Rushton Spencer

RUSHTON SPENCER, RAVENSCLOUGH, BOSLEY CLOUD, COACH AND HORSES AT TIMBERSBROOK, OVERTON HALL, PARK HOUSE FARM, EGG MARSH FARM, MARLS FIELD FARM, ASHMORE HOUSE FARM, PYATT FARM, BLACKWOODHILL FARM, ST LAWRENCE’S CHURCH AT RUSHTON, AND OLDE KING’S HEAD, GURNETT

Distance: 10-11 Miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Dry with Occasional Wintry Sunshine.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, Alan Hart, Jock Rooney with Tips, and George Whaites.

B Walker: Geoff Spurrell.

Non-Walking Drinkers: John Eckersley and Tony Job.

Apology: George Dearsley (working).

Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart. Driver: The late Colin Davison.

Starting Point: Free council car park to the rear of Knott Inn car park, Rushton Spencer.

Starting Time: 9.57am. Finishing Time: 3.02pm.

After successive wet Wednesdays, we were rewarded with ideal walking conditions. Although it was a mainly grey day, the temperature was mild for late January and by the afternoon a strange yellow object was spotted in the sky which was identified as the sun. Despite recent rain, our leader managed to steer us away from any muddier routes.

Visibility was also surprisingly good, and from the top of Bosley Cloud we were able to see landmarks 55 miles to our west, 40 miles to the north-west and 53 miles to the south. Our journey took us through several traditional small farms in rural North Staffordshire and past one field containing a less than traditional herd of llamas.

The start was delayed because our volunteer driver had forgotten the time he was supposed to pick up George W and I. The previous week, having made arrangements to call at my home at 8.50am, the curly-haired one asked for an email to confirm the arrangement in case he forgot. You may think, dear readers, that the sending of such an email would be foolproof. Not so. Our driver failed to materialise at the appointed time and then insisted he was not due until 9.15am – before realising he had been reading a different email from a different person about a different day !

Any suggestions about how such misunderstandings can be avoided in future would be welcome – but bear in mind that the wanderer in question has no landline and his mobile phone only works in certain rooms in his house.

From the car park we headed left (north), passing on our left the former Rushton railway station, built in 1841 to serve the Macclesfield-Leek line, and now a private home. We crossed the road to reach the disused rail line and walked along it until the path petered out (14mins). At this point we turned left downhill and followed a wooden public footpath sign marked “Cloud.”

Crossing a footbridge over a stream (23mins), we entered Ravensclough by a flight of steps and crossed a stile to the left of Ravensclough Farm. We turned left to follow a wooden public footpath sign (33mins) and turned left again to cross a wooden stile (42mins).

Two kissing gates later we reached a road and turned left. This swung right uphill and we turned right at a wooden public footpath sign near a house called Avona (57mins). As we paused for pies and port (58mins) at the foot of a flight of steep steps, we were passed by groups of hikers from the University of the Third Age and Congleton Ramblers.

Continuing, we ascended the steps and entered the National Trust-owned grounds of The Cloud (60mins). From the Trig Point (63mins) we stopped for five minutes to admire the panoramic views.  Looking south we could see the ruins of Mow Cop. Beyond was The Wrekin (39 miles) and in the distance Long Mynd (53 miles).

To the west were the Berwyn Mountains in Wales (55miles) and Moel Fanau (46 miles). To the north west were Fidler’s Ferry (27miles) and Liverpool Cathedral (40 miles). We walked down a path in the west-north-west direction, going straight ahead after passing a gate until we reached a yellow arrow and turned right (83mins).

Passing Holly Cottage on our left as the track began to level out (87mins), we turned left at a wooden public footpath sign marked Gritstone Trail (89mins). We reached a road (93mins) and turned left downhill. At crossroads we turned right following a sign for Congleton Station (97mins).

Tension mounted as we neared our destination, a pub whose name had been forgotten by our leader. It was a nail-biting interlude until we came across the Coach and Horses at Timbersbrook on our right (111mins). Joy of joys it was open and selling excellent pints of Robbies’ bitter at £2-90.

The pub was so warm and welcoming that it seemed rude not to stay for a second pint. Resuming, we turned left uphill along a road and turned right into Cherry Lane (120mins). This took us past a herd of llamas in a field on our left until we joined a road at Overton Hall (125mins).

Our group turned left into Common Road (132mins), passing Park House Farm on the left (136mins) and the Mansion House on the right (138mins). At crossroads we went straight ahead into Newtown Road (143mins), noting that the sign for Rushton had been bent towards the Congleton direction.

Passing Chapel Croft B and B, converted from a chapel, and Holly Bush Farm on our right, Egg Marsh Farm on our left and Saltersford Farm on our right (151mins), we turned left at a wooden public footpath sign (152mins).

This took us past the whitewashed Marls Field Farm on our left and through the yard of Ashmore House Farm (159mins). Two of us took the correct path marked first left and then right by arrows, while Lawrie led three followers and a collie through a field and over a barbed wire fence to rejoin us (165mins).

We went through Pyatt Farm, where a goose was behaving in a threatening and aggressive manner until challenged by your diarist, at which point she turned tail and fled into a stable. We turned left (170mins) and followed a track on our right (173mins) before stopping for lunch (178mins).

Continuing, we went to the right of a farmhouse, then left behind it to go through a gate (183mins). After descending a steep bank we went over a wooden stile and crossed a footbridge over a stream. Ascending a bank on the far side, we crossed another wooden stile and turned right (188mins).

Another wooden stile brought us to a road (190mins) where we turned right downhill. We turned left at a wooden public footpath sign just before Blackwoodhill Farm (196mins) and crossed two wooden stiles marked with yellow arrows. These led us through fields until we exited by a wooden stile to reach a lane (213mins).

Our party turned right at crossroads to head downhill and we went left at a wooden public footpath sign to enter the graveyard of St Lawrence’s Church, Rushton (218mins). We passed to the left of the church, first built in 1203, and walked steeply downhill through a field.

We crossed a bridge and went right over a stile to reach the disused Macclefield-Leek railway line again. We turned right under the bridge (226mins) and walked back to the cars (230mins).

After de-booting, we drove to the Old King’s Head at Gurnett for pints of Banks’ bitter at £2-80. Here we toasted the 70^th birthday of Jock, and wished wholeheartedly that he had been with us to join in the celebration.

Next week’s walk will start from the free public car park at The Spinners Arms, Bollington, at 9.30am. We intend to stop for a halfway pint at the Robin Hood, Rainow, which Peter B has confirmed is now open again at lunchtimes. We hope to be there for 12.30pm and back at The Dog and Partridge, Bollington, at 2.15pm.