"Winds of the Pennines fresh and free, you were ever good friends to me". So reads the inscription on Ammon Wrigley's memorial, high above Castleshaw Reservoirs and the Roman Fort. But there were plans to harness this windpower to provide electricity. Seven giant turbines, each three quarters the height of Blackpool Tower, would be erected on the Denshaw moors. They would be visible for miles around - it's enough to make the poet turn in his grave. He would be delighted the plan has at last been scrapped.
LOCATION: Six miles north-east of Oldham
START: Castleshaw Centre public car park, Waterworks Rd off A62, one mile north-east of Delph
Grid ref: SD997092 Postcode: OL3 5LZ
DISTANCE: 7 miles
GRADE: Moderate
TIME: 4 hours
MAP: Explorer OL - Dark Peak & South Pennines Landranger 109 & 110
REFRESHMENTS: Pack a flask
EN ROUTE: Bleak Hey Nook, Millstone Edge, Dinner Stone, Pennine Way, Rapes Highway, Readycon Dean, Pennine Bridleway, Dowry Water
This walk was originally published by
The Manchester Evening News