Boundary Walk 07

23rd May 2021. Starting from Binn Green car park, Holmfrith Road, Oldham.

Today we walked with artist Alison Lloyd to prepare for our walking event ‘Contouring the Boundary’. As we crossed the A635 we started a steep climb up Alderman’s Brow, taking our time to stop and turnaround to see the view of Dovestones Reservoir below and over to the Chew Hills beyond.
During the ascent we noticed the strip of field running up the brow, marked by gritstone walls. Studying the OS map, we could see that the boundary followed in between the walled field. It was the first very clear visual of the boundary line, but also we wanted to understand (through further research), why the boundary did not follow The Oldham Way, which navigates around the bottom of Alderman’s Hill and marks another type of boundary, one that marks open access land. As we reached the top of Alderman’s Hill, we followed a wall that curved around a contour, leading to a ‘cosy’ space, where the wind dropped and the sound of the road stopped.

We decided this would be a good spot to bring participants to to explore Alison’s photographic and walking practice. We continued back along the wall that followed the boundary to the point where it met The Oldham Way. Going back down the marked route, it joins a track called Long Lane, which then took us back to the car park.