The Rossendale Valley is situated between the West Pennine Moors and the main range of the Pennines.
The area includes the steep-sided valleys of the River Irwell and its tributaries. These flow southwards into Greater Manchester. The rivers cut through the moorland of the Rossendale Hills, generally characterized by open unwooded land. The Valley is part of the Rossendale and Darwen constituency.
Undoubtedly, it is a beautiful and distinctive part of East Lancashire. Dramatic, undulating landscape peppered with characterful towns and villages, reservoirs, old stone quarries, textile mills and chimneys. Indeed, these are all iconic features of this valley, where the Irwell wends its way south towards Manchester.
