Bottom O' TH' Oven

BOTTOM O’ TH’ OVEN, FOREST CHAPEL, LAMALOAD RESERVOIR, SHINING TOR, STAKESIDE, THE CAT AND FIDDLE, PEAK VIEW TEAM ROOMS AND STANLEY ARMS AT BOTTOM O’ TH’ OVEN

Distance: 9 miles.

Difficulty: Strenuous.

Weather: Dry with mixture of blue skies, cloud and mist.

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

Apologies: Peter Beal (walking in Lake District), Tom Cunliffe (prolonged knee injury).

Leader: Davison. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park of Stanley Arms at Bottom o’th’ Oven, Wildboarclough.

Starting time: 9.48am. Finishing time: 2.47pm.

On a fine November day, only four A walkers assembled in the car park near the Cheshire-Derbyshire border for a new route planned by Colin. He was scarcely recognisable with his new close-cropped hairstyle which appeared to have been performed by a local sheep-shearer.

We covered some new terrain, occasionally criss-crossing familiar routes, and in the first hour clambered over a record number of stiles. Later we were to climb the hard way up Shining Tor leaving your diarist to wonder whether next week we might try something less challenging – like Kilimanjaro.

Happily the final leg of our journey was all downhill and ended with excellent pints of Marstons’ cask bitter, not to mention a shapely barmaid who served them.

We also found a possible alternative job for Julian at a church which holds services once a month at 3pm.

On arrival we seemed to have acquired a new walker of the canine variety, which turned out to be the pub dog. He was a friendly creature, much interested in the contents of our rucksacks, and took advantage of your diarist by goosing him during a vulnerable moment as I donned my boots.

We started downhill following the sign for Forest Chapel, Wildboarclough and Wincle. After passing Chambers Farm on our left we turned right towards Forest Chapel and Macclesfield Forest (5mins). After 50 yards along this road we turned right up a stony track and emerged at St Stephen’s Church (10mins), known as Forest Chapel.

This is a Grade 2 listed building, originally built in 1673 and rebuilt in 1834 using sandstone with a Kerridge stone-slate roof. The bell-tower has a saddleback roof and we admired thelouvers on the bell-openings.

Apart from its infrequent services, this Anglican church is also outstanding as one of the few remaining which still observes the ancient tradition of rushbearing. This happens in August when wild rushes are collected and strewn across the floor of the church.

The practice began in the Middle Ages, Lawrie recalled, when most buildings had earthen floors and rushes were used basically as air-fresheners. The rushes were commonly “sweet flag” oracorus calamus as our Latin scholars prefer to call them.

It is customary to ring church bells and provide wine, ale and cake for the rushbearers. (Perhaps this is a job for all of us) Some festivals had mimetic elements. An account from Cawthorne in Yorkshire in 1596 said people “did arm and disguise themselves, some of them putting on women’s apparel and long hair and went up and down the town showing themselves.” (Yorkshiremen are still doing this in Chapeltown every weekend!)

Festivals often attracted unsavoury characters such as pedlars, cutpurses and pickpockets and became a pretext for heavy drinking such that even pillars of the community would disgrace themselves.

An example cited was Tristram Tyldesley, minister of Rufford and Marsden, who “danced among light and youthful company, both men and women, at weddings and rushbearings, and in his dancing he wantonly and dissolutely kissed a maid, whereat diverse persons were offended and so sore grieved that there was weapons drawn and great dissention arose.”

After spending five minutes looking around the church’s unremarkable interior (15mins) we left and turned right up a path signed Forest Bridleway (16mins). Colin then led us through fields via a series of wooden stiles marked with yellow arrows, passing one farm and going through the yard of another (32mins).

We then crossed a series of four wooden footbridges before crossing a stone step stile to enter a farmyard (44mins). From there we went up a track, crossed a main road and walked through a series of fields with Lamaload Reservoir ahead of us in the distance. Three of us posed for a photo in front of a derelict building which will no doubt be captioned “four ancient ruins.”

Continuing we went left through a gate marked with a yellow arrow (57mins), through a second one (62mins), kept left and went through a gate by the side of a stream (64mins). We reached a derelict farm and stopped for Pietime (68mins). After walking through a milking shed we passed a postmarked with a yellow arrow and went over a wall by a stone step stile to enter a copse (71mins).

We exited by a wooden stile marked with a yellow arrow. We ignored the route straight ahead indicated by the arrow and instead headed diagonally right downhill to reach a lane, where we turned right. We went over a wooden stile marked with a yellow arrow (75mins) and turned left through a gate marked Reservoir Circuit (79mins). We crossed a wooden footbridge (81mins) and headed right uphill.

After emerging through a gate at a road, we turned left (80mins) with the reservoir now on our left. We turned right at a sign for Burbage via Shining Tor (88mins). We ignored a wooden stile on our left and opted for the direct route up Shining Tor, crossing a wooden stile marked with a yellow arrow (96mins).

Two shifty looking estate agents attempt to sell Alan Hart an

"investment opportunity"

We were now embarked on a relentless lung-bursting climb through a pair of stone gateposts (109mins) and straight on at a wooden stile (122mins) until we reached a set of slabs laid to form a footpath (135mins). Here we turned right and reached the Trig Point marking the summit of Shining Tor (137mins). We turned left towards Stakeside.

This led us through a gate where we turned right following a wooden public footpath sign marked Cat and Fiddle (149mins). The path swung left towards a road (161mins) with the Cat and Fiddle in view ahead. We turned left along the road for 200 yards and reached the pub (165mins).

Here, 1,690 feet above sea level, we enjoyed pints of Robbies’ Unicorn cask bitter at £3-20. After Colin had been served the last of their draught beer – “we’re getting a delivery at weekend,” said the cheery barman – we continued our trek. This time the route was mercifully downhill as we re-traced our footsteps along the road and track we had taken earlier.

At the point where the path swung right, we proceeded ahead (172mins) to reach the Peak View Tea Rooms on the right of the road (175mins). We crossed the main road and went over a wooden stile before stopping for lunch on a grass bank (190mins). We crossed a wooden stile (199mins) and exited a field by a gate on our left (206mins)

After crossing a stone step stile on our right (210mins) we turned right downhill and went through a gate marked with a yellow arrow. We exited a field by a gate and turned right uphill to reach The Stanley Arms. Pints of Marstons’ bitter at £2-90 were served by a tall young brunette with a surprisngly ample bosom.

Next week’s walk will start from the car park of The Unicorn at Dean Row, Handforth at 9.30am. We intend to reach the Admiral Rodney in Prestbury by 12 noon, although the pub opens its doors at 11.30am if we are unfortunate enough to arrive early. The aim is to return surreptitiously to our cars in the section of car park furthest from the Unicorn pub and drive to The Davenport Arms, still known colloquially as The Thieves’ Neck, Woodford, arriving at about 2.15pm.

Happy wandering !