Friday 11th to Sunday 13th July 2025
The Anderton Centre was built in 1990 on the site of Anderton New Hall. Anderton New Hall was built in the 1870s to replace Lady Hall which itself was demolished when Lower Rivington Reservoir was constructed in the 1850s, Anderton New hall survived until the 1930 when the derelict building was demolished. Lady Hall, which may have been built in the 1600s was located near what is now the A673 at the bottom end of Lower Rivington Reservoir. The Lady Hall was built to replace Anderton Old Hall which was present on a site near Old Hall Farm not far from Crown Lane, Horwich. The Old Hall dated back to around 1281 and may have been demolished around the time of the Civil War.
The areas around the Anderton Centre are largely man made: farms, reservoirs, tree plantations, fields and ponds, but they have become home to wide range of wild species from crows to cormorants, from rabbits to roe deer. BCV’s involvement at the Anderton Centre began in January 2007, at the time the site was dominated by rhododendron. It took us 4 years to clear the terraced grounds which are now used for outdoor activities such as archery and climbing.
It’s 2025 and we’re back at Anderton again for our usual summer tasks of balsam eradication and dry stone walling, with a little bit of hedge trimming for variety. Balsam bashing on the hottest days of the year is hard, tiring work, the heat and humidity draining your energy without mercy. But bit by bit we are getting the balsam under control; this year there was less that last year, next year there should be even less. Find out more about balsam in this handy beginners guide.
For walling we moved to the south side for a change where sections of walls had been knocked down by either people or cattle. With Rivington Reservoir being very low it was easier to find stone for building than usual. We repaired several sections but there’s still plenty left to fix.
And finally, James is 21 this year and we celebrated with a cake and various gifts from socks to books. Happy birthday, James.
That’s done for another year, we would like thank the Anderton Centre management and staff for having us back; Tom, and Caroline for organising; Lynn and Trish for cooking; finally thanks to all who turned out to help out. Other resi’s are available here.
