Читать книгу Walking on the West Pennine Moors. 30 walks around moorland Lancashire онлайн

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The moorland occurs in fairly well-defined blocks – at Withnell, Anglezarke and Rivington Moors; Darwen and Turton Moors; and Oswaldtwistle and Holcombe Moors, where the prevalent land use is sheep farming. Unlike other areas of moorland in the north of England, the West Pennine Moors are not managed for grouse shooting (not for want of trying), and are characterised by rough grassland and peat bog. This is one of the reasons why the moors never suffered the same degree of ‘access aggravation’ that occurred further south, in the Peak District.

Providing useful habitat areas for wildlife, the West Pennine Moors are bisected by a number of wooded valleys and cloughs, the largest being the Roddlesworth valley, near Tockholes. Although there are some small coniferous plantations, particularly around the reservoirs, the woodland cover overall is nominal, and it is a fine sense of openness that dominates here, and this, coupled with the intricate network of footpaths, makes the area an ideal place to begin a lifetime of recreational walking and to practice the necessary skills of map reading and navigation.