Laddow Rocks

Ewan MacColl, in his Manchester Rambler, famously sang that he had slept upon Crowden. But Crowden seems to be the name of the hamlet at the foot of Crowden Brook. I can’t find a moor or hill named Crowden. Perhaps he meant Laddow Rocks, a range of gritstone crags overlooking Crowden Great Brook. When MacColl wrote his song the crags were a very popular climbing venue conveniently accessed by train from Manchester followed by a brief walk up onto the ridge. But the railway is long gone and few of today’s climbers don’t have their own transport so can travel further afield. Laddow Rocks are no longer in fashion for climbers, but a familiar sight for Pennine Way walkers, the long distance walk traverses the edge as it ascends Black Hill.