Out to lunch – Ramblers and their work featured on National television

AN Uppermill footpath has received a winter upgrade much to the delight of walkers and volunteers.

Members of Oldham Ramblers’ footpath clearance group weren’t due to resume work on the riverside path linking Spring Street and Bridge Street until April.

But thanks to contractors and money from ward councillors and Oldham Council the picturesque route, formerly known as FP 242, has now been further improved.

 

Also relocated is a piece of local history, first erected in the Victorian age. The initials, ULB, stands for Uppermill Local Board, formed in 1868, probably in response to cholera epidemics.

ULBs were given government permission to control sewers, water supply and street cleaning. The administrative area of the Uppermill LB was marked by the boundary stones.

SPRING STREET PATH
The fully repaired path at Spring Street/Bridge Street | Photo by Gemma Carter

The footpath route had been closed for eight years until it re-opened in June 2021.

Years of neglect had taken its toll on certain section and recent torrential rain only churned up sections of the path.

spring street bridge street path
The boundary stone | Photo by Gemma Carter

The Saddleworth path was the 30th tackled by the Ramblers in 2021 to ensure better access to the borough’s network of footpaths.

• The work of OR’s footpath clearance group has received a national profile.

Delph based co-ordinator Ken Smith and were recently featured in an episode of Steph McGovern’s Packed Lunch on Channel 4 when interviewed by presenter John Whaite.

Ramblers president Stuart Maconie was also interviewd for the episode, shot in and around the Diggle valley and Greenfield, and broadcast on January 28.

One Reply to “Out to lunch – Ramblers and their work featured on National television”

  1. Speaking now as someone who regularly enjoyed the footpaths, bridleways and public rights of way throughout Uppermill and Saddleworth, (and elsewhere,) I very much appreciate the work that’s being done here to preserve and maintain them and to keep them accessible for the people who use them..

    Under no circumstances, (other than possibly the most exceptional,) should a right, (it’s in the name,) of way ever be allowed to be locked off or or permanently blocked by a land owner.

    Although probably the best investment that anyone using the footpaths can make is still a good pair of boots.

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