Bury (Lancashire): Through Birtle, Ashy Valley, and Deeply Vale

To get to Birtle, you basically walk straight up Castle Hill Road from Rochdale Old Road, and turn left towards:

What was once Tommy Ashworth's old farmhouse.

The Quarry:

The Delph:

An old friend who is full of old wives' tales once told me that the Delph is a bottomless pit and that the other end comes out in Australia.

Above the Delph, there stands the fast disappearing remains of what is said to have been an old hanging barn:

The strange-looking, agricultural thing below caught my eye in a field near the Delph:

Further on down the lane from the Delph, in amongst a clutch of houses, you come across the entrance to a secret garden pond, you have to go under one of the houses:

And down a short path:

Following the path down to the opposite exit:

 

You then run into the footstep remains of an old Methodist church:

On the way from Birtle to Ashworth (Ashy) Valley, you can stop off for liquid refreshment at the Pack Horse:

Entering into Ashy Valley, I decided to avoid the herd of cows below:

Childhood tales of bulls chasing people in this area still haunt me.

But entering Ashy Valley for the first time in donkeys years was amazing:

Down in the valley a group of men with children seemed to be doing some kind of self-survival training:

When encountering a small bridge over a brook, I knew I was getting close to Deeply Vale:

And not long after, I passed a famous tower:

Where the friend with all the old wives' tales had once been chased by a streaker while out fishing.

Deeply Vale, the site of a free Pop festival between 1977 and 1979, now seems to be the abode of a herd of cattle:

Grazing lazily on the land.

The shot above wouldn't be out of place in the Lake District, I suggest.

Some old factory remains are still visible as nature continues to reclaim its land:

People still camp here as the campfire set-up below shows:

The lower lodge below:

Can still remember my late brother catching jack pike here.

And the top lodge below:

Apparently, the festival-goers used to swim naked here.

Looking back at Deeply Vale, while moving down a lane towards Walmersley Golf Club: