Dean Row

DEAN ROW, LEES LANE, BOLLIN WAY, LUMB FARM, RIVER DEAN, WOODFORD AIRPORT, AVRO GOLF CLUB, ADLINGTON BORE HOLE, NORTH CHESHIRE WAY, TOP O’ TH’ HILL FARM, BOLLIN VALLEY, PRESTBURY SEWAGE WORKS, THE ADMIRAL RODNEY AT PRESTBURY, RETURNING BY SAME ROUTE TO THE UNICORN AT DEAN ROW

Distance: 12 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Dry and Sunny in Morning; Wet in Afternoon.

Walkers: Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman and Alan Hart.

B Walkers: Ken Sparrow and Geoff Spurrell.

Non-Walking Drinkers: Frank Dudley, Ivor Jones and Tony Job.

Apologies: George Dearsley (Working) and Jock Rooney (Visiting son diving in Panama).

Leader: Fairman. Driver: Davison. Diarist: Hart.

Starting Point: Car park of The Unicorn at Dean Row, Handforth.

Starting Time: 9.25am. Finishing Time: 3.05pm.

One of the great joys of hiking without a map is that the walk turns into a journey of discovery. So it proved when Lawrie, under pressure from his wife Wendy (who must therefore take the blame), forgot to bring both his map and his anorak.

The former presented no problems in the morning as we wandered in the general direction of Prestbury and found ourselves on the trail of aviation history. The latter turned into punishment in the afternoon as light drizzle turned into a prolonged heavy shower.

En route, apart from the now normal sight of ewes and lambs, cows and calves, various horses, dogs and rabbits, we also encountered three Shetland ponies and a pair of llamas. Among our feathered friends we sighted two swallows (so summer is now officially with us), lapwings and a sandmartin.

From the car park we walked back to the main road and turned right with the Unicorn on our left. At the roundabout we turned right into Lees Lane (3mins) and right again at a footpath sign (5mins). This brought us to a farm where we were later supplied with duck eggs at £3 a dozen.

On the far side of the farm we crossed a wooden stile and entered a field containing of host of golden dandelions. We followed a wooden public footpath sign marked Bollin Way, passing a pond on our left and going through a kissing gate (18mins).

We exited the field on the left through another kissing gate (24mins). This took us past an impressive cottage and through a metal gate. Instead of carrying on along a track ahead, Lawrie opted to turn left between some derelict farm buildings which were on the verge of renovation. We retreated back to the track two minutes later (26mins) and turned left. We reached a road (32mins), crossed it and turned left at a public footpath sign towards Pitt Lane Farm.

This, it proudly announced, was the home of herds of Danareo Friesians and Riverdean Brown Swiss cattle. We turned left to cross a stile before the farm buildings (37mins). We crossed another wooden stile and turned left again along a farm track, where we were approached by three Shetland ponies which did everything but wag their tails in greeting.

A further left turn too us back, inevitably, to the point where we had turned left into Pitt Lane Farm (44mins). It had been an interesting diversion.

This time we carried straight on following a footpath sign to the left of Lumb Farm (48mins). On the far side of the farm we passed a pair of llamas in a field on our left. At the end of the track we went through a gate into a neatly-ploughed field, skirting it by following signs marked with yellow arrows. This brought us to a bridge which we crossed over the River Dean (56mins).

After crossing a wooden stile we turned right along a narrow lane (62mins) with the fenced-in Woodford Airport soon appearing on our left. A lone Vulcan bomber, which had helped us to win the Falklands War 30 years ago, was a reminder of the great tradition of the building of military aircraft here by A.V. Roe, the British Aircraft Corporation and British Aerospace.

We turned right along a public footpath (65mins) with Avro Golf Course on our left. We entered the nine-hole course which was still being enjoyed by ex-employees who had created rain shelters out of aircraft nose cones.

We exited the course by a path in the left corner on the left of a stream (75mins). We crossed a wooden stile which led us into a field (80mins) and then negotiated a series of stiles and gates marked with yellow arrows before reaching a path with Adlington Bore Hole pumping station on our right (89mins). Further along we found some metal covers which served as seats for pie-and-port time (90mins).

Resuming, we reached a road and turned right. We passed a sign for Prestbury (94mins), crossed to the left side of the road and turned left at a yellow arrow marked for NCW (North Cheshire Way) through a seven-barred metal gate. A kissing gate led us into a field (98mins) and we followed further yellow arrows to a road, which we crossed and went over a wooden stile to the left of Top o’th’ Hill Farm (111mins).

We walked between a farm cottage and outbuildings to a kissing gate marked with a yellow arrow (114mins).  We veered left downhill, ignoring a footbridge on our right which had been closed because of the erosion of the banks of the Bollin.

Instead we continued towards a post marked with a yellow arrow (122mins) and exited the field via a kissing gate marked with a yellow arrow (124mins). We reached the left bank of the River Bollin, passing Prestbury Sewage Works on our left (128mins) and went through a kissing gate by the side of a bridge.

We were diverted left into a field to avoid sections of the former pathway which had collapsed into the river, eventually reaching a road with a football pitch on the right (144mins). This brought us to the outskirts of Prestbury and a left turn into Pearl Street brought us to the rear entrance of the Admiral Rodney (152mins).

As we enjoyed excellent pints of Robinsons’ Unicorn cask bitter at £2-75, a plaque informed us that the rear of the pub was once the front and Pearl Street had been the old turnpike road. We were further informed that the pub had been called The Board and was built in 1730.

In 1745 the bells rang joyfully when the Duke of Cumberland rode through the village, pursuing the retreating Jacobite army of Bonnie Prince Charlie, whom he subsequently defeated at Culloden.

The pub was renamed The Admiral Rodney after George Brydges Rodney, who was born in London in 1719, joined the navy in 1732, was promoted to captain in 1742 and became governor of Newfoundland. He enjoyed an illustrious career in the West Indies leading to his promotion to admiral before his death in London in 1792.

 “His love of women and play carried him to many excesses,” read the plaque. In short, a man after our own hearts. The pub, owned  by the Legh family of Adlington Hall, was bought by Robbies in 1939.

After leaving the pub we retraced our footsteps, this time in ever increasing rain, back to The Unicorn and pints of Bombardier at £3-05, pausing for lunch and purchase of eggs en route. After de-booting (262mins) we joined B walkers Ken and Geoff.

They had arrived in the Admiral Rodney from Hare Hill as we were about to leave, and estimated the length of their walk at six miles.

Next week’s walk will start from the car park at Lamaload Reservoir at 9.40am, with a break for refreshment in The Swan at Kettleshulme around 12.30pm. When we finish the walk we will drive to The Dog and Partridge at Bollington, hopefully arriving around 2.30pm.