Tandle Hill, Oldham To Hopwood Hall Woods, Rochdale

Introduction

The crisp sunny weather earlier in the week has given way to overcast Atlantic air, and it was raining by the time I finished this walk.

It’s a 35 minute drive from Cheadle Hulme to Tandle Hill Country Park.

The walk is 7.4 miles with about 650 feet of ascent. It took 2 hours 45 minutes, and I was back at the car before lunch.

This is a great walk for dogs, being mainly on fenced tracks, country parks and canals.

I walked in an anticlockwise direction.

The walk is on OS Explorer Map 277 .

I parked at Tandle Hill Country Park car park, which is free, postcode OL2 5UX.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0

Tandle Hill

Tandle Hill means Fire Hill. It’s believed that protestors used the hill to practice marching before the Peterloo Massacre gatherings in Manchester. As a result the mainly beech woodland was planted in the 1820s. After the leaf fall of autumn, it is a carpet of copper.

The top of the hill is marked by a war memorial and a trig point.

It affords a spectacular view of Manchester city centre.

What’s more, the path down reveals that it has its very own pub.

Thornham And Slattocks

I turned left at the pub, and the track led over the A627(M) onto Thornham Lane, and past the primary school.

A kestrel was eying up the fields for small mammals.

Meawhile the Tandle Hill memorial seemed a long way back behind me!

Closer to hand was the fine C of E church.

This area is really hanging on to its ancient agricultural heritage, and throughout Slattocks the “Save Our Green Belt” signs show that the locals want this to remain the urban fringe, not be swallowed up by suburban development.

The main road here is built alongside the Rochdale Canal.

This is a lovely short stretch of canal.

Hopwood Hall Woods And Nature Reserve

The main road leads over the railway, and a path off to the right leads into the woods, where there is a secluded pond.

The track crosses Trub Brook, before my route took a path left up the hill.

At the top of the hill is a water service reservoir, after which a left turn took me past another pond.

Meanwhile, in a nearby field, a mother bath was tending her two tubs!!

The path leads through more lovely beech woods, where I met up with Trub Brook again.

I didn’t see Hopwood Hall, and now it is a modern academic site.

Rochdale Canal Part 2

Crossing the main road, a side road took me to a track past a quiet allotment site, before leading under the railway line and reaching the canal.

There’s more lovely canal architecture to enjoy as the waterway passes through some open countryside.

Boarshaw Lock is my last stopping point on the canal.

Back To Tandle Hill

The track, Boarshaw Lane, leads back over the railway, before skirting an industrial estate. The estate is quite well hidden, and there are views across open country to the right.

And so, after re-crossing the motorway, I returned to the beautiful Tandle Hill Country Park, which was now very quiet, as the rain began to fall.

So, considering the dull conditions, I found this to be an enjoyable and interesting walk in an area that would, probably, rarely attract visitors from afar.

And Finally….

Madness have a new album out, and it’s, well, unmistakably Madness.

The album is C’est La Vie, and this track is Beginners 101.