Poynton

POYNTON SPORTS CLUB, PRINCE’S INCLINE, DAVENPORT GOLF CLUB, MACCLESFIELD CANAL, BOAR’S HEAD AT HIGHER POYNTON, LADY’S INCLINE AND BULL’S HEAD AT POYNTON.

Distance: Five miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Wet and windy.

Walkers: Chris Corps and Tricia Hill, with Fergus, Finola and Murphy, Alan Hart, Tony Job, John Laverick, Jock Rooney with Tips, and Dave Williams.

Non-walking drinkers: Ivor Jones, Maggie Laverick and Mary Rooney.

Apologies: Peter Beal, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, George Dearsley , Lawrie Fairman and Julian Ross.

Leader: Hart. Diarist: Hart.

Starting time: 10.33am. Finishing time: 2.20pm.

Starting Point: Poynton Sports Club.

The weather proved to be every bit as bad as the forecast, so no doubt are numbers were depleted by the pessimistic realists. There were only a magnificent seven, plus four canine friends, to take part in the annual New Year’s Day pilgrimage and some of us were soon questioning our wisdom in braving the elements.

One of Chris’s four dogs had already refused point blank to come out and the three which did were soon wishing they were back home with their four-legged pal. 

The constant rain had turned the footpaths and even the towpaths into the sort of quagmires last seen during the Somme offensive. In these conditions it is not much fun being a dachshund with one’s dangly bits trailing through the mud.

From the club entrance we turned right towards Hazel Grove and right again after 80 yards into Woodside. We took the footpath on the right which brought us to Towers Road (15mins) which we crossed and followed the footpath. By now heavy drizzle had turned to driving rain and your diarist’s umbrella was rendered redundant by the blustery winds, which at one stage removed Dave’s hat.

After passing the home of the late artist, hiker and occasional Wednesday Wanderer Ian Price, we crossed a bridge over the Middlewood Way and reached the Macclesfield Canal. Here we turned right and headed towards Bollington.

By the time we reached Lord Vernon’s Wharf, Chris and Tricia’s dogs were looking particularly bedraggled and were clearly not enjoying the experience. They were no doubt relieved when their owners decided to cut short the walk and take them home.

The remaining five men and his dog went to the comparative shelter of the Middlewood Way, where we stopped for whisky, port and cakes beneath a convenient tree (60mins). By the time we had enjoyed a leisurely break, the doors of The Boar’s Head nearby were opening. There was a unanimous decision to curtail the walk and get out of the rain. No vote was deemed necessary.

While drinking pints of Black Sheep cask bitter at £2-92, a barmaid asked if it was OK to give Tips a treat. She explained that she had a pet collie and she had a soft spot for them. Tips, however, reacted with horror and fled from her advances.

She snuggled up next to your diarist and started licking his face (Tips, not the barmaid). We later worked out that Tips had recently paid a visit to the vets, whose staff wore aprons. The barmaid was wearing an apron so Tips had presumably made the connection between aprons and painful needles.

By the time we were ready to leave, the rain had ceased temporarily and we were able to walk downhill to Hockley along Anson Road. At the end we went straight on (75mins) uphill into Davenport Golf Course, turning left and crossing the fairway.

The path took us back to Lady’s Incline, which led us to Woodside and on to London Road North (100mins). Here we turned right to reach The Bull’s Head (102mins) for pints of Thwaites Original cask bitter at £2-95. We were later joined by Ivor Jones, Jock’s wife Mary and John’s wife Maggie.

Next week’s walk will start from the car park of The White Horse at Disley at 9.30am. Although there are signs threatening that non-drinkers will be clamped, your diarist has arranged for our cars to remain unmolested until we return from our walk around 2.15pm. We plan to make a stop for refreshment at about 12.15pm in The Fox at Brookbottom.