Dısley

DISLEY, COCKHEAD, MILLENIUM WOOD, BOLDER HALL FARM, BLACK HILL, BLACK ROCKS RIDGE, OWLS’ NEST, SEVEN SPRINGS, PEAK FOREST CANAL, HIGGINS CLOUGH SWING PRIDGE, PAPER MILL, GOYT VALLEY, HAGUE BAR, THE FOX AT BROOK BOTTOM, STRINES STATION, STRINES HALL, PEAK FOREST CANAL (AGAIN), WOOD END LIFT BRIDGE, HAGG BANK AND THE WHITE HORSE AT DISLEY

Distance: 8-9 miles.

Difficulty: Moderate with stiff climbs.

Weather: Dry and Bright with Chilly Wind.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, Alan Hart, John Laverick, Jock Rooney with Tips, and Julian Ross.

B walkers: Terry Jessop, Tony Job, Ken Sparrow and Geoff Spurrell.

Non-walking drinkers: Frank Dudley and John Eckersley.

Apologies: Chris Corps (w*^king), Nigel Crank (business meeting), George Dearsley (Turkey trot), Mike Walton (w*^king) and George Whaites (Spanish hols).

Leader: Hart. Diarist: Hart.

Starting Point: Car park of White Horse, Disley.

Starting Time: 9.28am. Finishing time: 2.10pm.

After a disappointing turn-out in awful weather last week, we doubled our numbers for this walk which took place in unseasonably mild conditions and good visibility. There were several  undulations which had to be faced and the route resembled a rollercoaster ride.

This was particularly arduous for John after seven weeks’ absence due to illness and an exotic holiday in Mexico. However, if we are to strip him of the 12 pounds gained over Christmas, he must learn there can be no gain without pain. (Speaking for myself, I have managed to gain weight many times in the past without any pain at all, thus disproving this theory).

The planned route went like clockwork until we reached The Fox at Brook Bottom at High Noon precisely, only to find the landlord seven minutes behind schedule in opening the door. I need hardly tell you that this led to a prolonged bout of whingeing from Colin, who was suggesting all sorts of alternatives before we heard the cheery sound of the bolts being drawn back.

This coincided with the arrival of the B walkers, who had timed their finish in a way which would have done Lester Piggott proud.

The route, which is the only one your diarist is allowed to lead, is a familiar one so it is not our intention to describe it in the usual detail.

From the White Horse car park we swung right uphill, reaching the sign for the Ring O’ Bells, the former pub which was long since converted into a Quaker meeting house. We turned right here, crossing a stream and ignoring the muddy short cut on our left. Instead we kept to the path and turned left at the next fork to take us along the path we wanted.

With Lyme Cage directly ahead in the distance, we took a lane which pointed to the left of the distant Cage, turning left at a public footpath sign just before we reached a farmhouse. The path took us down to a wall on the left of a reservoir in an area with the delightful name of Cockhead.

At the end of the reservoir wall we pressed forward for a few yards and then went right over a wooden stile into a wood. The path led us to a lane which we crossed to head for Duke Carr Cottage (29mins). With the cottage on our right we went left up some steps and entered Millenium Wood. This path took us to the road from Disley to Moorside, where we turned right.

After passing Bolder Hall Farm on our left we followed a public footpath sign on the left which took us steeply up through moorland to the ridge at Black Rock (53mins). We turned left along the ridge with splendid views of the reservoirs in Lyme Park and Lyme Cage below us in the middle distance with  a series of hills beyond.

After crossing a ladder stile we then began our descent, passing The Owls’ Next, an outward bound centre for pupils of Manchester Grammar School, and then the childhood home of the late Frank Bloomfield, a legendary Wednesday Wanderer,   as we reached a road, crossed it and passed some stables before heading left downhill.

This brought us to a T-junction where we turned right and walked downhill through Seven Springs on a rocky path which had turned into a babbling brook. This brought us to the A6 (71mins) which we crossed to enter Lower Greenhall Lane. We went through a tunnel under the Manchester-Buxton railway line and reached the Peak Forest Canal (75mins). At a bench we paused for pies and port.

Resuming we walked along the towpath with the canal on our left until we reached Higgins Clough Swing Bridge. We turned right through a gap leading to a footpath (91mins) and took the left fork, later bearing left over a wooden stile and passing a pond on our right. This took us past the car park for a local paper factory,

Our group crossed a stream and reached a T-junction where we turned right up steep steps (98mins). This brought us to a road and a footpath on our left which went along the right bank of the River Goyt. This led to a road (110mins) where we turned left.

We passed Hague Bar playground on our right, went over a roadbridge across the Manchester-Sheffield railway line and exited Waterside Road to cross the main road into Hague Fold Road (118mins). There now followed a steep and unpopular climb along a twisting lane which brought us out on the road linking New Mills with Brook Bottom (129mins).

Our octet and Tips then turned left and reached The Fox just as it should have been opening at noon (130mins). However we had to wait for seven anxious minutes before the door was eventually opened, thus ending a tiresome rant from Colin. Inside we enjoyed pints of Robbies’ mild at £2-80 and bitter at £3 and the company of the B walkers. 

When we resumed by turning right downhill at a sign for The Goyt Way, we found Terry had increased our group to nine, with a reduced number of three now in the B team. Although they chose a more direct and shorter route, a brisk pace enabled us to reach the White Horse five minutes ahead of them.

To reach our destination we had walked through the tunnel under the Manchester-Sheffield railway line (143mins) and passing Strines Hall on our left. To our right we noticed that the former lake had been damned and then drained.

We crossed a roadbridge over the Goyt (147mins) before stopping for lunch at a picnic table in a field on our left (148mins). Continuing, we crossed Strines Road (151mins) and headed uphill until we reached the Peak Forest Canal (158mins). Here we turned left along the towpath with the canal on our right until we reached the Wood End Lift Bridge (168mins).

Our group turned right over the bridge, heading uphill again before passing Hagg Bank allotments on our left. This took us to The Dandy Cock on our left as we reached the A6 (178mins). We turned first right, crossed the road and then went left at the main traffic lights in Disley. The White Horse was on our right and we walked to the car park to de-boot (185mins).

Next week’s walk will start from outside The Cock at Whaley Bridge at 9.35am. Unless we receive confirmation that it has been permitted, we should not park in the pub car park. There should be plenty of room on the unrestricted road. Lawrie is proposing to lead us to The Old Hall at Whitehough, Chinley, for a livener at 12.30pm, returning to The Cock around 2.20pm.