the river Ribble; the Pennines; the Forest of Bowland (moors and farming valleys); Pendle Hill

Saddleworth lies on the borders of Yorkshire and Lancashire with the majority of its acreage uninhabited moorland and more than half of the area over 1,000 feet above sea level. 
Set amongst the hills and moors are a collection of villages - most of which grew up in the valleys with the arrival of the mills and the turnpike roads - the original settlements were higher up the hillsides. 
Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Saddleworth is now administered by Oldham Council. 
Sadly, Saddleworth is known by most for the dreadful murders committed by Bradley & Hindley and consequently fewer people are as aware of the beauty of the moors than should. 
Saddleworth is one of the few areas which under past rules could provide cricketers for both Yorkshire and Lancashire. Understandably, debate follows this issue - as with all traditional borderlands. 

Improved communications mean Saddleworth is no longer so remote, and is in fact reasonably easily 
accessible (in good weather!) from most of the northern conurbation which stretches from Liverpool to 
Leeds.

Wycoller is a delightful Lancashire village, approximately 4 miles east of Colne. From the 15th century the Wycoller area was a sheep farming and weaving community, but the invention of power looms eventually led to the village's decline. In the 1890's there were plans to create a reservoir by damming Wycoller Beck, but the plan never materialized. Lancashire County Council bought the land from the Water Board in 1973 and the village and surrounding countryside were designated a Country Park.
Wycoller Hall is thought by some to be the inspiration for Ferndean Manor in the novel Jane Eyre written by Charlotte Bronte. The Brontes spent much of their life in Haworth, close to Wycoller. The Hall was built by the Hartley family at the end of the 16th century but by the early 1900's much of the Hall was unoccupied. Stone was later taken from the property to be used in other locations or for local walls. 
Seven bridges cross Wycoller Beck. Pack-Horse Bridge, a twin arched bridge which may have originated almost 800 years ago, Clapper Bridge is close to the ruins of Wycoller Hall and probably dates from the late 18th or early 19th century and Clam Bridge is possibly more than 1000 years old and is listed as an Ancient Monument.

Just North of the main area of Saddleworth, the moors stretch out towards West Yorkshire and the Calderdale area. Soyland Moor, Rishworth Moor, Castleshaw Moor and Moss Moor are all crossed by main roads linking Manchester with the South Yorkshire towns of Barnsley & Sheffield with good access for exploration from Junction 22 of the M62.