The Rotary Way
The Rotary Way footpath was established in 2005 to celebrate the centenary of the foundation of the Rotary Club. The walk is just over 50 miles around the boundaries of Bolton and is broken down into eight more manageable stages, each starting and finishing on a bus route. Indeed, getting the bus would be sensible since the stages are all linear and hence do not finish at the start point!
Many walkers head for the hills in the north of the borough and ignore the lower-level but equally interesting possibilities offered by the eastern and western parts of Bolton. Now, follow the Rotary Way and see what you have missed: there is interest all the way round.
The walk aims to keep close to the Bolton boundary on paths which are defined legal rights of way and avoids roads wherever possible.
Some of the paths followed by the walk are rough and they may at times be muddy, flooded, frozen, dusty or obstructed. At two points on the same stage, the walk even goes along designated footpaths through several domestic gardens!
If you plan to do the whole route (and indeed even if you only wish to do some of it), you may find the Rotary Way booklet to be very useful, with detailed breakdowns of each stage (although be warned – some of the bus numbers and routes are a little out of date!) and sketch maps to help you on your way. If you wish to get your copy, get in touch with the Westhoughton branch of the Rotary Club using the ‘contact us’ form on their website and enquire.
Prison Break
From Back On Track, there appear to be numerous ways to proceed southwards. A muddy path between the field and the houses seems more in keeping with the Rotary Way's style, however there is nothing to indicate this, and simply walking along the bottom edge of the field is equally viable, and lead to the same place. Choose as you wish. Whichever way you go the path will bend westwards towards Newbrook Road, crossing a small stream. After this stream, immediately before the road you will find some railings that someone, or something has pulled apart...
If not doing the full route, access from Newbrook Road is made clear by a large sign indicating the Start of Stage 3. (We'd argue that this is actually the end, but in any case the stretch from here to Ghost Train is Third Stage)