Hollins Vale Local Nature Reserve

Unsworth, Bury BL9 8RL United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Open Today: -

Hollins Vale Local Nature Reserve Info

Unsworth, Bury BL9 8RL United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
[email protected]

Amenities

Activities

Hiking

Children

Good for kids
Kid-friendly hikes

Pets

Dogs allowed

Best KPortal Reviews

Hollins Grundy Primary School... Thanks Amelia for the suggestion. Use the school as your destination and park on the lane beside the school. Not many parking spots but not that busy.

Great resource if you are local. Lovely walk along the path that follows the river. We went at the end of April on a lovely warm day.

A few friendly dog walkers but otherwise very quiet.

I'm lucky enough to have this place on my doorstep and after reading some people's reviews, I feel it necessary to step in with some advice on how to find it, especially if you've struggled in the past and want to try again.

If you google the primary school Hollins Grundy rather than Hollins Vale you'll find one of the many entrances to the nature reserve. All you need to do is drive down behind the school and the nature reserve is signposted to the left. It is one of the easier entrances to find.

The farmer works hard to put in drainage systems; however it can get exceedingly muddy down there especially in the colder months so decent, outdoor, footwear is a must.

The farmer sometimes lets his cows graze on the open land so please be mindful to keep dogs on leads if you spot them. I read people commenting that the cows followed them even though they didn't have a dog with them. Cows are intelligent and inquisitive by nature so they were curious.

Word of warning: Never try to stroke a calf, momma cow will not be impressed.

Anyway, I love this small slice of countryside on my doorstep. If you visit, please enjoy yourself and take your rubbish home, and bin the dog poo!

I love visiting Hollins Vale and my walks through there have inspired the poems in this booklet.

https://jeffersonpoetry.co.uk/assets/magazines/HollinsValeJan23.pdf

JeffersonPoetry.co.uk

Lovely place for a walk. Loads of wildlife, bird life and insects. Never seen as many dragonflies. Well worth a trip if you’re local to the area.

Last year we went to the reserve after being told about it a few times. With us being local we wanted to check out the wildlife as we are always trying to help ours. We took litter pickers as as we expected there to be lots to collect as there usually is wherever you go but we only found one item! One lovely lady told us it was constantly cleared of litter and you could tell. I was so happy to hear that. It's a beautiful area, you wouldn't expect it to be where it is and almost turn back thinking you had gone the way but I think that's wonderful ???? a great retreat for the wildlife hidden away from heavy foot traffic so you can admire nature in silence ????

Went to visit after reading all the lovely reviews. Whilst difficult to find-mostly bc the public paths on OS maps have recently been built upon and fenced off and new gateways installed elsewhere. It was the extremely wet, muddy conditions (calf - deep) and poor routes through the reserve that spoiled it. Also there were large cattle roaming in the area, who clearly weren't happy we were there and followed us for some time - we didn't even have a dog to worry them - so dog walking there would not be ideal either.

????‍♂️Access is easiest on foot for locals.

????There is very limited parking on "The Hags".

I have seen cars parking on Aviation Road during the week so I expect this is acceptable (noting that HGVs do need access to the Garic depo on this road. There is a barrier at one end of Aviation Road, I'm unsure what times these are closed so check before entering).

The reserve has access via kissing gates at

* Borden Way

* The Hags

* Aviation Road into the reserve

* Aviation Road into the plantation

* Hollins Brook Way (near JD)

And by Cycle barrier from Church Meadow which takes you through the plantation and into the reserve.

There are a few styles around but you can still have a pleasant and varied walk without having to pass over them.

???? There are steps on the reserve.

???? It can get muddy, very much so in wet weather so wear appropriate footwear

???? There is also a local farmer who grazes cows and calfs in the area so please be respectful, particularly if you have dogs ????

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There's an abundance of wildlife on the reserve if you take your time, enjoy the surroundings and be present in the moment.

I've personally recorded over 40 different species of bird on the reserve, so keep your ears open and Binoculars at the ready!

We followed the directions to this place today - to no avail. We found ourselves in the midst of industrial buildings and despite driving round and trying to find a way in, we were unsuccessful!

Don't follow these directions or use the post code to find it. Good luck to any one who tries to go here.