Rochdale Canal - Manchester to Littleborough (★★☆☆☆)

Last year I had walked the Rochdale Canal between Littleborough and Sowerby Bridge. Ahead of doing that walk, I had already figured that would be the best section of this canal - but having enjoyed that walk, and with there being reduced options for walking (with it being early January), I'm back today to walk the rest of the canal.

And so the plan is to head by train to Manchester - and from here it is a short walk along the ring road, before I join up with the Rochdale Canal (it really doesn't matter which Manchester train station you head to). From there I will head on to Littleborough, where I will catch my train home - walking what used to be a busy transportation route across the Pennine Hills.

The Rochdale Canal in 1890 (from the Waterway Archives)

And so I find myself turning off the ring road of Manchester - and stepping onto the towpath of the Rochdale Canal, which starts off well, with a pretty (and busy) section where the canal meets up with the ring road.

From here it heads on past some construction work (as new flats go up on either side of the canal) - but then as we continue on we start to get acquainted the fairly heavy levels of graffiti and litter that line the edge of the canal.

On these writeups I like to be as positive as possible - but this section of the canal is not what it could be. 

The modern developments are going up - and so I suspect efforts will be made to bring the general appearance up to standard (at least in the core of the city) - but this is a canal that lacks a bit of love at this particular point in time, and it seems to be used as a bit of a dumping ground.

Heading out from Manchester

Maybe this isn't a huge surprise, though, given the history of this canal.

The Rochdale Canal was intended to be abandoned in 1965 - with an act of parliament set bring this into effect. But whilst part of the canal got refilled, the high cost of this - and high levels of opposition - kept the canal in a purgatory state, where it hadn't been completely abandoned, but where it also didn't have much of a future.

As a result, the canal slowly became a dumping ground - and fell into pretty terrible condition.

Through the 1970s small bits of the canal were re-opened at the Manchester end - and by 1983 the section between Todmorden and Hebden Bridge was restored, with the stretch from Sowerby Bridge to the summit following in 1990.

By 1996, a new lock allowed the first boat to navigate between the Rochdale Canal and the Calder Navigation at Sowerby Bridge - and by 2002 the full stretch of the canal was reopened up to here.

And whilst down at Todmorden, Hebden Bridge and Sowerby Bridge the canal is now incredible to walk - and a draw for tourists looking to walk canal-side through the Pennines - this section seems to have held on fast to that heritage of using the canal as a dumping ground.

It doesn't help that this is a difficult to maintain canal - where water levels can be particularly problematic - but there is a greater issue here, with the Canal & River Trust highlighting that much of their maintenance efforts end up being focused on tackling a never-ending litter problem (the volume of litter cleared annually from this canal is impressive, and yet it is still littered).

A small Canal & River Trust team are out today, maintaining the vegetation along the route, but as we head out of town, my nods of hello to the fellow walkers cease to get acknowledged, and we settle in for a slightly depressing traipse along the canal to Failsworth.

Clearly the general condition of the canal has fed into a general caution around strangers, and it is clear that a friendly hello is not welcome along this stretch of waterway.

Still, there is plenty of history is on show, and this stretch of canal could be truly marvelous if people took a bit better care of it - and for me that history becomes the focus for the rest of this stretch of walking.

Some of the history lining the canal

At Failsworth, we generally leave the city behind - and here the going does improve, as we head along the canal, and get ready to meet up with a motorway that will temporarily block our path.

Here we pull away from the canal, and head over a bridge across both the motorway and the canal - and once across we rejoin a very quiet stretch of canal, that runs from here along to Chadderton.

And this is an enjoyable stretch of walking, as we head on through Chadderton - with a slight increase in the level of friendliness of those I pass - although some seem particularly wary as I pass them by (clearly I am a terrifying apparition).

Heading through Chadderton

But it is when we leave behind Chadderton - as we pass Mills Hill train station - that things really get good, with a delightful stretch of the canal, looking out across the fields.

Some more rural views past Chadderton

Next lock on the river

From here we begin the best section of walking of the day, as we head across the fields between Chadderton and Castleton - and here we get some lovely rural views.

Looking back towards Chadderton

Looking forwards across the fields

By now the general mood is buoyant again - but as we head into Castleton, and pass through Rochdale, we hit a section that, whilst better than that early section through Manchester, is still quite a step down from my usual sections of canal walking.

There are a few historical highlights along the way though, and we can once again focus on these as we take on this long stretch passing through Rochdale.

Some of the old factories

Once we do break clear of Rochdale, there is a reward. And here we start to get views out across the hills that dominate the next sections of this canal, as it heads on towards Sowerby Bridge.

And at the same time, we also start to see a significant upturn in the presentation of the area - with the riverside buildings no longer being abandoned ghosts of a former age, but instead being very attractive redeveloped buildings.

One of the highlights, heading out beyond Rochdale

And here we are able to enjoy the final stretch of the day - as we head on through Smithy Bridge (which is a again pretty village) - and then on round to Littleborough, where we complete the length of the canal.

Meeting up with the hills at Littleborough

Overall I have to be honest and say that isn't not been an amazing walk - there have been a few highlights, but the good sections have been too short, and the bad sections far too long.

The stretch running through Rochdale wasn't particularly amazing - and the stretch heading out from Manchester to Fairfield just wasn't enjoyable at all (there was just far too much graffiti and litter, and no one along the canal was particularly friendly).

If I had started out from Mid Hill train station, I think I would be able to reflect more kindly on the less exciting stretch through Rochdale - as that would sit in isolation on an otherwise very attractive canal for walking.

But in combination with the poor stretch through Manchester it was all a bit too depressing - and so I'm afraid the walk gets the dreaded two-star rating (I don't think I will ever have the heart to give anything one star).

It is a bit of a shame, as I have immense love for the Rochdale Canal overall - but hopefully one day this section will improve - and then I can come back, and enjoy walking here.

Total Distance: 16.1 miles (15.3 miles on the Rochdale Canal)

Total Ascent: 689 feet (633 feet on the Rochdale Canal)

Enjoyment Rating : ⭐⭐ ★ ★ ★ / 5

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 109 OS Landranger map (links redirect to Amazon). The route has a only few waymarks, but is generally very straight-forward.