Heritage Open Days 2026 – celebrating the stories, places and people that shape our shared history.

This year’s theme, Everyday Histories, is a perfect fit for Rooley Moor, where generations of working lives have left their mark on the landscape.

Rooley Moor Neighbourhood Forum is proud to contribute to the festival with a self‑guided trail, Working Lives on the Moor. The trail explores the heritage of the moorland communities, the industries that sustained them, and the historic Cotton Famine Road that still crosses the uplands today.

If you want to see what sensitive stewardship of upland landscapes can achieve, you’ve only got to look across from Rooley Moor to Holcolmb Moor. There, the landowner is restoring peat, protecting heritage and working with the people who have rights on the land – showing how these landscapes can thrive when they’re cared for.

At a time when Rooley Moor faces pressure from the proposed Scout Moor II wind farm, Heritage Open Days offer an important reminder of why this landscape matters – not just environmentally, but culturally and historically. Destroying peatland delivers no benefit when restoration helps the planet, and when wind farms can be placed in better, less damaging locations.

Explore the trail: https://www.rmnf.org.uk/map/heritage-trail-5-working-lives-on-the-moor/