Marple Bridge

BRABYN'S PARK AT MARPLE BRIDGE, COMPSTALL, ETHEROW COUNTRY PARK, ERNOCROFT, CHEW, BOTHAM'S HALL, WERNETH LOW, HARE AND HOUNDS, COMPSTALL, BRABYN'S

Distance: 10 miles.​Ascent/descent: 2,100ft.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Dry and sunny.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Micky Barrett, Chris Corps (plus Fergus and Fenola), Colin Davison, Laurie Fairman,

John Jones, John Laverick, George Whaites

Apologies: Tom Cunliffe (pub duties), George Dearsley (Turkey), Alan Hart (Ireland), Jock Rooney (working abroad).

Leader: Fairman (and occasionally Davison). Diarist: Beal.

Starting point: Upper car park in Brabyn's Park, Marple Bridge.

Starting time: 9.36am. Finising time: 2.57pm.

A beautiful sunny autumn day gave us panoramic views of Derbyshire, Cheshire, the whole of Greater Manchester and further afield as we completed a scenic and at times rather strenuous circuit of the Etherow Valley.

We were rather surprised to find our usual parking spot in Brabyn's Park at Marple Bridge almost full of vehicles. In fact Colin was forced to seek alternative parking back towards the main road. This sudden popularity is, we suspected, down to rail commuters from the nearby station driving in from the sticks to take advantage of the cheaper Greater Manchester fares. Something should be done about these workers clogging up the countryside.

Our band of eight departed at 9.36 from the top of the car park before heading downhill through the sports pitches that now occupy the former estate of Brabyn's Hall, sadly demolished in 1952 after plans to turn it into a museum and art gallery came to nothing.

We reached the fairly recently-restored Brabyn's Iron Bridge over the River Goyt (12min) just east of the river's junction with the Etherow. This spot has been said to be the start of the Mersey, although other authorities put this at the Goyt's junction with the Tame, four miles nearer Stockport.

The Grade 2 listed bridge, built in 1813, has been described as "a unique structure of national importance" – the first of its kind in the North West, erected following Telford's spectacular construction at Ironbridge in Shropshire.

It was designed to provide carriage access for the Hall's then owner Nathaniel Wright to Compstall. We crossed the bridge and followed the carriage route along a track which brought us to the main road at Compstall (15 min), close to the former George pub – site of Wanderers' starts in the past, but sadly no more.

A short walk left along the road brought us to the entrance to Etherow Country Park - opened in 1968 and one of the first of its kind in the UK – where we turned right and followed the track with the lake on our left.

At the lake's end (22min) we continued along the track with the river on our right and a small canal on our left. Colin told us this was constructed to carry coal from small mineworkings further up the valley down to Compstall, and indeed we saw evidence of these as we walked onwards.

Brightly coloured Mandarin ducks were in evidence in the canal among our home-grown species.

We reached an eight-tiered weir at the end of the broad track (30min) and ascended a wooden flight of steps to cross below the weir and took a track to the right into Ernocroft Wood. We reached a fingerpost (37min) and followed the signing left to Glossop Road up a steepish slope, still in the woods.

We emerged on the Glossop to Marple Bridge road (48min) at a signed entrance to the country park and turned right along the busy road for a short distance before spotting an easily-missed footpath sign near a stile and gate on the left.

We crossed the stile and took the path uphill to quickly reach a green lane slanting up to the left, which brought us to Ernocroft Farm Lodge (61min).  We continued along the track to a junction where a fallen-down footpath sign near two cottages directed us left, then immediately right, up a metalled lane.

We passed Ernocroft Farm on our right (64min) and almost immediately went through a gate on our left onto a rough track (65min). When the track bore left with the path ahead leading over a stile into a field pietime was declared (68min) at the early hour of 10.47.

The sad absence of Tom meant however we had a leisurely 10-minute break, marred only by the lack of traditional port.

We crossed fields over two stiles, the last with a four-way Peak and District Footpath Society sign offering us the options of High Chisworth, Chew or Mill Brow, and Ernocroft, the way we had come.

Here was enacted a rather familiar scene that could be a moorland vignette of Mutiny on the Bounty. As Captain Bligh Fairman strode confidently off ahead towards High Chisworth, followed by most of his crew, Colin "Mr Christian" Davison announced his intention to do nothing of the sort, and headed left towards Chew.

Your diarist, dithering decisively between the two parties, heard Colin declare "Don't worry – they'll be back". Sure enough, they were, and we continued  across a series of stiles through fields until a sharp downhill slope brought us to a farm at High Ash House (87min).

A short walk down a track brought us again to the main Glossop Road near Chew (106min),where we went straight over into a metalled lane leading us to Far Woodseats Farm (102min).  A track on the right through the farm and through a gate took us into a field, along a steep bank and then into woods, where we descended sharply to reach a grassy path(112min).

A stroll along the riverbank brought us to a green metal footbridge over the water on the right which we crossed. In sight 50 yards downstream was the original timbered bridge, now rotting and officially declared unsafe.

A turn left along a track brought us to historic late 17th-century Botham's Hall and its hamlet of cottages.

The Hall is a Grade Two listed building, and we soon realised why after pausing to admire its projecting plinths, quoins and first and second floor continuous dripmoulds, not to mention the four-light double-chamfered mullion window.

Outside one of the cottages was what we all agreed was a recent addition, a splendid sandstone block – "Rob's Rock" , commemorating "Rob Dixon – Moutaineer – 1951-2000". Research on my part has failed to reveal who Rob was, or the cause of his untimely demise.

We took a left at the footpath sign immediately after the cottage and – after another Fletcher Christian moment – descended to the bottom of a steep ravine where wooded steps on the other side took us up into Back Wood where signs told us we were now on the Cown Edge Way.

A delightful track up through the woods, steadily uphill, brought us to a track (129min) where we continued straight ahead up another narrow path, wet and boggy, which brought us out onto the metalled road of Apple Tree Lane (139min).

A very steep climb from here left towards Werneth Low brought protests from some of the Wanderers before we reached the twin TV masts at the top of the hill (149min).

We turned left up the road towards the top of Werneth Low, at a height of 915 feet. The name Werneth comes from the Welsh Verno for Alder, thus meaning the place where alders grow. The 200 acre country park was established in 1980 – but sadly since Greater Manchester public transport people decided in 2010 to improve services there is no bus route to the hamlet.

We reached the Hare and Hounds pub on the crest of the hill at 12.35pm (170min) . We partook of Wincle Waller, Beartown Bear Ass and Dobcross Brewery Bitter, all excellent and all at the quirky price of £3-19.

A rather long sojourn here may have contributed to our late arrival at Marple Bridge, as we left at 1.35pm and retraced our steps, turning right, towards Werneth Low before bearing right into Mount Road(200min).

We passed the Cricket Club on our right, went through a gate and down through two fields, in the second of which we paused for lunch. We reached a farm and bore left through stiles over two more fields. A steep drop brought us to a junction of two streams in woods (235min).

A short climb up through boggy woods brought us to the main Marple road, where a left turn down the road would have taken us to Compstall. However, Colin persuaded us to take the alternative tour through Redbrow Woods, which proved to be a delightful half-mile detour on slippy and muddy woodland. We emerged on the riverside path (255min) to rejoin our outgoing route at the Iron Bridge.

Here John J attempted to activate the newly-installed wind-up audio information device to no avail.

We retraced our route through the playing fields to the car park.

Three of us repaired to the Norfolk Arms, where your diarist was devastated to find there were no B walkers there to be plyed with drink on his birthday celebrations. He was left to muse that if he had known he would live so long he would have taken better care of himself.

The Hornbeam's Lemon Blosson, Moorhose Premium Bitter, and Middleton SBA bitter, all at £3, were all excellent.

Next week's walk will start at the car park behind the Co-op in Chapel-en-le-Frith at 9.45am. Stop at the Wanted Inn, Sparrowpit (Colin checking on opening times). Drinks after at Roebuck, Chapel.

The following pictures courtesy of John Jones.