Rowarth

 

December 3, 2025

 

Rowarth (Alternative walkers)

 

HAYFIELD ROAD BIRCH VALE, PENNINE BRIDLEWAY, SITCH LANE, GIGGLE-GAGGLE PATH, MATLEY MOOR, HARTHILL FARM, LITTLE MILL INN AT ROWARTH, LANESIDE ROAD, THORNSETT FIELDS FARM, SITCH LANE, STATION ROAD

 

 

Distance: 6.5 miles​Total ascent/descent: 880ft

 

Difficulty:  Fairly easy

 

Weather: Dry and bright

 

Walkers: Peter Beal, Colin Davison, Jock Rooney with Millie

 

Leader: Beal​Diarist: Beal

 

Starting point: Hayfield Road, Birch Vale

 

Starting time: 11.15am​Finishing time: 3.20pm

 

 

The three of us (plus Millie the dog) who were not sure of facing the rigours of a pub crawl through Manchester decided on a moderately easy walk of around six-and-a-half miles through the lower slopes of the High Peak.

 

We started in Birch Vale and leaving Station Road soon joined a climb up a track forming part of the Pennine Bridleway, a 174- mile long-distance trail linking Wirksworth in Derbyshire to Ravenstonedale in Cumbria.

 

At a group of cottages we joined Sitch Lane, turning right and around half-a-mile later bearing left at more cottages to take a narrow path that soon brought us to the Giggle-gaggle path, named in industrial revolution days after the groups of girls and women who would travel to work to the mills in Hayfield and Little Hayfield.

 

This brought us in no time to a junction with a lane leading down to Little Hayfield, which we ignored to take the left fork uphill to a cottage where we crossed a stile to bring us to a climb up a narrow path through bracken to a stile leading to the open expanse of Matley Moor.

 

We crossed the moor and at a gate and junction of paths known as Five Lane Ends we took the more prominent track leading to Matley Moor Farm, leaving this almost immediately to take a turning to the left to a house barred by a large metal gate. Just before it though was a stile on the right taking us to a rough path through fields to come to Harthill Farm. From here a track downhill took us on an easy walk to emerge at the welcoming Little Mill Inn.

 

The pub, tucked away down a dead-end side road, was doing a busy trade with diners obviously marking the run-up to Christmas. Jock and I tried the modestly priced (under a fiver) Little Mill Reserve bitter, brewed for them by the Coach House brewery in Warrington.

 

Leaving the pub, we turned right up Laneside Road for a short way before taking a turn through fields to the right along a boggy path. This brought us to Thornsett Fields Farm, the approach to which, as for years past, was through a proper quagmire.

 

At the other side of the farmyard we crossed a field where a stile took us in to woods along which ran the old miners’ path, once marked by a number of old cast-iron gas lights. Years ago these sadly vanished in what could only have been a night-time raid by scrap dealers.

 

We emerged from the woods and turned left to come to the imposing Aspenshaw Hall, one the home of a prominent local family the Buckleys but now converted to apartments. A stile here took us to the right through three fields to emerge on Sitch Lane where we turned left before soon taking a track downhill to bring us back to Station Road in Birch Vale.

 back at the Inn approx 1.30pm

 

Happy Wandering!