Allgreave

April 22, 2015.

ALLGREAVE, CLOUGH BROOK, NABB QUARRY, SHUTLINGSLOE, MACCLESFIELD FOREST, THICKWITHENS FARM, THE HANGING GATE AT LANGLEY, LOWER NABS FARM AND THE ROSE AND CROWN AT ALLGREAVE

Distance: 8miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Blue skies and sunshine.

Walkers: Steve Courtney, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, Alan Hart, Jock Rooney with Tips, Julian Ross and George Whaites.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (recovering from ankle injury), Peter Beal (Spanish hols), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Geoff Spurrell (recovering from hip replacement replacement operation).

Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park of The Rose and Crown pub at Allgreave, south of Macclesfield.

Starting time: 9.51am. Finishing time: 2.05pm.

The unseasonably dry and warm April weather excelled itself for this walk in the area’s most picturesque countryside. There was scarcely a cloud in the sky as we climbed the hill known ironically as Cheshire’s Matterhorn and enjoyed the transition from late spring to early summer.

As we skirted the Dane Valley we were entertained by our feathered friends as we spotted a heron, several buzzards, a raven, and a flock of swifts. We also heard the distinctive cry of the curlew and the chirruping of chaffinches. At one point a hawk dropped a dead magpie at our feet and we also saw newly-born lambs and calves in the meadows.

To cap it all we sank pints of hand-pulled cask bitter in two traditional country pubs, which both had spectacular views from their sun-drenched beer gardens. And gentlemen in Turkey now-a-bed shall think themselves accursed they were not here

From the car park we descended right, passing The Rose and Crown on our right as we walked along the road for 300 yards. We turned left down a stony track (3mins) and took the left fork at Low House Cottage (8mins). This brought us to Clough Brook, which we crossed by a wooden footbridge and turned right (11mins).

We bore right with the road towards Wildboarclough, passing Nabb Quarry on our left (20mins) . After passing The Crag Inn on our left we turned left uphill (34mins). We crossed a cattlegrid to continue uphill (42mins) and turned left at a yellow arrow to head up Shutlingsloe (45mins). At this point our octet separated with the heroes, Steve, Colin, Tom and Julian heading for the summit of what is known by its shape – but not feet above sea level – as Cheshire’s Matterhorn.

The wimps, Lawrie, George, Jock and your diarist, opted for the right shoulder of the hill, reaching agate (59mins) and stopping for pie and port time. After we had been rejoined by the heroes, much to Tips’ relief and delight, we continued downhill.

We went through another gate (71mins) and turned left towards Langley, then left towards Trentabank (73mins) and left again along the Forest Bridleway. At this point Colin, Jock and Tips, who had fallen some 80 yards behind, decided not to follow us and thereby missed a stunning viewpoint (78mins) which looked down on Ridgegate Reservoir and The Leathers Smithy pub.

After pausing for a photo opportunity (82mins) we continued downhill and reached a road through a gate (100mins) at the same time as our absent friends. We turned left, passing Thickwithens on our left (107mins). At a T junction we turned left uphill (117mins) and reached The Hanging Gate on our right (120mins).

The latest tenants, who hail from Brighton, are the third licensees in a year following the departure of former Estonian landlady Luda a year earlier to take over our final watering hole, The Rose and Crown. The Hydes’ cask bitter was in good form at £2-85 a pint, although Colin wasted his when he chose to sit alone at a table on a slope. Happily for Colin, who had forgotten his wallet, Jock had to bear the cost of a fresh pint and a packet of crisps which had broken Colin’s normal £1 threshold.

Resuming, we took the path uphill directly opposite the pub and reached the entrance to the former home of Chancellor George Osborns. Here we stopped at a stone wall for lunch (134mins). When we continued we went through two wooden gates, first hearing the distinctive cry of a raven and then spotting it as it aimed for a copse of trees.

We exited the fields by a kissing gate (146mins) and turned left along a road. After passing Lower Nab Farm on our right (156mins), we reached the T junction and its signpost for Wildboarclough where we had earlier turned right (159mins). Here we turned right and retraced our earlier footsteps, crossing Clough Brook and returning to the pub (172mins).

Pints of mouth-watering Hope cask bitter, from the Howard Town Brewery at Glossop, were on sale for an eye-watering £3-40. We enjoyed them in the beer garden outside.

Howard Town was the nickname for Glossop when it was owned by the Howard family, who were Dukes of Norfolk. The land had been given previously to William Peverel by William the Conqueror after his unexpected away victory at the Battle of Hastings. The current site of Glossop was once one of a collection of adjoining villages in an area called Glossopdale.

Next week’s walk will start from the car park behind the Co-op in Chapel-en-le-Frith at 9.45am. We shall be having a bracer in The Old Hall at Whitehough, Chinley, around 12.15pm, finishing at The Roebuck in Chapel at about 2.20pm. Tony Job has asked me to tell you he will be buying a round of drinks to celebrate the 80th anniversary of his birth.

Happy wandering !