Littleborough is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It is located in the upper Roch Valley by the foothills of the South Pennines, northeast of Rochdale and north-northeast of Manchester; Milnrow and the M62 motorway are to the south, and the rural uplands of Blackstone Edge are to the east. In 2001, Littleborough and its suburbs of Calderbrook, Shore and Smithy Bridge, had a population of 13,807, falling to 12,370 at the 2011 Census.