There is something invigorating about tracing the source of a River. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it is the satisfaction of a bit of geographical detective work. Perhaps a more symbolic sense of returning to origins; a psychological ritual. Maybe resonances of spiritual quests. I drove up to Bishop’s Park, Strinesdale, north of Oldham. Parked in the snow on Badger Edge, and checked out the monument and trig point on the hill looking back to Oldham and Manchester. I walked down past the two football pitches marked on my A-Z map. It didn’t take long to find the rusty outlet emerging from under a footpath. The water flows immediately under some rhododendron bushes and on into a trench on its way towards Oldham, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester city centre.
The source is flanked by a seemingly gated, unattractive, private estate of houses. Yet just behind the wall containing the footpath is a circle of trees – some silver birch, some I couldn’t identify. My sense of ritual journey led me to relate to this tree circle as a sacred site. The area inside the trees is reedy and boggy. As often at such places, my mind flipped between rational skepticism and imaginative release. I decided the site was indeed a valid pilgrimage place and, as such, worthy of honour.
Looking south west from Wotherhead Hill
Monument on Wotherhead Hill
Monument on Wotherhead Hill
Monument on Wotherhead Hill
Looking south west from Wotherhead Hill
Medlock way
THE SOURCE OF THE MEDLOCK
THE SOURCE OF THE MEDLOCK
THE SOURCE OF THE MEDLOC
SACRED TREE CIRCLE….
FOLLOWING THE EARLY STAGES OF THE RIVER….
BRIDGE AT ROEBUCK LOW JUST BEFORE ROEBUCK LANE….
From here the River and path winds down to Strine Dale and Strinesdale Reservoirs…..
Derelict school….
Exclusive privacy…..(actually the local feature is called ‘Badger Edge’ singular)…..
The derelict school from the fields….
Making scrap wire sculptures in the snow……
On the 21st December, the winter Solstice, I returned and performed a brief pagan ritual: circulating the trees and placing almonds in amongst their branches.
Also on that visit, with my partner, we wandered into the woodland slightly up the hill from the source. In amongst the pine trees we discovered two small pools with water gently bubbling up. I wandered if this was to be considered the true source – the secret source?
Water bubbling up in pine woodland on the way up Harbour Hill
Integral Drift 