Noon Hill Slack via the Belmont Road.

Start. Lower House car park Rivington.

Route. Lower House car park Rivington - Dovecote Tower - Belmont Road - Noon Hill Slack - Belmont Road - Rivington Road - Dean Brook - Cote Slack - Lower House car park Rivington.

Notes. Welcome to a gloomy looking hill seemingly featureless, a satellite summit of Winter Hill, you know that one, the one with all the metalwork on top. Gloomy it is facing north always in the shadow of it’s bigger brother but featureless it is not, marking the summit a small cairn atop a Bronze Age burial mound, hidden in the grass a double ring of concentric stones. The mound was excavated in 1958 and finds including a cinerary urn were unearthed, to you and me that’s an urn containing ashes. The views over the Lancashire coastal plane are stunning but take care, the hill is haunted by a ghostly horseman who spirits travelers away.

We set out from the Lower House car park at the northern edge of Rivington Country Park, two stoney tracks leave said car park, real ankle breakers, we risked the left hand track. Unscathed we reached a tall tower at a track junction, this is known as the Dovecote Tower, Italian in design built in 1910 by Lord Leverhume as part of his Rivington Estate. The road that passes the tower is the Belmont Road, a wide cobbled track originally leading from Belmont to the outskirts of Horwich, this ancient byway guided us north into a cool wind and fabulous views.

It was time to start climbing again, on reaching Cote Slack a small wood on the left (not marked on the OS map) we left the track, a stile allowed access to a green trod ascending over boggy ground, we ascended with it to reach a small cairn on Noon Hill Slack. Mentioned above this cairn stands on a Bronze Age burial mound, It gifts the walker stunning views over the Lancashire Plane and West Pennine Moors. Before any ghostly horsemen could spirit us away we descended back to the safety of the Belmont Road, its cobbled surface then guided us to the busy Rivington Road.

With no pavements the walk over this stretch was a little daunting, it was Sunday the majority of traffic was motorcycles with a death wish, most were respectful of us ramblers but the odd ones were ignorant. After half a mile of looking, listening and stepping onto the grass verge we left the road, a kissing gate allowed us access to the valley cut by Dean Brook.

The descent was steep, the ascent equally so, kissing gates, stiles and narrow bridges aided our passage, we traversed the top of a large rough pasture, passed through woodland (Cote Slack). A green trod followed by a boardwalk path then guided us across the lower slopes of the hill, through rushes we wandered, to our left an ancient sunken track full of reeds made an interesting talking point, a few yards further on the path dropped into the Lower House car park where an ice cream van looked like it needed the trade.

view route map.

home.

Ascending this ankle breaker of a track to access the Belmont Road.

A little height gained and Anglezarke Moor tilts into view.

Looking towards Chorley from near the Dovecote Tower.

Boundary Stone passed on the approach to the Dovecote Tower.

Built by Lord Leverhume as part of his extensive Rivington Estate, the Dovecote Tower.

Moody skies above the Belmont Road.

Striding out over the cobbled surface of the Belmont Road.

From the Belmont Road we're gifted with stunning views over Rivington Reservoirs to the Irish Sea coast.

Birds eye views south over the Lancashire Plane.

The summit Noon Hill Slack, Sue and Jack are supposed to be soaking in the views but wouldn't stop looking at the camera.

Grandstand views over the West Pennine Moors from the summit of Noon Hill Slack.

Winter Hill.

Noon Hill Slack as seen from the Belmont Road.

View taken across Dean Brook to the tarmac of the busy Rivington Road.

And finally extensive views over Chorley, you can just make out the Irish Sea coast in the murk across the horizon.

back to top

back to list