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A cache to show you the pleasures of the Pennine & Peak moorlands and a fascinating insight into the history of the Packhorse Road.
Getting to the cache along the Packhorse Road
The quickest approach to the cache is from where the Pennine Way crosses the A640, where there is a car park. A half mile walk along the bridleway, called the Packhorse Road, heading towards Marsden will lead you to the cache. You will get fantastic open views over Marsden Moor & March Haigh Reservoir.
The cache is near the Willmer Green waterfall as it tumbles down into the reservoir below.
There are 2 other caches - March Haigh GC12F2V & March Hill Holes GC12J9H which can be done to extend the walk into a circular providing you with great views. To do this, continue down the Packhorse Road to a PH stone pillar at 340m where there is a leat which contours round to the reservoir. You can then follow a path up March Hill.
Two alternative circuits start from the bottom of the Packhorse Road. The path building & the stone PH pillars erected by the Council in 1907, detailed below, are still in evidence.
Parking is outside the Hey Green Hotel.
Both routes take you through Willykaye Clough before reaching Willmer Green & climbing to the highest point of the Packhorse Road.
Choose then to either go right over March Hill & past the reservoir, or left to join up with the Pennine Way along Millstone edge.
The Packhorse Road trial of 1908
A trial took place in 1908 to decide if the Packhorse Road was a right of way.
General opinion suggested that it was & had become so under what is described as "public by user". The Lord of the Manor, Sir Joseph Percival Radcliffe thought otherwise. He lost the case
The previous September the Local Board had carried out works of 'cutting out, levelling and making a path 4 feet wide and upwards.
They had built bridges of wooden planks on stone abutments at Haigh Gutter, Willmer Green Clough, Willie Kaye Clough and Stone Pit Lee Clough. In addition the stream banks had been faced with stone retaining walls or buttresses. In places they had laid stones through a bog at one point, diverted the channel of a stream for about 20 yards and built rubble walls eighteen and eight yards to support the path in two places'.
At New Hey Road end they had caused a notice to be erected stating 'Notice – Marsden Urban District Council – Public Pack Horse Road to Marsden'. This was supplemented at the Blake Lea end by a similar notice inscribed with the words Public Pack Horse Road to Rochdale. Each sign had a hand pointing the way. 9 intermediate stones carved 'P H Road' had been erected at intervals along the way. Also works of repair had been carried out at Close Gate Bridge, better known today as Eastergate Bridge.
One character, William Wild, 78 called at witness is the trial recalled:
"I regularly attended the fairs at Marsden from being about 10 years old, taking sheep to sell. Always used 'Clowes' footpath, a track with flags laid in wet places. I had not met many other people using the way.
I knew 'Old Kenyon', the gamekeeper and the other gamekeeper 'Uttley'.
Neither had ever tried to stop me using the route, which I also did when attending the fairs at Meltham.
My grandfather had ridden a donkey along the track and on one occasion made the return journey in the company of a man on horse back about 60 years previously. He always used this route to move his stags and pigs to and from the fairs."