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Whittle Wanderer|
Grane Rd, Robin Hood's Well,
Ellen Strange post, Pilgrim's Cross, Peel Tower, Holcombe, Rossendale. |
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Met Eric and Jack at 7am and drove with 2 cars to the car park at Holcombe near Ramsbottom. Left one car and drove back to the car park at Calf Hey reservoir just off the Grane Road. The idea being to just have to walk one way over the moors. It was a beautiful cold clear morning as we set off. We walked over the Calf Hey reservoir embankment and up the steep path towards the old quarry workings. We turned left to follow an easier path to get up to the ruined quarry buildings and the chimney. |
 Jack and Eric by the old quarry chimney. |
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We had a look round then continued on but went a bit too far and had to retrace our steps to find the right path for Rushy Leach. We passed the ruin and followed the old track round to the ruin of Musden Head. Here Jack showed us what looked like an underground storage area. The track carried on round the head of the valley and on towards Tor Hill. We realised that we wouldn’t have time to walk to it so once again retraced our steps and headed up the pathless Burnt Hill. After crossing an old wall and fence line we came to a path that followed the head of Musbury Brook and on to a more substantial track. The old map shows a point called Robin Hood’s Well and I wanted to see what was there. Jack had been in the area before and was told by a woman he met that it wasn’t worth looking at, so he didn’t. I wanted to check so we all descended to the gate where the map shows it. Eric spotted the spring in the base of the wall. It had been recently tidied up at the base but the main part was an old stone trough with a large capping stone. Further down the lane a lot of reconstruction work was being done by machine. A local man was there and said he remembered being brought up to the well as a small boy by his mother. |
| We headed back up the track and on to the moor to search out the memorial stone to Ellen Strange. Jack knew it well but I hadn’t seen it before. We soon arrived and spent a bit of time in the area. The original pile of boulders had been there for many years and the spot is even shown on the 1840s map. |
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A small stone carving on a pillar was there now which was erected in about 1978. The story of the murder of Ellen Strange was surrounded in mystery for centuries but unravelled to some extent by John Simpson in his book ‘Ellen Strange a moorland murder mystery explained’. |
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We continued to the next mystery, the Pilgrim’s Cross site. The weather continued sunny with blue sky and it couldn’t have been better as we approached the stone monument, sadly no longer a cross. The original cross has been missing for centuries but the stone base was broken up in 1901 by persons unknown. The current stone was erected in 1902 on the site of the original which dated back to 1176 and probably earlier. |
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It was the perfect spot to stop for our sandwiches. A young lady on a horse approached from the south. I pointed out to her that she had just ridden across an area that is shown on the 1840s map as ‘breathing ground’ and was where horses were exercised in those days. We continued south over Harcles Hill and on to the magnificent Peel Tower. It was opened in 1852 and commemorates the statesman Sir Robert Peel. We stopped briefly to take in the surrounding panorama. It is such a shame that we couldn’t get inside to climb up to the viewing area at the top of the tower. We took a very steep direct descent down into Holcombe and back to the car. |
