One for Slid re Winter Hill

Hi, I found the original Winter Hill fire thread on here while searching for something else and reading through the posts it seems that you live not far from me - I'm just off Belmont Road near the car wash place - also you may be able to tell me what I want to know.

I'd like to take a walk up to Dean Mills reservoir to do some photography but it's difficult finding any proper directions to it, and as you were recently up there yourself you could hopefully tell me what I want to know. Looking at Google Maps satellite view it seems there's a path from near the tv mast but ideally I'd like to drive to somewhere on Coal Pit Road and go from there. It looks like there's a path from there (close to a farm entrance) but I'm not sure if it actually is a path or not. Going from Coal Pit Road looks like a shorter route and would be ideal but I'm open to alternatives - can you help at all please?

As the google map shows there is a path that takes you from Coal Pit all the way up to the mast, the very bottom bit is quite a decent surface but further up it is a bit "off road". The odd car does park near where the path splits off from Coalpit so you might be lucky there. Otherwise if you turn left at the top of Smithills Dean Rd there is a small layby where you might be able to park or alternatively if you turn right at the top of Smithills Dean there is a car park about half a mile down the road. If you wanted to come down from the mast then if you go up George's Lane there is a small car park (about 10 cars) near Wilderswood and different routes up to the mast from there.

BillyD said:

As the google map shows there is a path that takes you from Coal Pit all the way up to the mast, the very bottom bit is quite a decent surface but further up it is a bit "off road". The odd car does park near where the path splits off from Coalpit so you might be lucky there. Otherwise if you turn left at the top of Smithills Dean Rd there is a small layby where you might be able to park or alternatively if you turn right at the top of Smithills Dean there is a car park about half a mile down the road. If you wanted to come down from the mast then if you go up George's Lane there is a small car park (about 10 cars) near Wilderswood and different routes up to the mast from there.

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Billy is correct and it is the path off Coal Pit Rd you want all right. It does go all the way to the mast, but after only a few hundred meters it swings to the right and if you take a minor path to the right up a long flight of irregular steps, you cone to the reservoir quite quickly.

If the link I am PMing you works when you post it into a browser, it shows the reservoir as being very close to the Coal Pit Road, but many of the metres in distance are uphill. The easiest access is from the path that is fairly obvious and a sign says "No Parking - Access needed for Emergency Vehicles at ALL TIMES" or some such.

Directions: Go up Belmont RD past the Wilton and turn left at Scout Road. Turn right at the top of Smithills Dean Rd and the entrance to the path indicated is obvious after about 1 mile.

Thanks both for your replies, they were very helpful. Sorry I haven't posted back sooner but I wanted to actually find the place first - and after nearly three weeks of grey days and rainy weather I finally managed it this morning, taking advantage of the sunshine and cloudless blue sky.

I found the path on Coal Pit Road which you mentioned and managed to park near the gate. Looking at Google Maps satellite view the reservoir seemed to be quite a distance from there so I was quite surprised that it isn't - it only took me twelve minutes to walk from the gate to the reservoir. The weather was perfect, I got some great photos and the dogs had a good walk, so now I know where the place is I'll certainly go again, and maybe next time I'll carry on up to the mast :)

Tigermouse said:

Thanks both for your replies, they were very helpful. Sorry I haven't posted back sooner but I wanted to actually find the place first - and after nearly three weeks of grey days and rainy weather I finally managed it this morning, taking advantage of the sunshine and cloudless blue sky.

I found the path on Coal Pit Road which you mentioned and managed to park near the gate. Looking at Google Maps satellite view the reservoir seemed to be quite a distance from there so I was quite surprised that it isn't - it only took me twelve minutes to walk from the gate to the reservoir. The weather was perfect, I got some great photos and the dogs had a good walk, so now I know where the place is I'll certainly go again, and maybe next time I'll carry on up to the mast :)

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That's great to hear! The Reservoir is in one of the most exposed and wind swept parts around and abouts. BTW, it (and its now filled-in sister reservoir) was never used as drinking water, only to power the Dean Mills down near Barrow Bridge, initially in the late 1700's.

The path up to the mast from the DMR is not an easy (or short) route due to the underfoot surface. If the dogs are a bit small, it could be a big ask to get up to the mast and back. That route is even worse coming down than going up (no-one ever fell upstairs, only down) and my preference would be to get back using a safer, but longer route, which uses the full length of the Coal Pit Road.

The dogs are small, they are Jack Russells, but tough little things and they'll walk for miles so going up to the mast and back would be no problem. They are also great for pulling me up steep hills

It seems strange to me though that the reservoir would be right up there when the Dean Mills were down in Barrow Bridge - I noticed what appears to be parts of some old winding gear (?) up there at each end of the reservoir, would that have been from when Dean mills existed or is it more recent than that?

Oh, and it's perfectly possible to fall upstairs, I've done it more than once and that's without a drink!

Tigermouse said:

The dogs are small, they are Jack Russells, but tough little things and they'll walk for miles so going up to the mast and back would be no problem. They are also great for pulling me up steep hills

It seems strange to me though that the reservoir would be right up there when the Dean Mills were down in Barrow Bridge - I noticed what appears to be parts of some old winding gear (?) up there at each end of the reservoir, would that have been from when Dean mills existed or is it more recent than that?

Oh, and it's perfectly possible to fall upstairs, I've done it more than once and that's without a drink!

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From the vantage point on Coal Pit Rd it might only be about a four-ish miles walk to the mast and back by either route. Starting from home it's nearer eight, so maybe I was automatically thinking of that sort of distance.

If you look around the Dean Mills Reservoir area, it is of very marginal use for anything else much and the fact that it is a long way down is not really a problem given that the speed of the water at point of use is the only object.
I am sure that the old winding gear, or what ever it was, would date from around that sort of time. Even a few decades later, steam engines would have been a much easier and cheaper option for powering the many Mills that sprang up in Bolton.
A quick look in the reservoir tells you that water like that is going to take a lot of treatment to be drinkable, so the fact that the reservoir is still intact suggests it may be down to some sort of maintenance by someone.

Anyway, it's a good place to enjoy the rare feeling of solitude.

It certainly is, there was no-one up there only me and the dogs.

Do you know if there are any fish in the reservoir? I've been led to believe that there aren't but I noticed something moving in the water right across the far side - I did try taking a photo but all I got was a silvery white blur. I'm not sure if it was a large fish gliding along just under the surface or some other creature - it definitely wasn't a duck or any other sort of wildfowl.

I've seen dogs and humans swimming in the reservoir for sure. A fish you could see would probably be a Carp - a prominent dorsal fin is visible quite frequently at the surface, especially when the weather is warm. The Brian Hey is an angling pond and not much distance away, so its only a question of what species might have been introduced, really. Carp do come to the surface, but more frequently if the water is warm enough and for long enough to prompt spawning behaviour, which would typically have been a month or so ago at least.

The water will be cold, but should have a fair amount of organic material, so fish should be able to survive there, with little problem.