Walking trail
The Stubbins Estate Walk near Gawthorpe Hall
In 1947, Colonel Austin Townsend Porritt gave The Stubbins Estate to the National Trust. This included 436 acres of farmland and a small portion of Holcombe Moor for public access and pleasure. This walk circles part of the Stubbins Estate. It is just under 2 miles or 3 km in length and although it covers rough terrain is achievable in an hour.
Map
Start:
The bottom of Red Lees pasture
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Start at the bottom of Red Lees pasture.
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Proceed westwards for approximately half a mile, past Lower Red Lees farm, to the Helmshore Road.
Views of the local countryside
The viewpoint marked on the map gives extensive views of the local countryside and on a clear day the centre of Manchester is clearly visible to the south with the Derbyshire Pennines on the distant horizon.
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From here the route follows Helmshore Road for almost half a mile to the north of Buckden Wood.
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From here there is a short descent for another half a mile east through Buckden Wood to The Cliffes.
Buckden Wood
Mature oak, birch, alder and aspen grow in Buckden Wood and to the west a beech and sycamore plantation provides shade in summer. Hawthorne, holly and willow provide good cover for wildlife while bracken, heather, bilberry and bluebells are examples of the floral ground-cover.
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Here the route veers to the south.
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At the end of Porrit’s Lodge the route passes through a gate on the right and passes the rear of the castellated Tentering Tower.
The Tentering Tower
The Tentering Tower is an unusual building in that its purpose seems to have been twofold. It served both as part of the textile industry and also to act as a point of focus in the landscape. Tentering involved the stretching and drying of cloth fixed to wooden frames by a series of sharply pointed hooks. The factory of which it was part was built in 1877 by a local textile manufacturing family, Porritt.
End:
The route ends back at Red Lees pasture
