
After two or three pylons you will eventually arrive at the Wild Bank trig point with spectacular views across Tameside and Oldham. This might be a good time to pause a while.
From Wild Bank Trig Point follow the path away from Tameside and through the fields toward Higher Swineshaw Reservoir. This is roughly 20 minutes of walking and crosses two or three fields with stiles. About midway you will get a view of the restored Scouts Camp Site in the clump of trees across the Brushes Reservoir.
Eventually you will come to a cattle road leading to the remains of a couple of building, keep right and go over the stile onto the wide footpath.
There is a lot going on here with the installation of new pylons and the original footpath has been closed. After the stile I took the path right, back toward Mottram for about 1/6 of a mile until a signpost marked 'Public Bridleway' headed off toward Tintwistle.
DO NOT CONTINUE IF IT HAS RAINED IN THE LAST FEW DAYS - ALSO DON'T DO THIS BIT ALONE.
Follow the bridleway until it heads downhill. Keep on the path until you can see a clump of trees and the valley containing Ormes Brook. Don't go all the way down the valley!
On your left you will reach a post marked 'PBW' and a stile on your right. Take the path immediately past the post which turns left off the path your on. This path veers gently off to the right and you should have the Ormes Brook Valley to your right. Continue on this path for about a mile, it's a fairly obvious path which skirts gradually around to the left and feels like it's bringing you back toward Swineshaw.
You will arrive at a vey old footbridge which crosses Ormes Brook with a sign for Arnfield Flats. Don't worry about the Brook in the deep valley as you walk, this eventually comes up to meet you and you will soon hear the sound of the water.
After crossing the bridge, keep the fence to your left and follow the path for about 500 yards. So far so good but now it gets's tricky. You are now entering "Wilderness" and the path isn't always obvious. There are some wooded poles which provide a rough guide through the Peat Bogs. On my trip these poles weren't immediately obvious until after another 200 yards or so. I think a pole might have sunk or fallen over because I lost the path. At this point my advice is that the path is somewhere off to the right.... I veered left and had a couple of very scary moments when my boots disappeared into peat bogs. Fortunately the weather had been dry for a couple of days so I was able to 'bound' onto patches of what I hoped would be solid ground. I spent a good half hour being actually quite concerned for my own safety as I picked my way through the bogs. I have no doubt that if the ground had been softer i'd have been in trouble. I could see Indian Head off to my left and thought to make for it but fortunately caught site of the Way Point to my right... what a relief! This Way Point is a post set within a Cairn and for me was a welcome stop for refreshment. This is also a great spot for views across Dovestone.
From the Way Point follow the path toward Indian Head and enjoy the panoramic views across the Valley toward Pots and Pans. After a little climb up to Indian Head the path continues along the ridge to Wimberry Crag Boulders, a group of huge rocks you can walk across.
After Wimberry Craggs look for the path which veers off to the right and down the hill toward Dovestone Reservoir. This is tough on the thighs after such a long walk and brings you to a weird stile in the corner of a coppice. Climb into the coppice and follow the path down, through the memorial garden and toward the reservoir.
At the end of the coppice I couldn't find a way out so I hopped over the wall and onto the main Dovestone Road.
From here follow the road down past the Sailing Club and past the car park. Just after the car park you will see a road leading off to the left, this is Tanners Road, a private road for foot traffic only. After approximately quarter of a mile of walking beside Chew Brook you will come to a gate and the way onto the road opposite the Clarence Pub.
Take Chew Valley road into and through Greenfield, past the Tesco. On your left will be a set of steps down to the Huddersfield Canal. This is very straight forward all the way back to Stalybridge. You might want to take a break at The Roaches Lock before continuing toward Mossley. About a mile after Roaches Lock you will come to Scout Tunnel. If you don't fancy walking through, cross the lock just before and follow the footpath on the opposite side, up the steep track, keep right until you find the canal again. Keep on the right side of the canal until the next lock where you can cross over again.
From here it's an easy couple of miles back into Stalybridge...