Introduction

Welcome to 2025, and Happy New Year to all readers of this blog.

After the deluge of New Year’s Eve, followed by a heavy frost this morning, I decided to play it safe for my first walk of the new year.

The paths and tracks at Water Utility reservoirs are generally well maintained, so I headed up through Ashton-under-Lyne to Dove Stone Reservoir.

The weather was clear, crisp and very cold.

It’s a 45 minute drive to Dove Stone from Cheadle Hulme.

The walk is 7 miles. It took 2 hours 45 minutes plus 15 minutes for lunch and involved 630 feet of ascent.

Much of the walk is on Water Authority land, and is excellent for dogs to run off the lead, though it’s quite busy around the reservoir. It’s not so busy on the first part, along the Oldham Way, though there is one stile that has to be climbed over in this section.

I walked in an anticlockwise direction.

The walk is on OS Explorer Map OL1.

I parked in the car park, costing £2.30, postcode OL3 7NE. There are toilets here. What 3 Words ///poetic.meant.health

Dove Stone Reservoir To The Oldham Way

I headed out along Bradbury’s Way, a road that leaves the car park just above the toilet block.

The weather and views all around were worth taking in as I set off.

The road passes a lovely row of worker’s cottages.

From here the path rises and the now frozen remnants of the downpour on Tuesday were much in evidence. Much care was needed!

I joined The Oldham Way at Fer Lee Farm, taking a u-turn onto Intake Lane, which is in fact just a path leading to a pretty woodland walk.

Beyond the wood, the reservoir dominates the vista below.

Whilst above, Wimberry Rocks tower on the edge of the ridge.

The Chew Valley, Dove Stone And Yeoman Hey Reservoirs

It’s a dramatic landscape here with Chew Brook, in the foreground and Alderman’s Hill in the background.

All this way, I had walked in the shadow of Alphin Pike, and wondered whether I should have climbed the pike and walked in the sunshine along the ridge, a route I have tackled previously (link below).

Eventually, I reached the valley, where the sun was out, just above the skyline.

As I crossed the brook, I thought I would show off a couple of Christmas presents that were ideal in today’s conditions. The hat keeps the ears warm, and the shades protect my eyes – very happy with these!

I joined the tarmac road and headed back down towards the reservoir.

I followed the shoreline path, firstly along Dove Stone.

And then, Yeoman Hey. The path on the east side of Yeoman Hey is not a track. It is soil, dotted with higgledy-piggledy rocks. This meant muddy bog and icy stone. Much care needed again here!

Greenfield Reservoir

The valley has a third reservoir, the dam of which is shown on my map extract above. This is Greenfield Reservoir.

I stopped here for lunch enjoying a fine view down the valley. And there’s another Christmas present – I’ve decided to start using a walking pole, which came in handy in today’s challenging ground conditions.

Return To The Car Park

The final section of the walk was on a south-westerly bearing, and the low sun was in my eyes all the way., and wasn’t great for photography, unless I turned back, as I did for the blog header picture.

I was able to capture the outfall alongside the path too.

And on reaching the final dam, the circular outfall was looking quite dramatic, due to the volume of water entering the reservoir from above.

So, a lovely walk, and a fantastic day to get out and walk off some of those excess pounds added over the festive season.

And Finally….

All this winter weather reminded me of this early classic by Mumford and Sons. Enjoy “Winter Winds”.