A Half-Day Trip To Rivington Pike

Introduction

Cal and I had some time on our hands today, so we headed north to the popular folly and beauty spot of Rivington Pike, situated between Bolton and Chorley.

The weather was warm with sunny spells, and a couple of brief, sharp showers.

Rivington is a 40 minute drive from Cheadle Hulme.

This is a place for sauntering exploration, so our 4.75 mile walk took us about 2.5 hours including lunch.

It’s just great for dogs (no roads, no livestock, no stiles), as long as they are OK with other dogs, as it is popular with dog walkers!

We walked in a clockwise direction.

The walk is on OS Explorer Map OL 287.

We parked by the Visitor Centre and “Go Ape” attraction, and cafe and toilets (not shown on the map below), at the bottom of the drive up to Rivington Hall Barn. Use postcode BL6 7SB.

Today, I tried out the Activity Tracker on the OS Maps app for the first time, rather than plotting a route before leaving home. Hence, the map shows how you don’t walk in straight lines, but meander along, especially where there things to stop and look at!

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Rivington Hall Barn To The Pigeon Tower

We made our way round to the Barn car park and set out up the track behind the Hall and Barn. There was a deep ravine to our right and pleasant fields to our left.

It’s a pleasant cobbled track.

We crossed the stream at the head of the ravine, took a gate to our left and arrived on a stone surfaced track.

The track continues on, soon arriving at the splendid Lever’s Bridge. You realise you are now at Lever Park, created by the soap manufacturing magnate Lord Leverhulme over a century ago.

We took the path around to cross the bridge, revealing more splendid Italy-inspired engineering architecture.

A little further on the Italian Garden is revealed. It was fully renovated in 2018/19, but sadly is drained of its water. Still looks good though.

As occasionally happens on country walks you unexpectedly bump into someone you know, who enjoys the outdoors as I do. Today, it was a fellow golf society member, and follower of this blog,Dave Nutsey, with his two fine looking boys!

Great to see you and have a chat, Dave!

From this end of the Italian Garden, the Pigeon Tower comes into view. Lord Leverhulme had the tower built as a gift to his wife, she who created the magnificent Lady Lever Art Gallery at Port Sunlight on The Wirral.

There are splendid views to Blackpool Tower and beyond as you take the steps up to The Pigeon Tower.

Rivington Pike Tower

Belmont Road led us south, and the square tower atop Rivington Pike was soon in clear view.

The last section is a short, sharp climb.

The 360 degree views here, including the Winter Hill TV transmitter, are well worth the climb!

We were soon retracing our steps, with a brief stop on the grassy slope to enjoy a nearby hovering kestrel.

Terraces, Caves, And A Ravine

The route took us down through the fields of heather, bilberry and mountain ash – a riot of late summer colour.

We reached the Japanese Garden, and stopped here for lunch.

The route map shows how the terraces cross back and forth along the hillside, with a lawn for tennis and garden parties, man-made caves, bridges, fern-dressed waterfalls, and crazy-paved paths. It has been beautifully restored.

It’s very photogenic. Here are just a few of our pictures!

Finally, we emerged on a broad track to take us back to the barn.

That was the end of our walk…. or so we thought.

After a much-needed ice cream from the Visitor Centre, we took a short walk down to the reservoir, which is lovely, and provides a view all the way back up to the Pike Tower.

All in all, a really good day out. It’s a great place for families, so much to just explore, whichever paths you take!

And Finally….

Here’s a new release from Skinny Lister to get you back on your feet. This is Company Of The Bar.

2 Comments

  1. Iain Campbell said:

    Did this walk today with Christine. What a lovely area and why didn’t I know about it before? It has a fascinating history and such beautiful views. Was in awe of the amount of work that must have been done to build it in the first place and now the restoration efforts are bringing it back to life. A very enjoyable and surprising day out. Thanks again.

    1 September 2023
    • Graham Roberts said:

      Yes, it was new to me too. Glad you enjoyed it, and thank for the feedback!

      1 September 2023

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