Information

Distance: 5.5milesStart and finish: Turton TowerParking: Turton Tower Car ParkTime to allow: 3 hours including stops.Tea shop and toilets: Turton Tower and The Jumbles CaféTourist Information: Great House Information Centre,Rivington Lane, Horwich, Bolton BL6 7SB. Tel 01204 691549Map: OS Explorer 287 West Pennine MoorsUseful book: Turton Tower, a Guide by Martin RobinsonDowland.Disabled suitability: The walk along the reservoir from theWaterfold Car park is suitable for wheel chairs but not the restof the walk.Public transport: Two buses a day run to and from TurtonTower from the centre of Darwen.

Walking writer Keith Carter isimpressed by an area where waterdominates the landscape

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Greatstrides at TurtonTower

THE area of wild country to the north and north-eastof Bolton is laced with reservoirs and where thereare reservoirs you can usually find good walking.

Nowadays, it is United Utilities which manages them forwater catchment and they have made great strides inopening them up for recreational use, building visitorcentres and car parks, laying down waymarked trails andinstalling panels explaining the flora and fauna to be seenaround their shore.

Reservoirs are a huge man-made resource and a richhabitat has established itself offering great opportunities forthose who seek the great outdoors.

Turton Tower is a convenient place to park and timeshould be left to visit the hall and the tea-room, both ofinterest to the walker. Now is a good time to visit too sinceTurton is under threat of closure unless funding can be foundto match the subsidy that from 2008 is to be withdrawn byLancashire County Council. The future of Turton Tower is

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Ordnance Survey mapping Crown copyright 2005cRoute of walk

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uncertain and it may well close which would be a great pitysince it has an active programme of visits and events thatwould cease if the place had to close.

1. Leave the car park and turn right along a tree-linedavenue which crosses the railway by a turreted bridge.Just beyond, at a t-junction, turn left and cross a cattle-grid to join a newly laid track leading up to the golf course.After a few paces, strike off to the left into the pasture andfollow the line of an old fence. There is no discernible pathbut stick to the fence line and keep the same directionuntil you come to a boundary formed by a stream and awall. Cross both to enter the golf course but stay in therough, following the line of a plantation on your left andthe fairway on your right.

2. We reach a track at a bend by the 5th Tee. Keep ahead,the track dropping down into a dip then up again by someoutbuildings to enter the golf club parking area with the clubhouse on your right. Cross the car park and leave by theaccess track through a gate with the golf club sign inevidence. After crossing the cattle-grid look to your right fora footpath sign and stile inconspicuously on your right.

Above: JumblesReservoirFar left: TurtonTower's futureis in doubtRight: Closedgates at TurtonTower

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houses hide amongst the trees. A few hundred yardsahead look for a stile on the left. There are usually a fewcars parked here since it is an area favoured by joggersand dog-walkers. Take the stile and enter an area knownas Ouzel Nest Meadows where a board tells us thatextensive tree planting took place in 1996 under theauspices of Bolton Metro. There is a bench here for theirefforts to be contemplated at your ease. Cross a brook viaa substantial footbridge and climb steep steps up onto abank with the earth dam of the reservoir to the left.

5. We come to Waterfold Car Park where it costs £1 toleave the car for the day or 50p for 1-2 hours although thebiggest draw is the Jumbles Café and Information Centre,a well-run establishment opening every day exceptChristmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. Theydeserve our custom so do stop here if you can even if it'sonly for a cup of tea. Turn right out of the café and followthe path along the shore. Keep ahead over the first bridgeyou come to but at the second bridge, one thatcrossesthe end waters of the reservoir cross it to the left.On the far side of the bridge keep ahead at a metal signindicating Turton Tower 1km.

Climb up the bank, over a brow and drop down to theroad by a World War II pillbox where a stile in the wall givesaccess to the road. Go left along the pavement and TurtonTower is up ahead on the right just past a bus stop. Turn inright and the avenue leads us back to the car park. �

Cross the stile and follow a narrow path leading to Last DropVillage. This is an odd concept bang in the middle ofnowhere with gift shops, a leisure centre and a pub, TheSteakhouse, where a pint of Worthington E will be yours fora hefty £3 a pint. The Village has its appeal but perhaps notso much to us walkers who are not likely to make use of thevaried facilities other than to quench our thirst.

3. Where the path from Turton Golf Club meets the track tothe Last Drop Village, go left along the cinder track to join aroad with houses opposite. Turn left along the pavement andkeep ahead into Ramwell's Mews, picking up a footpath signthat takes us round a hedge-line to a cul-de-sac, HaydockLane which leads down to the B6391 road.

Turn left along the main road and leave almost immediatelyat the brown sign for Jumbles Country Park pointing downto the right. This access road leads to a car park still underdevelopment and an interpretative panel installed describingthe good intentions of United Utilities. A kissing-gate joins apath which we take, descending left along the fencedbottom of gardens. Follow the path down, under a railwaybridge, through another kissing-gate, across a short horse-pasture to another gate where a footpath sign points right forJumbles Reservoir. The name Jumbles is thought to be acorruption of the old north-country word 'dumbles' meaninga wooded ravine plunging down to a fast flowing stream.

4. Turn right along a private road where some impressive

Left: ColourfulJumbles WoodAbove: A glimpsethrough the treesTop right: TheJumbles shorelineAbove right: Aview toChapeltown

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