Village lost and found

MY reservoir walk this week brought me a real taste of forgotten Lancashire.

I am a collector of leaflets and I picked up one about a North West Water Site which I thought might make a small and not very interesting walk. How wrong I was!

I have written several times in this column about Hollingworth Lake near Littleborough and Watergrove is between Hollingworth and Rochdale, just off the A58.

I found the village of Wardle and turned off the main road.

Wardle itself is a cul-de-sac. Right at the end of this and along a cobbled path is Watergrove.

The site is not well-signed but the locals love it and so do I. There is plenty of parking and along the circular path around the reservoir is a neat visitors' centre, picnic tables and toilets.

Stocks reservoir near Slaidburn gets lots of publicity because a village was flooded to create it. This was also the case with Watergrove. It would not be allowed these days but instead of crying over spilt milk I prefer to write about the history so that we never forget the story of the village.

Watergrove village sounds to have been beautiful and in 1930 there were nearly 50 houses, two pubs, a smithy, two mills and a thriving chapel.

There was plenty of work because coal was mined to provide power. There were lots of small quarries and the sheep on the fells provided the wool which was the raw material required by the mills.

There were two clear streams, Wardle Brook and Higher Slack, which the village used and which also interested Rochdale Council in 1930. They were short of water and there was also a lot of unemployment in the area. Their solution was to flood the valley, provide water and generate employment. The only losers were the local people and Watergrove was flooded.

At the moment North West Water is developing the nature trails and has provided a splendid bird hide overlooking the water and several of the old workings and quarries have been landscaped to produce ponds which in the summer are a riot of colour. In the winter wildfowl and waders are worth travelling miles to see. The visitors' centre is staffed throughout the year and there is, therefore, always a friendly person to answer questions. Wildlife wardens these days are not prison officers but are enjoying watching the wildlife of their area develop. At Watergrove there is a display of photographs of the old village and a collection of leaflets available free of charge.

One lists the birds of the area and the other the wild flowers. The bird list includes the merlin, which is now so rare that the birds are ringed by experts. Other birds include curlew, dunlin, red grouse, wheatear, little ringed plover and short-eared owl.

The flower list includes the heath spotted orchid, cowslip, corncockle, marsh violet and Welsh poppy.

The telephone number of the warden's office is 01706 379060. Inquiries from schools are welcome here and at other North West Water Sites. We all know how vital it is to involve young people in Wildlife and Conservation.

My final word on Watergrove is - visit the lovely spot and enjoy its present, look forward to its future but never ever forget its past.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.