Rawtenstall
Rawtenstall is a town in the borough of Rossendale, Lancashire, England.
The town lies 15 miles (24 km) north of Manchester, 22 miles (35 km) east of Preston and 45 miles (70 km) south east of Lancaster. The town is at the centre of the Rossendale Valley. As of 2022, it had a population of 23,000.
Getting to Rawtenstall
The x43 is a frequent bus service to Manchester and Blackburn. The 464 is a frequent local bus running from Rochdale to Accrington, via Haslingden, passing through Bacup. The M65/A65 runs directly to Rawtenstall from the M62. Rawtenstall is a little over 30 minutes drive from the centre of Manchester.
Worth seeing
The most interesting features are probably the landscapes around the town of Haslingden, which are stunning - with a wonderful view from 'the Halo', a short walk above the town, which looks down the Irwell Valley to Manchester and beyond to the Cheshire hills. The Halo is sculpture set in a landscaped park, known as a Panopticon.
- 01Helmshore Mills Textile Museum
It tells the story of the Lancashire textile industry.
Things to do
Visit the Textile Museum (see above), which has a cafe and gift shop and frequent demonstration days showing working textile machinery. Lee Quarry Mountain Bike Trail, Bacup. Over 8 km of technical mountain bike trails have been completed in Lee Quarry Watch out for Juliet Bravo locations. The series was largely filmed in Bacup. Lee Quarry is perfect for mountain biking.
Where to eat
The area has several restaurants, and a number of take-away food outlets. Cissy Green's Pie Shop, Higher Deardengate, Haslingden. It sells pies with a high reputation, especially the cheese and onion pie. Mario's. Bacup's main restaurant The White Horse Helmshore Rd., Helmshore, Rossendale BB4 4LU, +44 1706 213873.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Impudicus (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.