Another great tour of the West Pennine Moors led by the team at Horwich Heritage Centre. As in previous years it was headed by Derek Cartwright with help from Gary Rhodes and this time with Ste Hamer and Phil Luff, former Rivington Ranger. As on the first trip, we met at Jepson’s Gate where Derek gave a quick overview of what he as about to show us. He then led the way across the moor to our first site, i.e. Pike Stones. This monument is referred to in its scheduling (No.1009120) as being a chambered long cairn dating from the early to mid Neolothic (i.e. 3400 – 2400 BC). All that is left though is a group of large gritstone slabs leaning against one another. Originally it would have been covered by a large mound perhaps 48m long and up to 19m wide. (continue reading…)

What a great trip this turned out to be. Just over twenty intrepid visitors assembled at the Horrock’s Fold car park, which is just off Scout Road leading to Belmont – on a day when nobody seemed to know what the weather was going to be like (some in tee shirts, some in all weather gear). Derek Cartwright our guided, who took us around the Anglezarke sites last year, was ably assisted this year by Garry Rhodes.  Garry for many years was a member of Bolton’s Mountain Rescue group and is somebody who knows the these hills like the back of his hand.

As we struck out across the moors the first things we came across were the stone quarries used now by Bolton Gun Club for their Pistol and Rifle shooting ranges (continue reading…).

It is absolutely amazing how much research Jim Meehan has been able to do for this tour. Twelve graves in all with much detail for each one – this is just an overview, to get the full fascinating stories you’ll have to see if you can catch the next one .

We met up in front of the church where Jim give us a brief history of the Grade I listed church (the only one in the Wigan Borough). Continue Reading…

This, our second trip of the season, was designed for our more active members and included some of the fascinating site on this historic and prehistoric landscape. Convening at Jepson’s Gate on Anglezarke Moor, the first leg of our walk took us into the very picturesque Lead Mines Clough, where our tour guides, Derek Cartwright and Garry Rhodes regaled us with stories of the mines and their history. Continue reading…

Great turnout for this the first of our two summer trips this year. At the end of the month we will be visiting the prehistoric sites on Anglezarke and Rivington moors but today we had a much more sedate tour of the historic delights along the Leeds and Liverpool canal. Jim Meehan our guide has meticulously done his research on the stretch between Martland Mill and Crooke Village and as a result the trip was not only entertaining but informative as well.

Our starting point was the old canal bridge where Jim gave a gruesome description of a couple of drownings. One was a young man, being drunk on New Years eve, fell into the canal as he left the pub. The other was the driver who fell off his cart when it hit the corner while travelling over the bridge. Continue reading…

Great turnout for this trip with over twenty meeting on The Green at Worsley for a guided tour by Manchester’s most renown industrial archaeologist, Dr Mike Nevell. You can read about this very entertaining trip here.

It’s great to have a member of your Society who is also the curator of a nationally important museum so Trumble’s guided tour around Bolton’s Egyptian Galleries last Sunday was bound to be top class. Our trip out to Neil Coldrick’s excavations on Holcombe Moor was also a very enjoyable experience – view all the details here

Great day out last Saturday despite the reduced numbers. It was the open day for the archaeological excavations which are being run by Liverpool University as training site  undergraduates. More details here