BRABYNS PARK, MARPLE BRIDGE, MILL BROW, LUDWORTH MOOR,
GUN FARM, ROBIN HOOD’S PICKING RODS, COWN EDGE, RINGSTONES FARM, SHILOH HALL
FARM, HILL TOP FARM, THE DEVONSHIRE ARMS AT MELLOR, DAMSTEAD FARM, LINNET
CLOUGH SCOUT CAMP, PRESCOTT OLD HALL FARM, RUINS OF MELLOR MILL, THE NORFOLK
ARMS AT MARPLE BRIDGE
Distance: 11 miles.
Difficulty: Moderate.
Weather: Dry with
cloud and sunshine.
Walkers: Tom
Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, Alan Hart, John Jones, Jock Rooney
with Tips, Julian Ross and George Whaites.
B Walkers: Tony Job,
Malcolm Smith and Ken Sparrow.
Apologies: Mickey
Barrett (ankle injury), Peter Beal (in North Wales) and George Dearsley (in
Turkey)
Leader: Davison. Diarist:
Hart.
Starting point: Free
car park at Brabyns Park, Marple Bridge.
Starting time: 9.34am.
Finishing time: 2.50pm.
Those of us who complained in the early part of this walk
about excessive use of roadways will have been reminded of the old adage: be
careful what you wish for !
On the car journey to the starting point, our leader had
already declared himself to be suffering from labyrinthitis - an ear infection which causes
deafness and affects the sense of balance. It also seems to cause people to go
in the wrong direction.
After travelling for more than a mile on tarmac we were then
led along a series of muddy paths and through boggy fields as our leader once
again tried in vain to convert what he saw on his map into reality. It was
unkindly suggested that if you gave Colin a stick with a mirror on it, he would
be unable to find his own bottom. (This was not the precise wording)
As a consequence of our perambulations we often went
off-piste in search of the correct paths, so it is not possible (nor would we
wish to) instruct future generations how to copy our route. What follows,
therefore, is a vague description of how we came to reach both our main targets
more than half an hour behind schedule after travelling further than
anticipated.
Brabyns park is Marple’s largest and was once the estate
attached to Brabyns Hall. It was opened to the public in 1947.
From its car park we went right, returning to the main road
from Marple, and turned left before crossing the road and turning right with
The Norfolk Arms on our left. This took us past The Royal Scot and we turned
left up Hollins Lane (6mins)
After passing St Mary’s RC Church on our left we reached Ley
Lane and turned right (25mins) This took us past The Hare and Hounds at Mill
Brow on our left (29mins) and Sycamore Farm on our right. Shortly after the
farm we turned left (33mins) to leave tarmac for the first time by following a
wooden public footpath sign into a field.
A yellow arrow informed us we were walking along Cown Edge
Way. We followed another sign for Cown Edge via Ludworth Moor and passed
Hollywoods Cottage on our left (41mins) We followed a green public footpath
sign for Cown Edge and reached a lane where we turned right (47mins) Then we
turned left up a rocky path, ignoring a wooden public footpath sign on our
right.
This led us to a farmyard where we carried straight on
(59mins) We had already spotted a kestrel seeking to gain height for a hunting
expedition and now we reached marshy ground where three snipe took off ahead of
us. We meandered in various directions before reaching what appeared to be a
flat tombstone just in front of a wooden stile. It was a memorial to Charles
Heathcote (1944-2006)
After crossing the stile we walked through Gun Farm
(77mins), passing a dead sheep as we exited by going through a metal gate into
a field. Here we stopped (86mins) for pies and, for some of us, Crabbies’ green
ginger mac.
From the field we headed diagonally left, crossed a ladder
stile (96mins) and turned right. This brought us to two large stones known as Robin
Hood’s Picking Stones (101mins).
These are twin Saxon cross shafts, once called the
Maidenstones. Legend says that name comes from the days when young men came to
pick their wives from a gathering of local girls. (No internet dating in those
days). It is believed they may have been used as ancient boundary markers but
the Robin Hood connection has been lost in the mists of time.
We continued along the path past the stones and turned right
through a gate (106mins) This took us through a farm which we exited by a gate
(111mins) before crossing a wooden stile (119mins) We ignored a path on our
right and carried straight on but then veered off to the right and back to a
gate leading into a farm
We went to the left of the farm (128mins), crossed a
footbridge (134mins) and through a gate towards Ringstones Farm (136mins) We
turned left, reached a road (145mins) and turned right. This brought us to The
Childrens Inn.
Built in the 17th Century as a coaching inn,
it was converted into a holiday property for children in 1926 and is managed by
Girl Guiding, Stockport.
We turned left opposite the building by crossing a wooden
and stone step stile into a field and following the public footpath sign right.
We followed a white arrow to the right of a farmhouse (151mins) and reached the
former Moorfield Arms (153mins)
This was the pub where Frank Dudley celebrated his 90th
birthday, but it is now closed and a planning application has been made to
build four houses here.
We passed Shiloh Hall Farm, built in 1729, on our right
(158mins)and turned right through a gate to follow a green public footpath sign
(161mins) We crossed a wooden stile (162mins), a stone step stile (164mins) and
another stone step stile to reach a lane (167mins) where we turned right. This
brought us to another lane where we turned right again (168mins), passing Hill
Top Farm on our right.
We reached a road and turned right (172mins) to reach The
Oddfellows Arms (176mins) It came as no surprise to your diarist to find in
closed, so we reverted to our back-up plan which was to continue downhill to The
Devonshire Arms at Mellor (181mins). There we joined the B walkers, including
debutant Malcolm Smith, a friend of Ken.
Julian, in anticipation of his 54th birthday,
insisted on buying a round of Robbies’ bitter at £3-20 and mild at £3-10. There
was little resistance and we wish him many happy returns.
From the front door of the pub it is possible to cross the
road and be at Linnet Clough scout camp after a 15-minute stroll. We chose to
turn right downhill and arrived at the camp 41 minutes later ! To reach it we
turned right and walked downhill for 200 yards before turning left at a public
footpath sign which led down a flight of steps (185mins)
We passed two ponds on our left and headed uphill over a
stone step stile to reach a lane. Turning right downhill (190mins) we then
turned right again at a wooden public footpath sign (192mins) We swung left
passing Damstead Farm on our left (199mins) then paused for lunch (210mins)
Resuming we crossed a footbridge over a stream and passed a
go-kart track to reach the outward bound centre at Linnet Clough (215mins) We
turned right to follow the bridleway to Marple Bridge (216mins) This took us
past Prescott Old Hall Farm on our left (227mins) and the old mill lodge known
as North Lake on our right.
We turned right into Bottoms Mill Road (231mins) where the
ruins of Mellor Mill were being excavated by an archaeological dig on our right. Mellor Mill was
built by Samuel Oldknow after he bought the Bottoms Hall Estate in 1788. He
diverted the course of the River Goyt to power the machinery in what was the
largest cotton spinning mill of its time. It employed thousands of workers over
several generations until it was destroyed in a spectacular fire in 1892.
We continued along Bottoms Mill Road until it changed its
name to Low Lea Road (235mins). At the end of the road (245mins) we turned
left, passing The Royal Scot on our right before arriving at long last at The
Norfolk Arms (247mins) where a variety of cask beers were available.
Next week’s walk will start at 9.40am from Valley Road,
Hayfield, calling at The Lamb in Chinley around 12.15pm. It is anticipated that
the walk will finish about 2.20pm, followed by pies, peas and pints at The
Kinder Lodge, Hayfield, at 2.30 pm in a triple celebration of birthdays for
Julian, Ken and Colin.
Would those intending to attend please let Colin know not
later than the night before so he can instruct the caterers.
Happy wandering !
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