High Lane

HIGH LANE, LYME PARK, BOW STONES, DISLEY

Distance: 9.95 miles; Avg. Walking Speed 2.68mph; Max Elevation 1419.18ft; Walking Time 3 hrs 43.56mins.

Difficulty: Moderate

Weather: Overcast with clear views but absolutely no rain.

A  Walkers, Lawrie Fairman, Julian Ross, John Laverick, Peter Morrall, George Whaites.

Apologies: Jock Rooney (working abroad), Colin Davison (holiday), Alan Hart (wimped out), Peter Beal (cruising in sunny Norway), George Dearsley (working abroad), Tom Cunliffe (????), Malcom Halley (recovering from dentist?) Mikey Barrett (on holiday)

B Walkers: Geoff Spurrell, Tony Job, Mike Walton, Ken Sparrow

Non-walking drinkers: Alan Hart (See special report)

Walking-non drinkers : Pete Morrell

Leader: Fairman  

Diarist: Laverick with contributions from Hart and Job

Starting Point: Car Park, Horse Shoe Inn, High Lane

Starting Time: 9.20am. Finishing Time: 2.20pm

First a word of apology for the delay in the receipt of this diary and if it is not to the usual high standard of my mentors Hart and Dearsley, I was foolish enough to volunteer to write and then remembered that English is my second language (been born in the north east) and I was finding more excuses than a virgin on her wedding night why I had no time to do it.

However I digress and to the diary……………………

The group gave Pete Morrell the usual warm welcome for new members to the group.

It started strangely with Pete M and myself turning up at Mr Hart`s in DRY with the sun trying to break through weather to be told he was not coming out to play because it was raining and would be raining really heavily that morning. George however had not heard the rain warning of the second coming of a biblical flood and turned up at the appointed hour in a car rather than an ark.

The walk started for five of the intrepid A Team ready to take on the elements from the car park of the Horse Shoe Inn, High Lane at 09:30 Hrs. crossing the A6 following the public footpath just above the Middlewood Road that leads onto the Middlewood Way which was followed along until the Boars Head in Higher Poynton. It was a wrench to pass the Boars Head without popping in unfortunately it was closed.

At the Boars head we turned off the Middlewood Way and turned right over the bridge on to Lyme Road following it up to the canal, over the canal  by the  marina and bearing right onward past Elm Wood on towards Haresteads Farm where we came across giant rabbits.

Where`s Alice ??

Wonderland....or Blunderland?

The walk continued uphill winding our way up past Windgather and through the West Gate in to Lyme Park and onward towards toward the big house. Picking up the Gritstone Trail up through Knights Low Wood where we passed a whole host of small children who were making more noise than their size allowed and they appeared to be building wood camps with not a sign of Elf and Safety in site.

 Pie Break was taken in the shelter of the wood, at this point Tom would have had something to say, not only did we have Pie Break early but we also had a full ten minutes!

Onward we pressed towards the summit to view the Bow Stones, not for the first time this month.

The Bowstones are a pair of Anglian cross shafts in Cheshire, England. Situated beside the old ridgeway between Disley and Macclesfield overlooking Lyme Park, the Cheshire Plain, the city of Manchester and the hills of the Peak District, they are a scheduled monument.

The western shaft is 1.22 metres high and tapers from circumference of 1.25m at the base to 0.86m at the top. The eastern shaft is 0.98m high and has a circumference of 1.27m. Both are decorated with interlaced carvings in a style that indicates a date of the 10th century or earlier. There is some later lettering engraved. Their round cross section and their erection as a pair is unusual for crosses of this era. 

They may have been moved their current location in the 16th century by Sir Piers Legh of Lyme Hall. Two stone cross heads on display at the hall may have originally surmounted the shafts.Local legend states that the name is derived from their use by Robin Hood and his men to re-string their bows.

Despite the rain that we had been promised, the views from the summit were magnificent and the mountains of Wales were clearly visible, even Manchester was a site to behold as we scoured the horizon for a rain cloud.

                                

                                                                         Dry as a desert.

On leaving the Bow Stones picked up the track, the Gritstone Trail, past Handley Barn, Dissop Head to the junction of Higher Lane and Mudhurst Lane where we turned left at Cock Knoll following the Gritstone Trail towards the East Gate of Lyme Park.

It was at this point our so far flawless Leader made a small mistake taking us past a lady on her knees bending over then taking us back past her again claiming he had made a mistake with his map reading, we should have turned right not left!

Onward we went following the Gritstone Trail along Green Lane with Higher Disley to our right.

One has to admire the farmer who has preserved the stile for the footpath passing through his field when the fence seems to have disappeared many years ago.

                                      

                                                                Mind the fence Pete.

Past Superman`s changing room on the left with the path to the Hanging Gate on the right onward we forged until the St Andrew`s Church was in sight and the smell of Unicorn from the Dandycock spurred us on.

We arrived at 12:20 Hrs have completed 7.61 miles.

Pete left us at this time to sort out a small problem at home, hence he became our first non drinking walker.

The Unicorn as usual was on fine form see prices in our special non walking drinker`s reporter.

After a suitable intake of ale to strengthen our resolve we set of once more to complete the walk and set off back towards the North Gate of Lyme Park retracing some of our steps along Red Lane ending back at the entrance kiosk (Park Gate) of Lyme Park.

Following the Bollinhurst Brook crossing the North Cheshire Way, crossed over the Hazel Grove to Disley railway line on to the LVI Trail joined on Coppice Lane to re-cross the railway further down the line turning right onto Chatsworth Road.

Keeping left behind the row of houses on Ashbourne Road, following the footpath, round the back of Haddon Close, turning left on to Hartington Road, right on to Alderdale Drive, then turning left on to the A6 and onwards to the end objective of a good pint in the Horse Shoe Inn after 2.64 miles and arriving as planned at 14:20 Hrs.

SPECIAL REPORTER ALAN HART

After wimping out of the A walk because of inaccurate weather forecasts, Alan arrived at The Dandy Cock at 12.20pm after catching a train from Hazel Grove to Disley.

As the rest of the group sallied forth on a route which ran parallel with the A6 to the south, Harty announced he would carry out a survey of pubs on the main road. His report made sad reading, following the excellent Robbies' cask bitter at The Dandy Cock at £2-70 a pint, with mild at £2-60.

At the Ram's Head in Disley, our intrepid reporter sampled a pint of Adnams Kristal White wheat beer at £3-39. He said the overpriced beer was tasty but the pub suffered from delusions of grandeur as a posh restaurant which sold beer.

The same was true of the Red Lion at High Lane, although the Robbies' 1892 mild was in good form and reasonably priced at £2-65.

At the Dog and Partridge he found six choices of lager, which he was happy to refuse, and both barrels of cask bitters had run out the previous day. He declined the offer of a "smooth" alternative (as in chemical keg beer).

The Bull's Head, which was advertised as "a business opportunity", was shut. The Horseshoe offered a warm welcome and Unicorn cask bitter at £2-80 a pint.

SPECIAL REPORTER TONY JOB

Route: High Lane, Macc Canal, Romper, Roman Bridge, Goyt Way, Lower Cliff, Brook Bottom (Fox), New Mills bus stn., Newtown, and then 199 bus to High Lane. Path from Goyt Way up to Lower Cliff involved crossing barbed wire, not recommended. Bus connections from New Mills to Newtown not good, so we will not repeat the route from Fox onward.

Beer at The Fox was in fine condition.

Final word from Laverick

Next week's walk will start at 9.30am from The Cock at Whaley Bridge, calling at The Old Hall in Whitehough, Chinley, around 12.15pm and finishing back at The Cock around 2.20pm. 

Brabyns Park

BRABYNS PARK, MARPLE BRIDGE, HOLLYWOOD, MELLOR CHURCH, DEVONSHIRE ARMS AT MELLOR, SNAPE HEY FARM, MELLOR AND TOWNSCLIFFE GOLF COURSE, LINNET CLOUGH SCOUT CAMPSITE, ROMAN LAKES, PEAK FOREST CANAL, RING O’ BELLS AT MARPLE, MARPLE LOCKS AND NORFOLK ARMS AT MARPLE BRIDGE

Distance: 8 Miles.

Difficulty: Strenuous.

Weather: Cool and cloudy but dry.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Alan Hart, John Laverick and George Whaites.

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

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (hols), George Dearsley (w*^king in Istanbul), Lawrie Fairman (Riviera hols), Jock Rooney (w*^king in South Africa) and Julian Ross (no reason given but probably w*^king).

 Leader: Davison. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Brabyns Park at Marple Bridge.

Starting time: 9.32am. Finishing time: 2pm.

With starting time upon us, a car screeched to a halt and our leader for the day emerged spluttering protests about a change of venue.  He was under the illusion that a drunken conversation at the end of last week’s walk would be remembered in its entirety and that he would, therefore, not need to read the final paragraph of the diary WHICH FIRMLY STATED THAT THE WALK WOULD COMMENCE AT 9.30AM IN BRABYNS PARK.

Colin, you may recall, was returning on probation after his leadership qualities had been called into question as a result of a series of mistimings and misjudgements on earlier occasions.

Because he had not become aware of the clearly stated starting point until 9am, Colin had not prepared his walk and announced he would have to “wing it.” From past experience we rather feared this might be in the style of Icarus, but to give him credit we did reach our main targets (the two pubs) a few minutes ahead of schedule.

Colin’s love of hills involved us in another rollercoaster ride so although the walk was not long, it proved to be challenging.

After leaving the car park by walking back to the entrance and turning left, we crossed the River Goyt where a team of demolition men were working on a subsiding bank. Interestingly, one of these men supported by a safety harness and wearing a high-vis jacket, was trying to dislodge a massive rock above him.

We turned right at The Norfolk Arms up Town Street and then left up Hollins Lane, passing Marple Bridge United Reform Church on our left. Complaints about the first mile of the walk being purely along roads soon abated when, despite unseasonably dry weather, Colin found a succession of muddy paths and fields.

At the junction with Ley Lane we turned right (23mins) and then left at a public footpath sign (24mins). This took us up a gravel track for 30 yards and then we turned right, passing a row of cottages on our right.

We crossed a stile to turn right again and passed a pond on our right (28mins). We crossed a stile marked with a yellow arrow and then turned left down Hollywood Lane (34mins). Opposite Bridge House (35mins) we turned right across a wooden stile following a public footpath sign for Marple.

This brought us to a path between two drystone walls. We turned left at a wooden public footpath sign (41mins), crossed a wooden stile and followed a wooden public footpaths sign which pointed indistinctly in the direction of Longhurst Lane. On our right were a series of chicken coops which we surmised were for the purpose of breeding rare species. They were all fenced separately with chicken wire which Peter B decided were designed as “anti-hanky panky” to prevent cross-breeding.

Two ponds had been created on the right for ducks and geese, and to our left were a row of seven beehives. Somebody seemed to be emulating the much-loved sitcom “The Good Life.” We turned left at the beehives (48mins) along a path which took us through a gate and a stableyard (53mins), turning left at a public footpath sign towards Mellor Church (54mins).

St Thomas's Church, Mellor

After trudging up the steep hill to reach the historic church and graveyard, we were allowed no respite but herded along like American tourists “doing Europe.” There was deemed no time to catch our breath or even look at the replica of a Bronze Age house there as we plunged downhill again and after 100 yards turned right across a wooden stile (70mins).

After going through a gate and squeezing through a gap stile we turned left downhill (73mins) and emerged at a road with The Devonshire Arms on our right. Curly-top dismissed the idea of pausing for Pietime on the convenient benches outside the pub and pressed on across the road to follow a sign for Linnet Clough (77mins).

We turned left into Whetmorhurst Lane (82mins) and left again after 20 yards at a wooden public footpath sign which took us up a muddy path into a farmyard. After turning right through a gate (89mins) we stopped by a wall for our pie break (90mins). Not for the first time on our journeys, Tom disappeared from our sight (but sadly not our hearing) after borrowing some tissues.

We continued past Moorhead Cottage on our left, where Colin bought six free range eggs for £1, and turned right at a public footpath sign to go through Snape Hey Farm (96mins). Two wooden stiles brought us to Mellor and Townscliffe golf course (102mins) which we crossed along a right of way and then passed Linnet Clough scout camp on our right.

Our group entered Roman Lakes Leisure Park (116mins) and crossed the Goyt by a road bridge before heading up steps on our left marked with a yellow arrow (118mins). This took us uphill to a footbridge across the Manchester-Sheffield railway line (122mins). At the top of a set of steps on the far side we turned left, crossed a main road and continued to climb uphill (127mins).

This brought us out at The Peak Forest Canal. This is a 15-mile waterway which was started in 1794, first used in 1796 and completed in 1805. The main shareholder was Samuel Oldknow and the principal engineer was Benjamin Outram. The Lower Peak Forest Canal runs from Dukinfield Junction, where it joins the Ashton Canal, to the foot of Marple’s 16 locks. The Upper Peak Forest Canal runs from Marple, where it is linked to the Macclesfield Canal, to Bugsworth Basin, from where a branch leads to the centre of Whaley Bridge.

The canal was another victim of the success of the railway system. In the 1920s the Peak Forest Tramways and Buggy Basin closed and by the 1960s the canal had become impassable. But after restoration work it was reopened in 1974 for the use of pleasure craft.

After joining the canal at Bridge 19 we walked along the towpath with the water on our right to reach its junction with The Macclesfield Canal at Bridge 1. We continued along the left bank until the first exit opposite The Ring O’ Bells (137mins).

Here the Robbies’ mild at £2-60 a pint and the bitter at £2-85 were deemed to be in excellent form. We drank in The Bell Room where a photo of the many men of Marple who fell during World War 1 was updated with a separate photo of Corporal Danny Winter, aged 18, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2009.

We rejoined the canal at Bridge 2 and walked along its right bank  before leaving at Bridge 3 to walk down Marple Locks, pausing for lunch on Lock 12 (142mins). 

Continuing we carried on along the canal until reaching Station Road (150mins). We crossed and joined the right bank of the canal, leaving it at Lock 7 and crossing a bridge over the Manchester-Sheffield line with Marple Station on our right (163mins).

On reaching a point overlooking a football pitch at Brabyns Park below us, we turned right (169mins) to return to our cars (172mins). After debooting, we joined the B walkers in The Norfolk Arms.

They had arrived at Brabyns Park by car and caught a bus to Shiloh Road, near Rowarth, from where they had walked to Mellor Church and the village of Hollywood before pausing for drinks in The George at Compstall. 

They had then walked back over the iron bridge through Brabyns Park, an estate of 95 acres.

The land had contained Brabyns Hall, built in the 1740s for Dr Henry Brabin, a local surgeon. During World War 1 it served as an auxiliary hospital and convalescent home for wounded soldiers. 

Iron Bridge

Its last owner was Miss Fanny Hudson, who died in 1941 aged 90, leaving the hall and estate to be bought by local councils.

There were plans to convert the hall into an art gallery, museum, library or assembly hall when it was bought in 1949. Three years later it was found to be riddled with dry rot and the hall was demolished.

Several cask beers brewed in Sheffield were available at The Norfolk Arms at £3 a pint.

Next week’s A walk will start at 9.30am from the car park of The Horseshoe on the A6 at High Lane, with a half-time stop at The Dandy Cock around 12.15pm before returning to The Horseshoe at about 2.20pm.

  

Poynton Pool

POYNTON POOL, PRINCES INCLINE, HOCKLEY, WARDSEND, MINERS’ ARMS AT WOOD LANES, MACCLESFIELD CANAL, EASTWOOD END CARAVAN PARK, WOODEND FARM, REDACRE HALL FARM, THE BOAR’S HEAD AT HIGHER POYNTON, MIDDLEWOOD WAY, ANSON ENGINE MUSEUM, PRINCES INCLINE AND THE BULL’S HEAD AT POYNTON

Distance: Nine miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Cold but dry with sunny spells.

Walkers: Mickey Barrett, Tom Cunliffe*, Colin Davison, Malcolm Halley, Alan Hart and John Laverick.

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

Apologies: Peter Beal (hiking in Yorkshire dales), George Dearsley (w*^king), Jock Rooney (w*^king in South Africa), Julian Ross (w*^king indoors), George Whaites (visiting friends in Devon).

Leader: Hart. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park off Anglesey Drive next to Poynton Pool.

Starting time: 9.34am. Finishing time: 2.22pm.

We have seen the daffodils and the new-born lambs already. But a sure sign that spring is really on its way at last came with the unveiling of Malcolm’s knees. While the rest of our group were swathed in several layers of winter clothing, Malcolm was kitted out for the Costa del Sol in shorts which made the rest of us shiver. Southern softies are clearly tougher than they seem !

In the absence of our experienced leaders, Lawrie and Peter B, and with Colin still serving the last week of his suspension for previous follies, it fell to your diarist to set the route. As you know I do this with a freestyle approach which abhors any gadgets (compasses) or flappy things (maps).

Once again I am happy to report that this optimistic, shambolic method saw us through to a successful conclusion – although there was one early casualty beyond our control.*

After setting off along the bank of Poynton Pool, where we admired the swans, Canada geese, mallards, coots, waterhens, great-crested grebes and a heron, we walked along London Road North for 50 yards before turning left and then taking the footpath to the right of houses up Princes Incline.

When we reached the top at Towers Road (26mins), Tom received a phone call from wife Stella informing him that he had left The Lantern Pike at Little Hayfield with the keys to his pub’s various doors in his pocket. So he was obliged to abandon the hike, retrace his footsteps and drive back home. Stupid boy !

After crossing Towers Road diagonally, we took an unmade road leading to a footpath which brought us on to Davenport Golf Club’s grounds (36mins). We followed the right of way across a fariway and then turned right downhill to exit the club.

Opposite this exit was Anson Road, which we crossed into but took the path to the right leading over a stile into a field with stables on its left. We crossed a series of stiles which brought us out on Coppice Road (47mins). Opposite was a footpath leading to Coppice Boarding Kennels and Cattery.

We followed this path past the hidden Merton Hall on our right and kept straight on at a footpath crossroads. After passing some elegant houses on our right with woodland to our left in an area called Wardsend, we turned left at a public footpath sign down steps to a footbridge crossing a stream (61mins). At the far side we turned right and reached steps leading upwards to a lane.

We turned right for 20 yards then took a path on our left (65mins) which led us alongside fields to emerge at a road with The Miners Arms at Wood Lanes on our right (72mins). We walked past the pub (it wasn’t yet open) and turned left to cross the Middlewood Way by a road bridge and reach the Macclesfield Canal (78mins). Two benches were conveniently placed next to Bridge 18 for Pietime to be declared.

The building of the Macclesfield Canal was approved by Parliament in 1826. Construction, under principal engineer Thomas Telford, began in Bollington and was completed in 1831 at a cost of £320,000 raised by shareholders. The canal runs 26 miles from Marple, where it joins the Peak Forest Canal, through 12 locks at Bosley to the Hall Green branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal near Kidsgrove. It is one of six canals which form The Cheshire Ring.

It can accommodate boats 72 feet long and 7 feet wide. Although commercially successful initially, the arrival of railways led to its demise. In 1846 the canal was leased to the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway. 

This became the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, which became the Great Central Railway, and finally, in 1922, ownership passed to the London and North Eastern Railway prior to nationalisation of the railways in 1948.

Barges continued to use the canal commercially until the 1960s, since when it has been used almost exclusively for pleasure craft.

Resuming after sharing our sandwiches with geese and ducks, we walked in the direction of Macclesfield with the canal on our left, passing Lyme View Marina and exiting over Bridge 19 (88mins) to the far side.

A public footpath marked with a yellow arrow took us through Eastwood End caravan park to Woodend Farm, where we turned right along a path and then left at another yellow arrow (93mins). We crossed a wooden stile and turned left (98mins). Another wooden stile brought us to a lane where we turned left towards Redacre Hall Farm.

We crossed a wooden stile to enter a field by a permissive path (111mins) which brought us back to the canal at Bridge 17. We crossed the bridge and turned right along the towpath (118mins), now heading in the direction of Marple. The canal became an aqueduct as it crossed the road from Poynton to Pott Shrigley beneath us.

This took us to Lord Vernon’s Wharf at Higher Poynton (133mins). We are indebted to Mr Barrett for the information that the word “wharf” is an acronym derived from the words “Wares House at River Front.”  You never stop learning when you’re a Wednesday Wanderer.#

We left the canal by turning left after the bridge and heading downhill past the public toilets at the Nelson Pit Museum, which gives a history of Poynton as a mining village. After crossing the road bridge over The Middlewood Way, we reached The Boar’s Head at Higher Poynton (141mins) seven minutes ahead of schedule.

This afforded some of us the rare chance of three quick pints of Black Sheep cask bitter at £2-93 a time before we resumed our journey. We went back to The Middlewood Way and headed along it in the direction of Marple before stopping for lunch at a bench (153mins). 

Continuing, we exited at the first opportunity by turning right and then going left over a road bridge. This brought us to Green Lane, where we turned right.

At a public footpath sign just before a house called Broad View (157mins), we turned left, passing the Anson Engine Museum on our left (160mins). This lies on the site of the old Anson colliery and is the result of a labour of love by Les Cawley and Geoff Challinor who began collecting old engines as a hobby. It contains a working display of early internal combustion engines for enthusiasts.

After passing the museum and a badger sett on our left, we reached Anson Road and turned right (165mins). At the bottom of Anson Road we crossed on to the drive leading to Davenport Golf Club and retraced our footsteps back to Princes Incline (192mins).

We walked downhill to reach London Road North (203mins), turned right and entered The Bull’s Head on our left (206mins).

Various cask bitters were in good form at £3 a pint, and Sally-Ann Bromley kindly provided two platters of sandwiches “as a goodwill gesture in the hope that we’ll see you again.” She certainly will.

The B walkers arrived some 40 minutes later, having assembled at Poynton Sports Club for a walk along the Ladybrook Valley to Bramhall Park. After refreshments in The Ladybrook at Bramhall, they had taken a circuitous route back which resulted in them completing some seven miles and “feeling knackered.”

Next week’s A walk will start from Brabyn’s Park at Marple Bridge at 9.30am where Colin will again attempt to lead us on a route which hopes to reach The Ring o’ Bells at Marple around 12.15 pm with final drinks at The Royal Scot, Marple Bridge, around 2.20pm.

Furness Vale

FURNESS VALE, THE DIPPING STONES, MOORSIDE GRANGE, THE BOWSTONES, LYME PARK, LANTERN WOOD, LYME HALL, LYME CAGE, THE DANDY COCK AT DISLEY, THE PEAK FOREST CANAL AND THE SOLDIER DICK AT FURNESS VALE

Distance: 9-10 miles.

Difficulty: Strenuous becoming easy.

Weather: Crisp and dry with blue skies and wintry sunshine.

Walkers: Micky Barrett, Peter Beal, Colin Davison, Malcolm Halley, Alan Hart, John Laverick and George Whaites.

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

Apologies: Tom Cunliffe (man-flu symptoms), George Dearsley (w*^king again), Lawrie Fairman (driving campervan to French Riviera), Jock Rooney (w*^king in South Africa) and Julian Ross (family hols).

Leader: Beal. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park of Soldier Dick, on the A6 at Furness Vale.

Starting time: 9.33am.Finishing time: 2.18pm.

A late call from Tom reduced our numbers when he reported that he had awoken with a sore throat “and was sweating like a Scouser in a Job Centre.” 

Nevertheless we were left with a Magnificent Seven A walkers, and a record number of five B walkers created a Dirty Dozen back at our final watering hole.

Some of you may have noticed another theme developing with our choice of pubs, The Dandy Cock and The Soldier Dick. To complete the metaphor here follows the usual bo*^^*cks from your diarist .

Once again the weather gods were favourable to The Wednesday Wanderers, with a crisp, dry start in wintry sunshine. We also enjoyed minimal mud and excellent visibility.

From the Soldier Dick car park we turned right along the A6 for 30 yards, then turned right at The Imperial Palace. Lest there be confusion, this is a Chinese restaurant which has little in common with its namesake in Beijing.

Our route for more than an hour was a steady slog uphill, passing The Dipping Stones on our left. Legend has it that these large rocks, with two scooped out sections in their middles, were used for purchasing food in 1665 at the time of the great plague. 

Villagers where the epidemic was rife were discouraged from trading . But at The Dipping Stones, food was left on trust, and paid for with money left in vinegar in the dips in the rocks so it was germ-free.

Beyond The Dipping Stones we reached a road (56mins) where we turned left and then right (57mins) at a public footpath sign marked to Bowstonegate and Lyme Park. This path continued uphill until we made our first descent of the day with Moorside Grange on our right.

Moorside Grange

This former hotel, once owned by The Hilton Group and by Stakis, has a checkered history. It was the “love-nest” where Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty was caught enjoying a secret tryst with the wife of Old Trafford physiotherapist Lawrie Brown. 

After their illicit affair had been exposed by the tabloids, United fans enlivened the next home game with chants of “He’s up Mrs Brown: he’s up Mrs Brown. Eee-aye-addio, He’s up Mrs Brown.” That proved the final straw and The Doc was sacked.

It was also the venue chosen by Coronation Street actress Pat Phoenix to hold a party, paid for by The Sunday People, to say farewell to her cast colleagues after 20 years of playing femme fatale Elsie Tanner. 

In recent years a succession of entrepreneurs tried and failed to make it pay. Even the hiring of Peter B’s daughter as a waitress failed to halt the slide.

Local people objected to plans to convert the hotel into a retirement home. They were successful and instead it is to become a residential home for wayward juveniles. (Be careful what you wish for).

We crossed Mudhurst Lane (62mins) and continued our ascent following a wooden footpath sign for Bowstones passing Dissop Head Farm. The final section of our climb presented us with stunning views in every direction. We could see the highest points of three counties at Kinder (Derbyshire), Cheeks Hill (Staffordshire) and Shining Tor (Cheshire).

The Bowstones themselves are two shafts of late Saxon crosses which were probably landmarks or boundary stones as well as objects of devotion. Local legend has it that if you walk between the stones you will become pregnant (This only applies to women, I was assured).

The Bowstones

After crossing a wooden stile to enter Lyme Park, we paused for Pietime (85mins). Continuing, we kept a drystone wall on our right and passed a memorial to Allan Monkhouse, the playwright, novelist and literary editor of the Manchester Guardian, who was born in Disley and loved these hills.

The memorial to Allan and his wife Dorothy was erected by their children, who clearly followed their father’s liberal leanings. Patrick Monkhouse (1904-81) was a Guardian journalist and a member of the Peak Park Planning Board; Rachel Natzir (1905-85) was a district county councillor and chairman of the governors of Styal Prison; John Monkhouse (1908-90) was a headmaster; and Elizabeth Monkhouse (1912-2011) was a lecturer and president of the Workers’ Education Association.

There was no mention of the black sheep of the family, Bob Monkhouse. He once told his stand-up audience: “When I told my parents I wanted to be a comedian, they just laughed. Well nobody’s laughing now.”

As we continued with the wall on our right, Lyme Hall appeared below us on our left. The building, now managed by The National Trust, is the largest in Cheshire. It is at the heart of a 1,300 acres estate in the Peak District National Park.

The estate was granted to Sir Thomas Danyers in 1346 by Edward 111 for his services to The Black Prince at The Battle of Crecy. It was passed to his granddaughter Margaret, who married Piers Legh in 1388. The Legh family then held it for more than 500 years until it was taken over by The NT in 1946.

Lyme Hall dates from the late 16^th Century with modifications in the 18^th and 19^th centuries which give it a predominantly Palladian and Baroque style with other fashionable influences added.

Historians among you may be interested to know that the original Piers Legh, who was granted his coat of arms by King Richard 11 in 1397, was executed two years later by Richard’s rival, Henry Bolingbroke. But his son, Sir Piers Legh 11, fought with Henry V at Agincourt. When he was wounded, Sir Piers’ loyal mastiff stood over him and protected his master for several hours as the battle raged.

The mastiff’s reward was to return to Disley and become the founder of Lyme Hall mastiffs, which were bred at the hall and kept separate from other strains until their purity died out at the beginning of the 20^th Century.

But I digress. We ignored a ladder stile ahead and turned left, again keeping the drystone wall on our right until we reach a step stone stile and crossed it into a wood (99mins). We passed The Lantern (106mins) on our left and exited Lantern Wood.

Here we encountered a stag party in full swing. A herd of some 40 red deer had congregated a few yards to our right and were totally unmoved by our emergence from the trees. However the sight of a wheezing jogger bearing down on them caused the deer to trot away.

Our group mustered for the final major ascent up to Lyme Cage (122mins), a former hunting lodge and gamekeeper’s cottage which was also used as a jail to hold poachers. The first structure in 1580 was knocked down and rebuilt in 1737.

The sundial on its wall had not been advanced to British Summer Time, as we had the previous weekend. The motto above it advised “Vive Hodie,” which, as all you Latin scholars will know, means “Live Today.”

We turned right downhill in the direction of Disley, reaching the park’s entrance hut from the exiting direction, and turned right. This took us to the gate leaving the park and into Red Lane (137mins). After a short climb, we headed downhill into Disley, crossed the A6 and reached The Dandy Cock (152mins). The Robbies’ cask bitter here at £2-65 was deemed to be in excellent form.

After a leisurely two-pint stop, we continued by turning right out of the pub and immediately right again down Hollinwood Lane before turning left into Sherbrooke Road (158mins). We reached the Peak Forest Canal and turned right along its right bank (160mins). At Bridge 20 we switched to the left bank (163mins) and stopped at a bench for lunch (164mins).

After passing the Carr swing bridge (197mins) and Furness Vale marina, we left the canal at Bridge 31, turning right (205mins) past The Crossings pub on our left. We turned right along the A6 for a few  yards, then crossed to The Soldier Dick car park to de-boot (209mins).

The B-teamers had arrived some five minutes earlier, having driven to High Lane, from where they walked to The Romper at Marple Ridge and along the Peak Forest Canal. They diverted to The Queens Arms at Newtown, New Mills, for a livener and strolled along the Goyt Valley before returning to the canal for the same route as the A team to The Soldier Dick, a journey totalling five miles.

Next week’s walk will begin at 9.30am from the Poynton Pool car park off Anglesey Drive, Poynton, heading up Princes Incline for the Macclesfield Canal, then towards Pott Shrigley to enter the other side of Lyme Park before dropping back down to The Boar’s Head, Higher Poynton, around 12.15pm. We expect to finish the walk at the Bull’s Head, Poynton, around 2.20pm.