Walks ending at Rivington 29th March 2025
The A walk will be led by David and is approximately 10 ½ miles and 1600 feet.
Starting at the visitor centre, we walk up to the Terraced Gardens and Rivington Pike. Then across the moor and up to Winter Hill. We then turn and go downhill to Smithills Dean, and then turn to Sheep Cote Farm and up to Holden's Farm and Two Lads summit. From there it is downhill to Liverpool Castle and then along the reservoir to the end (near Rivington village) where there are two cafes and a pub.
The B walk will be led by John and is approximately 8.3 miles with an accumulative height of 1450 feet.
The walk is a circular route from Rivington. The route starts in a southerly direction following a path alongside Lower Rivington Reservoir to the Castle. Here we turn east and then south passing Rivington school and onto Ormstons Farm. From the farm we have a gradual ascent to Pike Cottage and continue onto the moor to ascend Crooked Edge Hill to ‘Two Lads Cairns’ (hopefully good views). We continue ascending via Rotary Way to Winter Hill TV mast and then northwest to the Trig point at 1467ft. From this point the route descends in a westerly direction to Belmont Road where we follow the rocky road to the ‘Pigeon Tower’. We start our descent via the steps in the Terraced Gardens past the Italian Lake and make our way back through woods to Rivington. Many points of interest along the way.
The C walk will be led by Paul and is approximately 5 ½ miles and 750ft.
(if people don't want to get to the top of Rivington Pike it is 700ft). It is easy going, with gentle climbing and not one stile!
From the visitor centre we walk up to Rivington Hall Barn, then Leverhulme's gardens and cottage (remains of!) where we could have a bit of a look around. Then up to Rivington Pike (probable lunch stop) before descending to a cafe at Pike Cottage – where we will make use the cafe before proceeding down over fields into the woods, following a wide straight track to Liverpool Castle folly. The final mile is through the woods along the reservoir shore to the bar / tea rooms by the lake.
