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useful, with detailed breakdowns of each stage (although be warned – some of the bus numbers and routes are a little out of date!)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.
Red Arrows
Continue down the path towards the railway line. If you reach the railway line you've gone too far. The red arrows point the way.
After finding this cache to stay on the Rotary Way you'll have to pass around the back of the farm, then descend a set of steps into Borsdane Wood. This is a Local Nature Reserve, and hence we haven't been able to continue the series through here. We are currently applying for permission, and hopefully will soon be able to add some stops in this lovely area.