A HISTORIC packhorse road opened to the public after a legal inquiry could be restored as part of a Pennine Bridleway.

Moorbottom Road, Trawden, is a four-mile stretch of a once-vital trade route between Lancashire and Yorkshire. At one time the track was used to transport lime, which farmers needed for treating acidic soil.

Known in earlier times as Will Moor Hill Road, the road is stone causeway which runs along the bottom of Boulsworth Hill.

It is part of a network of routes which are being opened up by the South Pennines Packhorse Trails Trust.

A SPPTT report says: "The section from Coldwell to the turning down to Wycoller is now a bridleway and the gates at Coldwell Reservoir are no longer locked, while the rest of the track which runs up to the Laneshaw Bridge-Haworth road is now open to all traffic.

"Sadly the route itself has suffered over the years and part of it has been concreted by North West Water. Only short sections of the original stone causeway remain.

"Perhaps, as it will eventually form part of the Pennine Bridleway, the concrete can be taken up and the track restored in keeping with its historic importance."

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