Swallows Wood 53°28′32″N1°59′19″W / 53.47550°N 1.98871°W is a nature reserve near Hollingworth, Tameside, straddling the border between Greater Manchester and north Derbyshire. The 60-acre (0.24 km2) reserve, which contains semi-natural woodlands, meadows, ponds and marsh areas, [1] is owned by United Utilities who are responsible for its management. The site was formerly occupied by the Hollingworth and Waste Lodge reservoirs; these were demolished in 1987, and the nature reserve was installed in their place. [2] Arnfield Reservoir, the lowest of the Longdendale Chain reservoirs, is nearby.
The route of the proposed Longdendale Bypass would pass through the nature reserve and there is an ongoing campaign to save the wood. [3] Although the bypass has been threatening the wood for nearly 30 years Tameside Council have recently committed to planting 10,000 managed trees, in an attempt to move the woodland gradually away from the bypass route. [4]
The wood is on the fringes of the Peak District National Park; many walkers enjoy the area as the views over the woods and moorland are particularly impressive. [5] [6]
Longdendale is a valley in the Peak District of England, north of Glossop and southwest of Holmfirth. The name means "long wooded valley" and the valley is mostly in the counties of Derbyshire and Greater Manchester.
Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, named after the River Tame, which flows through it, and includes the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge. Tameside is bordered by the metropolitan boroughs of Stockport to the south, Oldham to the north and northeast, Manchester to the west, and to the east by the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire. As of 2021, the population of Tameside was 231,199, making it the 8th-most populous borough of Greater Manchester by population.
The River Etherow is a river in northern England, and a tributary of the River Goyt. Although now passing through South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Greater Manchester, it historically formed the ancient county boundary between Cheshire and Derbyshire. The upper valley is known as Longdendale. The river has a watershed of approximately 30 square miles (78 km2), and the area an annual rainfall of 52.5 inches (1,330 mm).
Stalybridge is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 23,731 at the 2011 Census.
Mottram in Longdendale is a village in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. At the 2011 census, the population for the ward of Longdendale, which includes Mottram and the surrounding area, was 9,950.
The M67 is a 5-mile (8.0 km) urban motorway in Greater Manchester, England, which heads east from the M60 motorway passing through Denton and Hyde before ending near Mottram. The road was originally conceived as the first section of a trans-Pennine motorway between Manchester and Sheffield that would connect the A57(M) motorway with the M1 motorway; however, the motorway became the only part to be built.
The A57 is a major road in England. It runs east from Liverpool to Lincoln via Warrington, Salford and Manchester, and then through the Pennines over the Snake Pass (between the high moorlands of Bleaklow and Kinder Scout), around the Ladybower Reservoir, through Sheffield and past Worksop. Between Liverpool and Glossop, the road has largely been superseded by the M62, M602 and M67 motorways. Within Manchester a short stretch becomes the Mancunian Way, designated A57(M).
Hadfield is a town in the High Peak of Derbyshire, England, with a population at the 2021 Census of 6,763. It lies on the south side of the River Etherow, near to the border with Greater Manchester, at the western edge of the Peak District close to Glossop. It doubled as the fictional town of Royston Vasey in the BBC comedy series The League of Gentlemen.
Stalybridge and Hyde is a constituency in Greater Manchester represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Jonathan Reynolds, who has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade since 2021 as a member of Labour Co-op.
Torside Reservoir is the largest man-made lake in Longdendale in north Derbyshire, England. It was constructed by John Frederick Bateman between April 1849 and July 1864 as part of the Longdendale Chain of reservoirs to supply water from the River Etherow to the urban areas of Greater Manchester.
Rhodeswood Reservoir is a man-made lake in Longdendale in north Derbyshire, England. It was constructed by John Frederick Bateman between 1849 and June 1855 as part of the Longdendale Chain of reservoirs to supply water from the River Etherow to the urban areas of Greater Manchester. It is third in the chain, and it is from here that the water is extracted to pass through the Mottram Tunnel to Godley for Manchester.
Arnfield Reservoir is a man-made lake in Longdendale in north Derbyshire, England. It was constructed in 1854 as part of the Longdendale chain to supply water from the River Etherow to the urban areas of Greater Manchester. Unlike the other reservoirs in the chain, Arnfield and Hollingworth Reservoir are not in the Etherow valley but lie in the valley of tributary brooks to the north and above. From Arnfield the water is extracted to pass through the Mottram Tunnel to Godley.
The Longdendale Chain is a sequence of six reservoirs on the River Etherow in the Longdendale Valley, in northern Derbyshire. They were constructed between 1848 and 1884 to a design by John Frederick Bateman to supply the growing population of Manchester and Salford with fresh water.
Hollingworth Reservoir is a former reservoir near Hollingworth, Tameside, Greater Manchester. The reservoir straddles the Greater Manchester–Derbyshire border. It was constructed in 1854 as part of the Longdendale Chain, but was abandoned in 1987 and now forms part of the Swallows Wood nature reserve.
The Longdendale Bypass is a long-planned Highways Agency road scheme in England. Its aim is to alleviate traffic congestion on the A57, A628, and A616 routes that presently pass through the villages. There is both support and opposition for this long-planned scheme, which will pass through the valley of Longdendale and part of the Peak District National Park.
Longendale Urban District was, from 1936 to 1974, a local government district in the administrative county of Cheshire, England. It encompassed parts of Broadbottom, Hattersley, Hollingworth, Matley and Mottram in Longdendale, all forming part of the non-statutory Longdendale Valley.
The A628 is a major road connecting Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire in northern England. It crosses the Pennine hills by way of Longdendale and the Woodhead Pass in the Peak District National Park. The road's altitude and exposure to bad weather create problems in winter and the road is sometimes closed due to snow or high winds.
The Mottram Tunnel is a tunnel carrying drinking water by gravity from Arnfield Reservoir, Tintwistle, Derbyshire, in the valley of the River Etherow, to Godley, Greater Manchester, in the valley of the River Tame. It was essential to the construction of the Longdendale Chain of reservoirs constructed by John Frederick Bateman. The tunnel was built between August 1848 and October 1850, and the Godley Reservoir was finished in 1851 to receive and filter the water.
Mottram Old Hall is a Grade-II-listed two-storey country house standing in a 6-hectare (15-acre) triangular park between Coach Lane and Old Hall Lane in Mottram in Longdendale, Greater Manchester, England.