Sections of this page are based on an article written by Gerry McLoughlin, which appeared in Lancashire Life magazine in January 1995. We are extremely grateful to Gerry for his kind permission to use his work here.
The village of Nangreaves is a rather special place. This old mill community still has cobbled streets (although the stones are more accurately described as setts - cobbles are more rounded). The old mill cottages are still in use, and the village commands spectacular views across the valley to Holcombe and Ramsbottom. Nangreaves sits on the edge of the moorland between Bury, Rochdale and Edenfield. After passing through Nangreaves, Walmersley Old Road visits a few farms and a quarry before petering out into a stony track above Ramsbottom.

The peaceful isolation of the village, the spectacular views and many miles of country footpaths make it a popular destination for walkers and an escape for residents who love the countryside and need access to a motorway network - the M66 is minutes away.

The village became a conservation area in 1974, and the cottages are Grade II listed buildings. Newer cottages and apartments were sympathetically built in the early nineties. Residents have a wide range of views over towards Holcombe and Winter Hill. Sunsets over Peel Tower can be a particularly magnificent sight. Nangreaves is now a blend of old and new, in both architecture and inhabitants. Some residents remember the mill as a going concern - some worked in it. Many know it only from photographs and from others talking about how things used to be. Newcomers are pleasantly surprised to find that most people know each other on first-name terms.

The whitewashed pub, dating from 1825, is a focal point of social life and has been owned by the same family for three generations. The current landlord, Brendan Leyden, was born in the pub.

The large boulder on the pavement near the phone box is called the Nangreaves Boulder and is a glacial boulder from Ravenglass in Cumberland. The reservoir at the bottom of the village holds 2250,000 gallons of water and is fed from Haslingden Grane.

Non-human residents can be spotted in the countryside nearby. Take a pair of binoculars and a walker might find snipe, curlew, grouse, grey and French partridge and pheasants. In the evening, bats flutter up and down the streets while tawny owls hoot to each other. Now who would want to live anywhere else?