Lyme Park

LYME PARK, HIGHER DISLEY, BOLDER HALL FARM, MOORSIDE HOTEL HAWKHURST HEAD, TODD BROOK, THE SWAN AT KETTLESHULME, TODD BROOK RESERVOIR, HOCKERLEY, WHALEY BRIDGE, THE DANDY COCK AT DISLEY AND RED LANE BACK TO LYME PARK

Distance: Eight miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Cloudy but mainly dry.

Walkers: Colin Davison, Alan Hart, John Laverick, Geoff Spurrell and Mike Walton.

Leaders: Spurrell and Davison.

Driver: Spurrell. Diarist: Hart.

Apologies: Peter Beal (Greek island hols), George Dearsley (working), Lawrie Fairman (Greek island hols), Jock Rooney (North Sea diving), Ken Sparrow (too wet), George Whaites (working).

Starting point: Lyme Park car park.

Starting time: 10.21am. Finishing time: 4.05pm.

After two days of incessant rain we had hoped there would be none left to fall by Wednesday morning. It was, however, still persisting down at 9am so your diarist informed Colin of his intention to wait and see whether conditions improved.

Colin snorted his derision down the phone line and decided to set a stoical example, arriving at The Cock car park at the designated time ready to brave the elements. Having discovered he was in a group of one, and with rain still falling, he drove back home and set off on foot through Disley when the rain stopped.

Meanwhile the B walkers, having recruited and collected your diarist, drove to the car park at Lyme Park. Using the Wednesday Wanderers’ motto – firm of purpose but flexible in manner – Geoff devised a route which would allow us to reach our halfway target at the appointed hour.

Then, by despatching our fleet-footed A walkers to The Cock at Whaley Bridge to warn any non-walking drinkers of a change of venue, they tarried a while longer than usual in the convivial surroundings of The Swan at Kettlehulme before catching a bus to Disley.

Thus we remained largely dry on the outside if a little wetter than usual on the inside, by using a combination of common sense and rat-like cunning. It transpired that much of Colin’s early journey was not dissimilar from our own. Whereas he had walked into Disley and ventured up Ring o’ Bells Lane by the side of The White Horse to head for the reservoir and turn right into Millenium Wood to reach Bolder Hall Farm at Higher Disley, we reached the same spot from Lyme Park.

The following brief account is of that taken initially by the B walkers and your diarist from Lyme Park to Kettleshulme, , and later by Colin and your diarist as we headed at speed from Kettleshulme to Whaley Bridge.

From the car park we walked back past Lyme Hall, the mansion which was bequeathed to the National Trust, along with the deer park. The estate was originally granted to Sir Thomas Danyers in 1346 and passed to the Leghs of Lyme by marriage in 1388. It stayed in the possession of the Legh family until 1946 when it passed to the NT.

The house dates from the late 16^th Century, with modifications by Giacomo Leoni in the 1720s, using Palladian and baroque styles. Further alterations were carried out by Lewis Wyatt in the 19^th Century.

Lyme Hall has been used as a setting in several films and TV programmes, most memorably as Pemberley, the family seat of Mr Darcy, in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.”  Women viewers gave out a collective gasp of admiration as actor Colin Firth emerged, hairy-chested and breeches dripping, from the Lyme Park lake.

As we headed for the eastern gate exit we spotted a magnificent stag on the crest of a hill to our right. The animal, with at least ten points on his antlers, came to within 80 yards of us. John took a set of photos with his mobile phone and commented wryly that his friend had travelled all the way to Scotland that day to stalk deer. This one appeared to have been stalking us before loping arrogantly away.

After leaving Lyme Park we reached a wooden public footpath sign on our right indicating the way to Bowstones. We crossed the stile but turned left towards Kettleshulme instead. We emerged on the road out of Disley and turned right to pass Bolder Hall Farm on our left.

We turned left uphill towards The Moorside Hotel, pausing at a convenient wall for pietime, before resuming our route through fields towards Kettleshulme. The rain had turned Tood Brook into a raging torrent which barely passed under the roadbridge as we made our way into Kishfield Lane and reached the road between Whaley Bridge and Macclesfield.

A right turn soon brought us to The Swan on our left (140mins). Here we found Colin, just about to start his second pint of Marstons’ cask bitter at £2-85. A discussion took place about the next stage of our journey. It was decided we should catch a bus nearby to Disley and change the final venue from The Cock at Whaley Bridge to The Dandy Cock at Disley.

In the absence of any mobile signal, your diarist was despatched to a public phone box 100 yards away to inform Tony Job of the new venue to prevent any non-walking drinkers from turning up at The Cock. Sadly the phone box would not accept cash and I, dear readers, had not brought any credit cards.

A sign seemed to provide the answer. It was possible to make automated reverse charge calls. My efforts proved fruitless. The automated voice informed me the subscriber had refused to accept a transfer charge call. I had momentarily forgotten Tony was from Yorkshire.

A second attempt, in which I changed my name from Mr Hart to Mr Dandycock, also fell on stony ground but I hoped the message had got through.

This setback caused another plan to be formulated in which Colin and I would rush over to Whaley Bridge as fast as possible, while the B walkers lingered over further pints before catching a bus which went to Disley via Whaley.

We walked straight through the nursery opposite the pub, turned right at the church and left along Kishfield Lane, crossing Todd Brook and keeping to the road as it went steeply uphill before veering right towards the Hockerley suburb of Whaley Bridge.

En route Colin finally received a signal powerful enough to ring Tony and establish that none of the non-walking drinkers would be able to join us. Consequently there was no need to show our faces in The Cock so we steered left away from the reservoir and down to Whaley Bridge Station.

We had only been there a minute when a bus to Disley arrived containing our companions. We alighted at The Dandy Cock for pints of cask mild at £2-50 and bitter at £2-60.

A phone call from Colin’s all-singing all-dancing mobile phone computer camera compact disc television video recorder enabled us to book an electric conveyance to drive us from the gate at Lyme Hall one mile to the car park.

We were thus able to walk diagonally across the Disley traffic lights and go just behind The Ram’s Head into Red Lane and turn right to walk back into Lyme Park. As we approached our invalid carriage, Wally gave a marvellous impersonation of a wounded Nazi stormtrooper hobbling back from Stalingrad.

With immaculate timing, we were thus spared the rain which had started to fall as we were transported in style back to Geoff’s car.

Next week’s walk will start from Disley Station’s free car park at 9.25am. It is proposed that we have a livener in The Soldier Dick on the border of Disley and Furness Vale between 12.15 and 12.30pm, finishing at The Dandy Cock around 2.30pm.

Bollington

BOLLINGTON, INGERSLEY VALE, THE VIRGINS’ PATH, FLAGG COTTAGE, OLD HALL, THE PLEASANCE, HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, RAINOW, PEDLEY FOLD FARM, THORNSETT FARM, LAMALOAD RESERVOIR, YEARNSLOW FARM, CLEWS HEAD FARM, HAZEL TREES FARM, LOWER HOUSE, THE ROBIN HOOD AT RAINOW, KERRIDGE RIDGE, WHITE NANCY, THE DOG AND PARTRIDGE AT BOLLINGTON

Distance: Ten miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Mixture of blue skies, sunshine, cloud and showers.

Walkers: Colin Davison, Alan Hart and George Whaites.

B walkers: Tony Job, Ken Sparrow, Geoff Spurrell and Mike Walton.

Non-walking drinkers: Frank Dudley and John Eckersley.

Apologies: Peter Beal (Greek island hols), George Dearsley (working), Lawrie Fairman (Greek island hols), John Laverick (Lake District hols), Jock Rooney (North Sea diving).

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

Starting point: Free car park opposite The Spinners Arms at Bollington.

Starting time: 9.33am. Finishing time: 2.33pm.

Tony Job made a welcome return to the Wednesday Wanderers after a cortisone injection eased his hip problem and enabled him to join the B walkers. It is always a pleasure to see our colleagues come back from injury and after a year’s absence Tony proved he is still a long way from the glue factory.

Meanwhile the A walkers, under the freestyle* leadership of your diarist, came within half a mile of a successful outing. Sadly the two followers went missing at this late stage, due to synchronised calls of nature, and your diarist’s application for a leader’s badge is once more in abeyance.

We were told to expect showers during the course of the day, and they duly came along. The most persistent of these occurred while we were safely inside the shelter of The Robin Hood at Rainow, whose tills benefited from our prolonged stay.

 The object of the A walk was to seek an alternative route to a well-travelled and popular journey from Bolly incorporating The Robin Hood.

After a visit to the orgasmic pie shop of F.Smith, a bakery where you step back in time to the era of The Grove Family and Dixon of Dock Green, we headed uphill as the first shower of the day caused a stop for the donning of waterproofs. This proved a fortuitous pause as a customer had retrieved one of George’s poles, left behind in the pie shop, and kindly returned it.

We turned right into Church Street and left at The Crown pub into Ingersley Vale, with its millpond on the right. We walked past the derelict mill, currently being converted into flats, to our left and reached the waterfall opposite Waulkmill Farm (22mins).

After pausing to admire the view we continued on to the recently re-flagged Virgins’ Path. For the uninitiated, this was the route from Rainow to Bollington where brides-to-be had to walk at a time when Rainow had no churches. Friendly farmers laid flagstones so the white dresses of the virgin brides did not become besmirched with mud as they walked through two miles of fields.

This route took us past the back of Flagg Cottage (37mins) and to the left of Old Hall, where a sign warned walkers that failure to shut and fasten the gate would result in a penalty “not exceeding 40 shillings.”

We turned left out of Sugar Lane and reached The Pleasance (42mins), a small remembrance garden with a bench, where we sat to eat our hot meat and potato pies, which were once hailed as “orgasmic” by our recently rejuvenated colleague, Mr Job.

Continuing after an eight-minute pause, we turned right at the main road, passing Holy Trinity Church and the National School, built in 1842, on our left. The school, created by a minister of religion, is up for sale. At Pedley Cottage we turned left to follow a public footpath sign and passed Pedley Fold Farm on our left (47mins).

Ignoring a footpath marked with a yellow arrow which plunged steeply downhill to our right we carried straight on, passing Thornsett Farm on our left, crossing a bridge over a stream and turning left off the farm track at a path marked with three yellow arrows (59mins).

This led us to the left of a farm and through a field leading to a metal gate, which led in turn to a tarmac road. We followed this left until we reached the base of United Utilities at Lamaload Reservoir (81mins). We turned right just before the gate and followed a path which led to two alternative paths over wooden stiles marked with yellow arrows. We took the left path and kept left to follow a public footpath sign marked Yearslow and Rainow (84mins).

After a steep climb we found some suitable rocks on which to sit for our second pietime of the day, on this occasion accompanied by Tia Maria (87mins). We continued uphill, crossing a stone step stile (89mins) and passing Yearnslow Farm on our left (91mins). Pedants will have noticed that the letter “n” has been added to the name. This may be historically accurate or it might be another example of a blundering sign-writer altering the world’s geography.

We left the main track to reach a stone step stile marked with a yellow arrow at the angle of two drystone walls (95mins). We headed to the right of a copse by the side of a pond, through a gate and over a wooden stile (98mins).

Passing Clews Head Farm on our left, we went over a stone step stile and walked to the right of Hazel Trees Farm via an open gate and a stile on our right, reaching a road by crossing a stone step stile. We turned left downhill, then right at a broken footpath sign into a field. As we kept close to a drystone wall on our right, we could see Andrew’s Nob ahead to our left. As an unchivalrous wag once remarked: “It looks more like Fergie’s arse.”

Crossing a ladder stile we reached a road and turned right uphill (108mins). We turned left over a wooden stile into a field and walked left to cross another wooden stile (113mins). We followed a yellow arrow and could now see the village of Rainow below us in the near distance. At this point the second shower of the day fell upon us.

We headed towards Rainow over a series of stiles through fields until we reached a road at Lower House (128mins). We turned left and followed the road which brought us to the rear of The Robin Hood (135mins). The B walkers were already in situ and we learned from the barman that he had found them hanging around outside his pub like four Andy Capps at noon.

They assured us that they had arrived there a minute early after walking from Bolly via The Poachers Arms and Oakenbank Lane route. Their return trip was along The Virgins’ Path which we had taken in the opposite direction earlier.

A brief window of opportunity as one shower ended and another began was missed with pots of Black Sheep cask bitter at £3 a pint still half full. This created another £21 windfall to the pub’s turnover.

When the B walkers turned right to go round the back of Flagg Cottage, we carried on with the cottage on our right until we reached a set of steps leading into a field on our left (145mins). We crossed a stream by a footbridge and headed steeply uphill towards Kerridge Ridge, which we reached by a metal gate (156mins). We turned right and had a magnificent view of the Hurdsfield Industrial Estate to our left. Beyond we could see Alderley Edge, Fiddlers Ferry and, in the far distance, the Cambrian Hills of Wales.

We reached White Nancy (168mins), which had been decorated with the five Olympic rings on one side and a design to mark the Queen’s silver jubilee on the other. We stopped for lunch, to catch our collective breath and admire the views.

Your diarist led the trio downhill, but at some point they both left the path to relieve themselves behind bushes. They thus lost sight of their leader, who had taken a path to the right which emerged at the side of a farm near the bowling green of Tullis Russell Coating (178mins).

 A left turn brought your diarist back past the millpond, The Crown and the pie shop to the car park  (186mins). After de-booting we drove to The Dog and Partridge to join the B walkers and non-walking drinkers in the parlour. The pub must struggle to stay open on Wednesday lunchtimes with little in the way of custom. They were clearly pleased to be patronised by nine thirsty men, drinking Robbies’ cask bitter at a bargain £2-55 and mild at £2-45.

*For those not familiar with freestyle hiking, it involves no maps, a general sense of direction (sometimes misplaced), a spirit of adventure and a huge amount of optimism. It also needs the price of a taxi fare if things go wrong.

Next week’s A walk will start from the car park of The Cock at Whaley Bridge at 9.30am. It is anticipated we will reach The Swan at Kettleshulme around 12.15pm for a livener before returning to The Cock at 2.15pm. The B walkers are hoping to join us at The Swan if the buses run on time. However, with commendable foresight, they have a Plan B which would, if brought into effect, find them having their half-time pint in The Shady Oak at Fernilee.

New Mills

NEW MILLS, SETT VALLEY TRAIL, CARR MEADOW, THORNSETT, BATE MILL TRADE CENTRE, SUNNYSIDE FARM, BROADHURST HOUSE, THE CHILDREN’S INN, SHILOH ROAD, MELLOR CHURCH, THE DEVONSHIRE ARMS AT MELLOR, LINNET CLOUGH, NEW MILLS GOLF CLUB, THE ROYAL OAK AT NEW MILLS

Distance: 9 miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Cloudy but dry for first half; raining throughout second half.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, Alan Hart and George Whaites.

B walkers: John Laverick, Ken Sparrow, Geoff Spurrell and Mike Walton.

Apologies: George Dearsley (working), Tony Job (having cortisone injection), Jock Rooney (North Sea diving).

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

Starting point: Hyde Bank Road, New Mills.

Starting time: 9.36am. Finishing time: 2.31pm.

Just like a pilot who has survived a plane crash, Colin climbed back into the cockpit to lead this walk. He stalled on a couple of occasions but managed to keep going and reach our destinations in reasonable time.

Once again we were up to our fetlocks in mud, battling brambles, bracken and head-high nettles while trying to set new records for the numbers of stiles crossed in less than five hours. After our half-way refreshment, the rain we had managed to avoid set in and we had no respite until the end of our journey. On a dismal day on the weather front, our spirits were raised by the choice of pubs where we were accorded a warm welcome.

Last week the non-walking drinkers failed to make an appearance because they had gone to The Dog and Partridge in Bollington to await our arrival, having failed to notice our change of venue. This week their driver, Tony Job, was having a cortisone injection which might enable him to join the B walkers next Wednesday for his first outing of the year. We look forward to his return.

From Hyde Bank Road we passed Hyde Bank Mill on our left and turned right into Church Lane (1min). We turned left into The Sett Valley Improvement Scheme (2mins), crossed a road and joined The Sett Valley Trail.

After crossing a road on the outskirts of Thornsett (5mins) we continued along the trail, but turned left away from it to enter Carr Meadow (10mins). Just before the main path rejoined the SVT we turned left (11mins) down an overgrown path and took the left fork where it divided. This took us past a World War 11 air raid shelter and to the right of a millpond.

This led us into the yard of A.M.H. Precision Tools. We left the yard to cross a bridge over the River Sett and passed the Thornsett Band Institute, built in 1932, to follow Batemill Road towards New Mills (30mins).

We turned right into the Bate Mill Trade Centre and found a public footpath to the left at the back which starts with a flight of steps. This path was fenced off, illegally according to Colin’s map, and we were obliged to go left uphill through Sunnyside Farm (39mins).

We went right over a wooden stile marked with a white arrow and entered a field. By now Colin was wearing that familiar expression of frustration and bewilderment as he studied his map for inspiration. It seems that once again the gods had conspired to thwart his plans. To add to his angst, he perceived Lawrie as trying to wrest control from his grasp as Der Fuhrer led the way forward over a stone step stile (45mins).

This took us through a stableyard at Broadhurst House which we exited by turning right over a stone step stile (50mins). We turned right down the road and headed right again (56mins) at a sign marked Restricted Byway. This brought us to a road (66mins) where we turned left uphill.

At a wooden public footpath sign we turned right to enter a field by a stone step stile. We shooed away some cows which were scrutinising the work of two drystone-wallers and crossed another stone step stile. After crossing a ladder stile (76mins) we found a grassy bank where we stopped for pies (87mins).

Resuming we crossed a wooden stile (89mins) and turned left along a lane. This emerged at The Children’s Inn, sporting the theme from the nursery rhyme “The Cat and The Fiddle” above its door. You may recall the rhyme: Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon. The little dog laughed to see such fun, and the dish ran away with the spoon.

This has vexed scholars for more than five centuries. There are numerous theories about its origins – a corruption of ancient Greek; connected with Hathor worship (whatever that might be); refers to various constellations; describes the flight from Egypt; depicts Lady Katherine Grey and her relationships with the Earls of Hertford and Leicester; alludes to Katherine of Aragon (Katherine la Fidele); refers to Catherine, wife of Russia’s Peter The Great; is about the game of cat (played with a cup and ball).

I prefer the version that all these scholars are talking academic bollocks and the verse is simply nonsense.

The Children’s Inn, I am informed, is a holiday home for disadvantaged children. We turned left there (91mins) and reached a T-junction (96mins) where we turned left along Shiloh Road, passing The Moorfield Arms on our right (97mins). We reached a wooden post marked with a yellow arrow (103mins) and turned right.

The route took us over a wooden and then a stone step stile. At a T-junction we took the path to the right (114mins). Where this lane swung right we carried straight ahead along a track (115mins). We walked through a gate and headed uphill through a field, following a sign for Mellor Church.

Here we learned from various notice boards that ancient relics from the end of the last Ice Age had been found. There had been an Iron Age settlement and there was evidence of a Roman camp.

After a five minute pause to study the boards and archaeological digs, we headed downhill with the cemetery on our right (134mins), passing Mellor Parish Centre and taking the path to the right of the road. We followed a footpath sign at Church Road (138mins) and emerged to the left of The Devonshire Arms (141mins).

The B walkers had arrived minutes earlier, having alighted their bus at Four Lane Ends on the road between Marple Bridge and Glossop. Their route had taken them along Cown Edge Way, also passing Mellor Church.

Robinsons’ bitter was £2-90 a pint, with its mild at £2-80. Both were in fine form, which, together with persistent rain now falling outside, caused a further delay in our departure. The B walkers set off before us and sensibly chose to take a route below the heights to the left of Linnet Clough.

We did no such thing as we departed, heading up Gibb Lane opposite the pub’s front door. We turned left up Whitmorhurst Lane (148mins) and after 20 yards turned left following a wooden public footpath sign. We went over a wooden stile and turned left, then right uphill.

The rain now falling made the ground even muddier and there was overwhelming evidence that the farmer had allowed cattle to use the field. We headed diagonally left uphill and found a stone step stile which led to the left of a farmhouse where we stopped for lunch (159mins).

Continuing, we went over a wooden stile on our right and fought our way through head-high nettles to exit by a stile (162mins). We turned right down a lane and left at a public footpath sign (164mins). This took us through a swathe of undergrowth which Colin had recently hacked clear to preserve the public right of way.  At a T-junction we turned right (179mins).

We went right over a wooden stile (182mins) and reached a public footpath sign which pointed every way but forward. We carried on forward and crossed a wooden stile to turn left down a lane (188mins). At the end of the road to Stonypiece Farm we turned right (192mins).

We passed New Mills Golf Club on our left (194mins) and followed a public footpath sign on our left (199mins). We turned right and then left through a gap stile, following a path which led to a road (204mins). Here we turned left and then right (205mins) at a public footpath sign.

This was one of a series of signs which led us through a housing estate, taking the right fork at one stage (207mins) and emerging on the main road (211mins). We turned right and found The Royal Oak on our left (215mins). Lawrie carried on to retrieve his car and was never seen or heard from again.

It was decided he had either forgotten about us or, more likely, decided to go straight home. The landlord of the pub made us most welcome, which mitigated the noise of 70s pop music which he no doubt put on to create “atmosphere.” The Robbies’ bitter was in good nick at £2-65 a pint.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.30am from the free car park opposite The Spinners Arms in Bollington. We will aim to be in The Robin Hood at Rainow around 12.15pm, with a 2.20pm finish at The Dog and Partridge in Bollington.

Chapel-en-le-Frith

CHAPEL-EN-LE-FRITH, HIGHER HALLSTEADS FARM, DOVE HOLES, BULL RING NEOLITHIC HENGE, WANTED INN AT SPARROWPIT, RUSHUP, BAGSHAW HALL, BOWDEN HALL AND THE ROEBUCK INN AT CHAPEL

Distance: 8-9 miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Dry, blue skies with cloud and sunshine.

Walkers: Colin Davison, Alan Hart, Jock Rooney with Tips, and George Whaites.

Leader: Davison. Driver: Whaites. Diarist: Hart.

B Walkers: John Laverick, Ken Sparrow, Geoff Spurrell and Mike Walton.

Apologies: Peter Beal (narrow-boating), George Dearsley (cold), Lawrie Fairman (Anglesey hols).

Starting point: Chapel Miry Meadow free car park, Chapel-en-le-Frith.

Starting time: 9.25am. Finishing time: 2.37pm.

Once again Colin demonstrated his puppy-like enthusiasm and lack of leadership qualities in equal measure as we floundered through mud and head-high nettles to reach one pub too early and another too late.

Happily we were blessed with rare good weather at the end of a washout summer and enjoyed some stunning views of the hills and valleys surrounding the self-styled “capital of the Peak District.” This made up in some measure for a day in which your diarist was stung in the face by nettles and zapped by an electrified stile.

The B walkers also experienced an incident-packed day with a lengthy bus journey due to road works, and a false start because of their inability to find the right path out of Dove Holes. With commendable adaptability, they resolved their problem by retiring to the nearest pub.

From the car park the A walkers set off away from the entrance to reach a footpath and turn right. This emerged to the left of The Roebuck where we were eventually to finish. We crossed the main road and entered Terrace Road, whose cobbles we followed downhill. This brought us to another major road where we turned left (5mins). After crossing the road we turned right at a green public footpath sign (6mins) which brought us into Park Road, across a stream and through a gate on our right (12mins).

We headed diagonally left for a marker post and soon encountered the sort of mud seen during The Battle of the Somme. We fought uphill through it until we reached the Manchester-Buxton rail line and went beneath the railway through a tunnel (25mins).

We continued uphill through a field and a gate to the right of a farm (29mins). We squeezed through a gap stile on our right and over a wooden stile (34mins). Looking back we had clear views of Ladder Hill, Coombs Reservoir, Bowstones, South Head, Eccles Pike and Cracken Edge.

After passing through a metal gate by the side of a stone step stile (38mins), we turned right uphill towards Dove Holes. We reached a T-junction and turned left (40mins). On our right we could see the ridge where the Castle Naze hill fort once stood.

We turned left at a stone step stile next to a metal gate (49mins) and went through a field, crossing a stile (52mins) and heading towards a farm building. We crossed a stone step stile to the right of a barn (55mins). Our quartet and Tips then had to run the gauntlet of a pack of snarling, tethered dogs who tried desperately to reach us as we passed Higher Hallsteads Farm (56mins).

Upon reaching Dove Holes (57mins) we turned left, passing Dove Holes Station on our right (67mins), and walking over a bridge across the Manchester-Buxton line. We turned left, passing the entrance to Horseshoe Avenue and reached the A6 at Hallsteads. We crossed the road into the grounds of Dove Holes Community Association (71mins) and carried on to The Bull Ring, a Neolithic Henge which dates from 2,600-2,000 BC.

For centuries this elevated mound, 100 yards in diameter, has been the site of ritual activity. In celebration of ancient custom, we enjoyed our own ritual of Pietime, accompanied by Tia Maria (76mins).

After leaving the collective Neolithic burial ground, part of which is now a soccer pitch, we ignored a sign stating “ICI Private Property Keep Out” (80mins) and followed our leader as we took a precarious path downhill, with a dangerous drop to our right, and swung left to reach two wooden stiles to take us across a track (83mins).

We then headed up a little used path which had become overgrown with nettles. It was difficult to avoid a feeling of Schadenfreude as our shorts-wearing leader soldiered on with occasional girly squeals and obscenities.

As we crested a hill, a massive quarry came into view. We crossed a wooden stile and followed a white arrow taking us round the left side of the quarry (96mins). We reached a gravel track and turned left (100mins), then almost immediately right over a ladder stile.

After passing a shrine to someone’s father on our right, we kept a drystone wall on our right and then headed diagonally left to a stone step stile (106mins), the first of three which we crossed in quick succession.

This brought us to a gap stile (117mins), protected by a metal gate leaning across it. In trying to pull the gate away, your diarist received an electric shock because it was leaning against an electrified fence. On ascertaining that the land in question belonged to Barr Moor Farm, the offending gate was despatched into the field where it could not harm the next unsuspecting hiker.

We turned right along a farm track, through the farmyard (123mins) and left into a field. We could now see our first target, The Wanted Inn at Sparrowpit, ahead in the distance. We headed towards it through several fields and over many step stiles, passing a pair of friendly pigs en route.

On reaching the road, we turned left (133mins), passing the sign for Sparrowpit and arriving outside The Wanted Inn at 11.55am (136mins). We were obliged to sit outside in the now bright sunshine for five minutes until we heard the cheery sound of locks being unbolted.

The Wanted Inn has the distinction of being a watershed where any water thrown out of the back door finds its way through various rivers to The North Sea, whereas water jettisoned from the front door flows into The Irish Sea. Formerly called The Devonshire Arms, it was up for sale for two years and became known locally as “the unwanted inn.” When Robinsons, of Stockport, bought  it they renamed it The Wanted Inn.

After pints of Robinsons’ cask bitter at £2-60, we resumed our journey by turning right out of the front door, crossing the road and following a public footpath sign for Rushup and Castleton. After passing a farm on our right we went right uphill and crossed four sets of stone step stiles which took us to the right of a farmhouse.

After crossing yet another stone step stile we stopped for lunch (152mins) under blue skies and golden sun, while in the fields around us farmers were making hay. Continuing, we went over yet another stone step stile, then walked diagonally right to cross a wooden stile (162mins). Another wooden stile and stone step stile led us to a public footpath sign marked Chapel (166mins).

In the hamlet of Bagshaw we passed Peartree Cottage (168mins) and Bagshaw Hall on our right. We squeezed through a gap stile and along stepping stones (175mins), ignored an obvious left turn across planks and headed right in the opposite direction to find an obscure stone step stile (180mins) which we crossed.

 Another stile led us to a road where we turned right uphill away from Chapel (182mins). We turned left over a ladder stile, through a field and a metal gate (186mins). The path then took us past Bowden Hall on our left and to a path on our right (200mins).

We turned left off this path by a wooden gatepost (201mins), and after walking underneath the A6 viaduct went over a stone step stile and turned left (206mins).

Our route took us past Waterside Cottage and then we turned right immediately after a derelict building (207mins) up a path through head-high nettles. The path was also made treacherous by brambles and it would have come as no great surprise if we had been attacked by that legendary pygmy tribe, The Fukawees.

We crossed the main road to hack our way through more stinging, scratching foliage until we emerged in a new stone-built housing estate at Burnside Avenue (212mins). After the road had crossed a stream we turned right along a path which emerged on a road. We crossed this road into Burrfields Road (215mins), passing Chapel Parish Church on our right (220mins).

This brought us into Market Place (221mins) and straight on to The Roebuck (223mins), where the B walkers were already ensconced and enjoying pints of Tetleys’ cask bitter at £2-70 with mild at £2-45. We learned the B walkers had endured a lengthy bus journey from Hazel Grove, interrupted by road works and temporary traffic lights.

After an abortive attempt to negotiate their way out of the Bull Ring at Dove Holes, they had taken the sensible decision to repair to The Wheatsheaf for further discussion. They decided there was insufficient time and too much distance involved in joining the A-teamers at The Wanted Inn. So they walked some five miles along a meandering route back to Chapel and The Roebuck.

HISTORICAL NOTE: Chapel-en-le-Frith, which translates as Chapel in the Forest, was created in the 12^th Century by the Norman conquerors. It started life as a hunting lodge. The first chapel, built by the Normans, was replaced with a larger building and the current church, which dominates the town, was built almost entirely in the 18^th Century. Buried in the churchyard are the bodies of Scottish soldiers who marched south with the Duke of Hamilton to support Charles 1 in 1648. After their defeat at the Battle of Preston, the surviving prisoners were marched to Chapel and kept in the church for 16 days in squalid conditions. Forty of them died. On Shrove Tuesdays, a Pudding Bell is rung at 11am to remind housewives to prepare their batter. Chapel has a local market on Thursdays and is the home of the Ferodo brake-lining factory. It is an anagram of Frood, the name of the firm’s 19^th Century founders, with an additional “e.” The company is now part of Federal-Mogul.

Bowden Hall was first built in the 15^th Century by Nicholas Bowdon (Spelling was clearly not his strong point). The original building was demolished in 1844 and replaced with the present stone mansion. It was once the home of Charlie Roberts, regarded by some as Manchester United’s greatest captain. He was the skipper from 1905-13 during which time the team gained promotion, won the First Division championship twice, and reached the 1908-9 FA Cup Final, which they won. Charlie was a union activist and became chairman of the Players Football Association in 1922.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.30am from the free car park in Hyde Bank Road, New Mills. It is anticipated we will reach The Devonshire Arms at Mellor for a swift one around 12.20pm and finish at The Royal Oak, New Mills at 2.15pm.