Moses Gate Country Park 4.61

Moses Gate Country Park, part of which is also known as Crompton Lodges, is a 750 acre site situated at Moses Gate in the Croal and Irwell Valleys 3 miles south of Bolton town centre on the A6053 road which connects Farnworth to Little Lever. It is a Local Nature Reserve.DescriptionThe park runs from the A6053 to Nob End along the banks of the River Croal. At Nob End, the Croal joins the Irwell which then continues for about two miles into Clifton Country Park. The name Moses Gate comes from the joining of two words, one a corruption of the word mosses meaning peaty or marshy lands, and gate is from the Old English gata meaning a way across, so we have the way though the mosses (also as in Kearsley Moss, Clifton Moss, Linnyshaw Moss, etc.). The alternate name of Crompton Lodges comes from the lakes which were mill ponds or lodges supplying water to Cromptons Paper Mills. The park lies on the Kingfisher Way which runs for 11km from Clifton Country Park to Jumbles Reservoir, north of Bolton. There are three lodges, one is reserved for fishing, one for water sports such as canoeing and the third is a nature reserve for migratory birds and other wildlife.To the east of the lodges is one of the few sections of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal that is still in water. The land between is reclaimed from old mine workings, one of which was Farnworth Bridge Collieries. The weir was constructed in the River Croal to provide a water supply for Crompton's Paper Mill. Rock Hall is the visitor centre and the headquarters of the park's rangers.