High Lane

December 11th, 2013

HIGH LANE, DISLEY AND ENVIRONS

Distance: 9 miles

Difficulty: Easy

Weather: Blue skies, sunny

Walkers: Alan Hart, George Dearsley, Lawrie Fairman, Colin Davison, George Whaites, Julian Ross

B Walkers: see below

Non Walking Drinkers: John Eckersley and Frank Dudley.

Apologies: John Jones (overslept), Nigel Crank (w*rk^ng), Tom Cunliffe (w*rk^ng), (Pete Beal (Lanzarote), John Laverick (Mexico), Phil Welsh (preparing for an interview)

Leader: Davison  Diarist: Dearsley

Starting Point: Mr Davison’s house.

Starting Time: 9.41am. Finishing Time: 1.52pm

Colin’s house was awash with wine. Literally. Some of it, to be fair, was in a container on the fireplace. But you didn’t need to be a forensic scientist to notice the rest as there were copious stains on the cream walls of our hero’s lounge.

In fact it looked like a crime scene from the movie Friday 13^th.

His explanation as to how they got there rang a little hollow. But in the spirit of Christmas this was allowed to pass as our host had most generously supplied not only mulled wine but bacon butties, too. No HP sauce. But we live in austere times.

Many were unable to attend. Tom Cunliffe had to deal with several unruly people in his pub, I believe they are known in the licensed victualling trade as customers, who had the temerity to linger over breakfast.

During a later phone call to give him the time of our Christmas repast he confirmed: “The twats have gone!”

Incidentally, apropos of last week’s walk it struck me that the lonely goatherd from the Sound of Music may well have been “remaindered” on a Cunliffe-led walk.

Not to worry, six A walkers (including Colin) gathered and as the group set off a further four B-walkers arrived for breakfast. Mr Davison duly left them to sup the rest of his wine and eat the butties, hoping they wouldn’t find his stash of Lebanese Red or put his prize nick-nacks on eBay.

We left Colin’s turned left and headed up the hill.

We swung left onto a path near the golf course, which actually took us around the top edge of the course. We went over a stile and onto the course proper.

We turned left at a metalled path and passed a sign for “Disley Golf Club”.

Then we went across a field and turned left.

We swung right at a gate before a rather nice looking house and then right again, onto a path that took us to the canal.

We crossed the familiar bridge that can be raised to allow narrowboats to pass and turned right. Then we took a path to the left just before Bridge number 25.

This took us down a steep and slippery slope. We crossed a stream, negotiated another stile and turned right. A paper mill was on our left

                                                              Glorious sunshine….in mid December!

We went over another stile. There was a lodge (a largish pond) to our right. Here we turned left, onto a road and turned left again at a sign for the paper mill which is called Disley Tissue.

A river was below us (the Goyt) and we made our way down to it.

We went onto a metalled road and turned left and then right on a path signposted to “the Torrs”.

This brought us into Mousley Bottom Nature Reserve. I was expecting the wonderment of nature. The odd natterjack toad, a kestrel perhaps.

Let me quote you from Derbyshire County Council’s website.

“Ramble by the river and walk through the woodlands and discover the newly created wetland area. Mousley Bottom now sits where once a landfill site, gas works and sewage works stood.”

They don’t exactly make it sound like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, do they? Whoever wrote that has clearly never worked as an estate agent.

Our path led to a T-junction where we turned right.

At 10.54am Pie Time was declared and nine minutes of mastication enjoyed. We followed a path sign-posted to the “Millennium Walkway”.

Millennium, by the way, is one of those words that 90% of the population misspell. Just saying.

We swung right and found ourselves parallel with the road that goes from New Mills to New Mills Newtown, only one road back.

The Swizzels Matlow factory could be seen to our right.

Since Cadbury was taken over by Kraft in 2010, Swizzels Matlow is now the largest independent family-owned confectionery company in Britain, producing 250 lines of sweets, employing 600 people and with a turnover of more than £40 million a year.

The company actually had revenues of £47 million in 2010/11 and it exports 20 per cent of its sweets to more than 20 countries, mostly in Europe.

Its highest selling brands are Love Hearts, Parma Violets and Drumstick lollies.  Its biggest sales period is Halloween.

Operations began in the early 1920s at a market stall in Hackney, London, (coincidentally where I was born, in Hackney, not on a market stall).

Owners Maurice and Alfred Matlow sold jellied sweets. They built a small factory in East London in 1928 and became known as Matlow Brothers, producing jellies and chews. In 1933 the firm merged with a rival factory owner, David Dee, who specialised in fizzy compressed tablet sweets (although the company officially became Swizzels Matlow Ltd only in 1975).

Some messages on the famous Love Hearts have been dropped after their meanings changed. 'Go Gay' went after a lady from Philadelphia complained in the 1970s.

Diana, Princess of Wales, received personalised sweets when she visited the factory in 1990 (photographs recording her visit adorn the staff lavatories, I am told)

In 1940, the Blitz forced the business to relocate northwards to a disused wick factory in New Mills where it remains.  Parma Violets were introduced in 1946.  Love Hearts began in 1954.

So there you have it, the Derbyshire economy…. boosted by Hitler.

We turned left, arrived at the aforesaid main road and crossed over. At the Grove Veterinary Clinic we turned left.

This reminded me of one of my worst even birthday presents, a narrowboat outing from a location just down this road.

It poured with rain all day (in May) and ended in disaster when a dumped duvet got entangled in the propeller and rendered the narrowboat inoperable.

At the end of the road we went right and carried on over a pedestrian railway bridge and soon over the road that links New Mills and Whaley Bridge.

We passed a house on the right and followed a stream before swinging right and crossing two wooden bridges.

This brought us to a three-way junction where we initially turned left and a few strides on went right at a Y-junction.

We passed Seven Springs Cottage on the left and a sign for Seven Springs Centre on our right. Prior research might have caused us to linger, as this is a girl guiding campsite.

Its website helpfully says that “ropes are available for hire” but sadly I think it means for pioneering.

We went left up some stone steps and eventually onto a road just after a house called Highfield. Here we passed a sign for “Disley”.

We turned left at a sign for a bridle path. This took us to the house with the red phone box and a dummy Superman inside. Here we turned right.

Statues in the garden of that house with a red phone box….. with Superman inside

We made another right turn at a pathway sign and went diagonally across a field.

This brought us to a road where we turned right and soon found ourselves entering the White Horse pub at Disley at 12.05pm.

Unicorn was £2.90 and 1892 mild was £2.80.

We were quickly made aware it was Christmas first by the piped music which included the famous Slade song and then by an elderly gentleman (probably in his seventies) walking past the window wearing a full pixie hat complete with false pixie ears. (see my photo below).

                                                        And ears to you…..Merry Christmas, everybody's having fun

We set off again at 12.56pm back up the hill from the pub and to the Ring o’ Bells Quaker House.

Here we turned right down a path.

At a T-junction we went left and entered Lyme Park by way of a ladder stile.

We crossed a bridge and then went under a railway bridge.

We went over a stile and turned left which brought us to a railway line, which we crossed. We turned right and quickly left.

Crossing a bridge we found ourselves back at the canal (1.41pm) and turned right.

Turning left and right brought us into an estate of houses where on the front lawn of one was a large deflated plastic Santa. Let’s hope when that is erected proper respect is paid to elf and safety.

At the end of the road we turned left and the Dog and Partridge hove into view. We entered the pub at 1.52pm.

Thwaites Original was £2.64 and Wainwright £2.70 and the traditional Christmas Dinner voucher was £4.19.

Some pictures from Colin Davison follow.

We were soon joined by the B Walkers and by John Eckersley and Frank Dudley. Then Tom, having rid his pub of annoying customers, also arrived.

B Walkers' diary

Walkers; Ken, Geoff, Terry and Tony.        Apologies: Wally (W"<k)

Route:  Chez Colin - Wybersley Hall - Marple Ridge - PF canal - Ring o' Bells - Andrew Lane - High Lane.

After enjoying Colin's hospitality (in his absence), we set out in the sun along the ridge for Marple. Pie time was taken at the Romper, from where we followed the road and established where the 375 and 294 bus stops were in case we needed transport back to High Lane. At a sign for Hawk Green, we dropped down to the PF canal for a short loop to delay our arrival at the pub until noon. Every field above the canal was occupied by sun-bathing Canada geese. The Robbie's bitter was in excellent form as usual, £2.85 a pint.

Suitably refreshed, we turned left onto the Macc canal. The drivers (Ken and Tony) left the canal at the bridge leading to Marple GC, and followed the road back to High Lane, turning left along Andrew Lane. As we paused at the canal bridge, Geoff and Terry appeared below us, having reached this point in a much more sedate fashion.

After retrieving the cars, we joined the party at the Dog and Partridge for the carvery (£4.19) and beer (see George's blog for prices). One should not carp at such excellent value, but the plates were not hot, and the beer was dispensed in pints wastefully filled to the brim, and sadly flat as a pancake. Frank enjoyed his nosh, and was seen drinking a second Guinness rather than his usual port.

Next week:  Breakfast at Tiffany Hart's pad, then head for the Ladybrook as our intermediate pub. 

Back to our Christmas dinner and in Jock’s absence we were not treated to a reconstruction - in vegetables - of the Malaysian Petronas twin towers.

As previously agreed the walk on December 18^th will start at 10am from Mr Hart’s house in Poynton where bacon butties AND mince pies (not to mention mulled wine) will be on offer from 9am.

At around 2pm we will congregate for sandwiches kindly provided free of charge at The Bull’s Head, Poynton.

Happy Wandering!