Thursday 7 August 2025 - GM Ringway Trail Stage 9 - Greenfield to Newhey

Stage 9 of the GM Ringway Trail found us once again at Piccadilly Station, this time on the 9:58 to York. We have found the use of public transport for this walk around Greater Manchester pretty much faultless. I'm sure that the guard on this morning's train would not have waved it off early had someone been making a late dash for it. We start with a tram ride to Manchester (£4.60 if before 9:30), for which privilege I pay £10 a year. After that, only Sue is young enough to have to pay (usually about £6) for the 20 to 30 minute journey to reach our starting point for the walk. Most of the rest of us enjoy the benefits of concessionary travel. With stories of cancelled and delayed trains, we wondered how we would get on. All the trains we have taken from Piccadilly have left within a few seconds of their advertised departure. The departure times and platform numbers are displayed in the main foyer shown above - middle right of the picture. Ticket machines, if needed, are easy to use, and other facilities are good. We may come unstuck at some point, but the experience to date has been excellent. (We have passed through the Stockport area where there is currently a serious problem due to a major bridge having to be replaced.)

We arrive at our starting point for the walk about an hour and a half after leaving home. Many of the stations where we arrive have cafés that provide welcome sustenance before starting our walk. Just across the road from Greenfield Station, Platform 13 turned out to be one of the best. Their cruffin - I chose blueberry - was to die for. They also sell flatties (squashed croissants) which we were told are very popular, and tasty. Apparently we would know all about such current trends if we subscribed to TikTok.

It was 10:55 before Sue, Paul and I (others will have to catch up if they haven't already walked this section) ambled down Shaw Hall Bank Road at the start of 204 'Steps'  detailed in the  GM Ringway walk description.

The monument on the hill ahead is knwn as the Pots and Pans monument. It was to be in our sight for some time.

The internet tells me that the name 'Pots and Pans' is used to refer to the obelisk situated at the top of the hill above Uppermill and Greenfield. This cenotaph was erected in 1923 to honour the 259 people from the villages of Saddleworth who died during the first world war and was located here specifically to be visible from those villages. Each year on Remembrance Sunday (the second Sunday in November) the communities of Saddleworth climb the hill to take part in the remembrance service conducted at the war memorial to commemorate those who died during the two world wars and later conflicts.Pots and Pans is actually the name of the large rock that sits at the top of Aldermans Hill overlooking Uppermill. It gets its unusual name from a series of basins or large indentations on the top of it, worn into the millstone grit over millions of years by the Saddleworth weather.Pots and Pans is also known locally as the ‘Druids stone’ with the pots and pans-shaped bowls in the top rumoured to have been used to catch the blood from human sacrifices. Legend also has it that water collected from these bowls can cure eye diseases. Though the geologists don’t agree, the boulders and rocks seen littering the hills above Uppermill and Greenfield are actually the remnants of a mighty battle between two Saddleworth giants called Alphin and Alder. The giants lived across from each other on the two hills that mark the entrance to the Upper Tame Valley – Aldermans Hill and Alphin Pike. Sadly their friendship dissolved over their rivalry for the love of a beautiful water nymph called Rimon who lived in Chew Brook down in the valley below. Rimon took a fancy to Alphin, and as is the way with giant/water nymph love triangles – a fierce fight ensued that saw the two giants casting enormous boulders at each other across the valley from their respective hillside homes. Alphin lost, (he is buried near Giants Rock on Greenfield Moor), and  Rimon, distraught, threw herself to her death from the top of the hill. The Pots and Pans Stone is one of the reminders of that ferocious battle. Many of the other large rocks and stones scattered across the barren hills of Saddleworth also have names and stories attached to them such as Oven Stones, Sugar Loaf, Dish Stone, Muffin Stones, and the Dinner Stones. There used to be more, but many were destroyed for use in the construction of the local locks on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in the early 19th Century.

We soon reached the towpath of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, where some of the old wooden footpath signs retain attractive mosaics, this one of a duck.

As we made our way up past a couple of locks, a fine drizzle started.

We were sheltered from the rain by some magnificent beech trees bordering the canal, which is a 20 mile route linking Huddersfield with Ashton, via 74 locks. Completed in 1811, it operated until 1944. Restoration commenced in 1981 and was completed in 2001. See here for more.

The canal passes a museum and other features of the industrial heritage, before passing under the impressive Uppermill railway viaduct, completed in 1849.

Thus far, we had passed by Uppermill, where lots more café opportunities are available, including one just next to the towpath. Being so close to the start of what was predicted to be quite a long walk, we thought better of pausing under the welcoming canopy out of the drizzle.

After leaving the canal, we passed the delights of Brownhill Nature Garden. We didn't explore it this time, but a few minutes here may make for a pleasant diversion.

After passing what used to be a traditional butcher's shop in Dobcross (we assume the produce in the window was plastic effigies) our route reverted to type. That is to say, as with most of the early parts of GM Ringway stages, a relentlessly steep uphill section was encountered.

The steep climb did bring us out above all but a few isolated farm buildings and converted barns. There were good views down to the Chew Valley.

The gradient leveled out and the two Castleshaw reservoirs came into view, with the field that rises to the right of the lower (left hand) reservoir being the site of Castleshaw Roman Fort.

We continued along the good surface of Harrop Edge Lane.

After crossing the main A62 road, and donning waterproofs for those who had them, as well as sheltering under trees during the worst of the downpour, we ascended again, up a good grassy track with views over the Tame Valley.

After a while we joined the Pennine Way. In Greater Manchester!

From here, the rutted path past rocky slabs and patches of heather led clearly towards Millstone Edge.

By now, the rain had stopped and it wouldn't bother us again. We continued with good views down to Diggle, to the high point of our day, the trig point at 448 metres on Millstone Edge.

 

Soon after leaving the Pennine Way in favour of contouring around Castleshaw Moor, we stopped for lunch in a spot sheltered from the breeze. By now, the upper reservoir was prominent in our sights.

Soon we joined the Pennine Bridleway and encountered a chap who was cycling along that route for the best part of a week. He was finding it tough going. 

With no waymarks to guide us beyond the short PB section, I mistakenly carried straight on up past Ox Hey Top. You can see from the picture that this route did follow the 'broad stony track between drystone walls' description. 

It was just that those were the wrong drystone walls, etc. So we retraced for a kilometre, with good views down to the now familiar reservoirs, to take a half right (Step 108) where we had gone wrong, along Ox Hey Lane all the way down to Denshaw Village.

After passing through the village we found a convenient bench on which to recover our breath and brace ourselves for a long ascent on the footpath next to the main Rochdale Road.

On reaching the top of the road, we turned left onto a pleasant track bordered by wild flowers.

The skyscrapers of Manchester could now be seen in the distance as we proceeded along the footpath on Crompton Moor, in which area large signs prescribe what you can and can't do. It must be a popular beauty spot requiring 'rules'.

A further rest was taken on a curious bench at the end of a drystone wall.

From here, a steady descent towards the suburbs of Oldham brought good views into the nearby Brushes valley, as well as to the centre of Manchester.

A quarry was reached. We took a short diversion to view the quarry's waterfall. Just a trickle today.

Now on our last lap, we followed the waymarks successfully all the way to Newhey, involving pleasant field paths and a wooden footbridge past an area overgrown with Himalayan Balsam.

We arrived at the Metrolink tram station at Newhey at 5:25, some six and a half hours after setting off from Platform 13, having walked some 23km (including 2km where we went wrong) and ascending around 600 metres. A tram soon arrived and we were back at home in Timperley before 7pm.

Here's today's route. (Click to enlarge.)

Next: Stage 10 on Tuesday 19 August - the flyer is below, but note that we will wait until 9:30 to catch a tram in Timperley, so we should arrive in Newhey between 10:30 and 11:00. I suggest the first to arrive find a nearby café and wait there for the rest of us.

GM Ringway Trail - Stage 10 - Newhey Metrolink to Littleborough. Meet at 10:30 at Newhey for this tenth 18km stage of the 20 stage circuit of Greater Manchester.
Arrive by Metrolink.

Return by train service (every 30 minutes)from Littleborough to Victoria.