So off i went along the bridal path from Uppermill, through Greenfield and into bottom Mossley where the bridal path ends. Cross over the road and bear right in front of Raja Bro's and then turn left onto the canal. Follow the canal for a short distance and then you have the choice of going up and over, or through the short (very dark) tunnel. Follow it another mile or so and you come to what looks like an old, dodgy single track railway bridge (construction that's not too far removed from some of the older roller coasters on Blackpool Pleasure beach) See 'photo 1'. I've no idea what it was but assume it must have been part of an old mill/factory. Please note following my route this would be on the left, i turned around after passing it to take the photo, just to try and confuse you :o)
Photo 1
Just after this, turn off the canal and up the (very pot holed) road to Millbrook. Across the road and take the right hand track. Straight up the track until you hit the single, tarmac rd (Brushes Rd) turn left and follow it up to the first proper reservoir (not sure of it's name?). I then followed the road left along the Res wall and then turned right up the side of the Res sticking to the tarmac but looking at google earth it looks like there's a path on the right hand side of this Res (keeping off the road) and then you can rejoin the road higher up.
It was my first time ever up here so i stopped a couple of times to try and remember the image of the map that i looked at before leaving home - photographic memory i don't have! It maybe an idea for me to start taking a map with me - just a thought before i venture further out. Anyway having failed on the memory front i resorted to sneaking up on walkers and asking for directions, which seemed to work well, granted you are a little reliant on seeing someone at each questionable fork in the road with this technique though.
Anyway keep going straight up and up and up a bit further and you'll not go far wrong. Once you get to the top res, Higher Swineshaw (you'll know you're at the top res because you can't get much higher and your lungs will be bursting) where the road goes right (where i took 'photo 2' looking down onto Lower Swineshaw res) you need to turn left and follow the track. The mistake i made here was that i didn't follow the signpost telling me to turn right again (North) as i figured i was going further out into the wilds. However, if you trust the signpost, the track shortly turns left again (West) and completes a full loop of the area. I know this in hindsight by checking the map when i got home. What i did, as you can see, was to turn around and come back down the hill slightly and follow a different path (under the pylons) which pretty much takes you back down the way you came up, only a hundred metre's or so off the road.
Photo 2
When you get back down to the bottom res you can see the track peels off to the right, follow this and it turns into the Pennine way (at some point). Follow it down the hill in to the back end of Carrbrook (quite slippy, combination of wet tarmac and off road spikes - never the best) and out the other side, back up the hill to a farm/small group of houses and back off the road onto the track. The track skirts right, around the bottom of Buckton Vale quarry. At some point the track turns from the Pennine way into the Oldham Way. Follow the track on further, keeping the hill to your right (Alphin i think?). Eventually you come out onto Freizland lane. At this point i turned left down the hill and headed for home through Greenfield (knees hurting) but if you turn right the road will then take you over towards Dove Stones Reservoir.
13.6 miles in about 2 hours, 25 mins. Not a bad route at all, one that will be repeated soon i think.
Mick
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