Furness Vale

January 27, 2016.

FURNESS VALE, LONGSIDE, DIPPING STONES, FORMER MOORSIDE HOTEL, LYME PARK, LYME CAGE, THE DANDY COCK AT DISLEY, PEAK FOREST CANAL, SWIZZELS MATTLOW FACTORY AT NEW MILLS, FURNESS VALE MARINA AND THE SOLDIER DICK AT FURNESS VALE

Distance: 8-9miles.

Difficulty: Tough climb at start but easy flat finish.

Weather: Mostly dry with brief squally showers.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Ron Buck, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, Alan Hart, Graham, Hadfield and George Whaites.

S.O.B. Walkers: George Fraser, Tony Job, Terry Jowett, Mal Smith, Ken Sparrow, and Geoff Spurrell.

Apologies: George Dearsley (in Turkey), John Jones (recovering from hernia op)

Leader: Hart. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park of The Soldier Dick at Furness Vale.

Starting time: 9.30am. Finishing time: 1.58pm.

After the balmy weather of last week, we were warned of dire conditions for this walk, with gale force winds bringing heavy rain. As it transpired, apart from two brief squally showers, we enjoyed a mainly dry day.

As we headed up the moors towards Bowstones, we certainly took a buffeting from the strong winds in our faces. At one point it was difficult to hear Colin and Tom speak (every cloud has a silver lining).

We were rewarded for our early efforts with splendid views across the Cheshire plains and our two themed pubs, The Dandy Cock and The Soldier Dick, both served excellent beer.

The walk had been planned to give John Jones – recovering from a hernia operation – a chance to join us at The Dandy Cock in Disley, for a flat walk along The Peak Forest Canal back to Furness Vale. In the event he was unable to meet us through illness but JJ kindly left £30 at the bar of The Dandy Cock for a drink to celebrate his birthday. It was agreed by those present that we would freeze this money until John was able to raise a glass with us.

From the pub car park we turned right along the A6 until we reached The Imperial Palace Chinese restaurant, where we turned right to head uphill. This brought us to the entrance to the Ringstones Caravan Park, where we turned right (9mins).

The path took us past a farm on our left and stables on our right (15mins). We walked through an open gate and swung right, keeping a drystone wall on our right as we climbed uphill. A series of stiles took us through fields until we reached the road linking Higher Disley with Whaley Bridge (27mins).

It had been my intention to make a detour and turn right for a quarter of a mile so those not familiar with it could see “The Murder Stone.” With rain forecast I decided to postpone the visit to another sunnier day later in the year. Meanwhile here is a piece of dark local history.

The Murder Stone on Disley Old Road, Longside, was erected in 1874 after a public collection. It reads: “ William Wood of Eyam Derbyshire murdered July 16, 1823.”

That simple inscription outlines the brutal murder of William Wood, aged 30, a calico manufacturer who was married with three children. He was returning from a market in Manchester where he had been paid the huge sum of £48.

William was set upon by three men dressed in sailors’ clothes. They used stones from the drystone wall to batter him to death and steal his money before fleeing to Macclesfield. His body was taken to The Cock, at Whaley Bridge (which we visited last week). A memorial service was held at the scene of his death. It was attended by 2,000 people.

After buying new clothes and shoes, his assailants fled by coach from Macclesfield to Manchester where one of them, Charles Taylor, was arrested. While in custody Taylor, from Salford, used his own stockings to hang himself in his cell.

A second suspect, Joseph Dale, 18, was caught on a boat about to leave Liverpool. He was brought back to The Cock to be examined by magistrates. He was sent for trial in 1824 at Chester Assizes (where the Moors Murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were tried and convicted in 1966). He pleaded not guilty, claiming he was not present when the murder was committed. But after two minutes deliberation, the jury found him guilty. A “great crowd of spectators” witnessed his public hanging.

The third killer, named by Dale as John Pratt, was never brought to justice.

We turned left away from The Murder Stone and after 100 yards turned right at a public footpath sign for Bowstonegate and Lyme Park (29mins). We followed the left of two paths, soon passing a post marked with a yellow arrow. Another climb took us to a wooden stile (37mins).

Thirty yards further downhill were a pair of boulders called The Dipping Stones, which were where, during The Great Plague of 1665, villagers with victims left money soaked in vinegar. This was taken by healthy neighbours in exchange for food. 

Looking back towards the Kinder plateau, we noticed that Kinder Downfall was being blown back vertically in the distance. After crossing the stile we crossed a wooden footbridge (41mins) and a ladder stile (51mins). We then began a descent into a valley with the former Moorside Hotel at Higher Disley on our right. This is now a home for disadvantaged children.

We followed the path to the right of a cattlegrid (54mins) and crossed a wooden footbridge to reach a road (60mins) which we crossed and followed a public footpath sign. This brought us to a ladder stile which we crossed and followed another wooden public footpath sign on the other side of a lane (65mins). The path brought us to a choice of stone step stile or ladder stile leading into Lyme Park (75mins).

Lyme Park, which extends for 1,359 acres, was given to Sir Thomas D’anyers in 1346 after he had retrieved the standard of The Black Prince during the Battle of Crecy. It passed by marriage from his granddaughter Margaret D’anyers to Piers Legh, who was wounded at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The Legh family retained the land until 1946 when, because of death duties, it was given to The National Trust.

The first mention of a house on the land was recorded in 1465, but the current Lyme Hall – the largest house in Cheshire – was first built in the middle of the 16th Century and has been extended and altered during subsequent centuries.

More recently Lyme Hall gained fame as Pemberley, the fictional home of Mr Darcy in the BBC’s 1995 production of Jane Austen’s 19th Century novel Pride and Prejudice. Women throughout the land went weak at the knees as Mr Darcy, played by actor Colin Firth, emerged from the hall’s lake in tight-fitting breeches and displaying a hairy chest.

After entering the park, we immediately crossed another ladder stile to our right to enter a wood where we paused for pies and port (80mins). Resuming, we took a path with a drystone wall on our right and exited via a ladder stile (87mins). We then turned left and headed for Lyme Cage, which involved a descent followed by a climb.

Lyme Cage, originally a hunting lodge, was later used as a park-keeper’s cottage and as lock-up for prisoners caught poaching deer. The first structure was in 1580 and it was rebuilt in 1737.

After admiring the panoramic views, we turned right away from the cage (107mins) and headed downhill passing Bollinhurst Reservoir on our right as we reached the park’s entrance hut (122mins). We turned right to leave the park via the East Gate and Red lane (123mins). This brought us to St Mary’s Church, Disley (133mins) where the graves of the Legh family were on raisedground to the right.

We also learned this was the church where, 43 years ago, Graham, then aged 21 with shoulder-length hair, had married Joyce, a 19-year-old spinster of the parish. The manly tear in Graham’s eye as he recalled the day was somewhat ambiguous.

We exited the church by a winding cobbled path and reached the main traffic lights at Disley (140mins), which we crossed and turned right in the direction of Buxton. On our left was The Dandy Cock (143mins) where we were served excellent pints of Robbies’ Unicorn for £2-90. We were also greeted by the landlady with a birthday treat from JJ which we will enjoy when he is restored to improved health. (Let the record show that Colin pocketed the money).

We turned right and right again to leave the pub and headeddownhill under a railway bridge (144mins). We turned left at Sherbrooke Road (147mins) to reach the Peak Forest Canal (149mins). Here we turned right along its right bank until we reached Bridge 26, which we crossed to reach the left bank. Lunch was taken with eight of us fighting over a bench made for four people (151mins).

Continuing along the left bank of the canal, we passed the Swizzels Mattlow sweet factory at New Mills on our left (169mins). Further along on our right was a sign (176mins) warning “Danger. Beware. Giant Hogweed.”  (There were no instructions on what one should do if attacked by hogweeds, but I took out my Swiss army knife just in case).

After passing Carrs Swing-bridge on our right (184mins), we reached Furness Vale Marina where we were pleased to see that Peter’s narrowboat, Hot Metal, was looking ship-shape. We exited the canal at Bridge 31 and passed The Crossings pub on our left (193mins) before reaching the A6.

Here we turned right as we met the S.O.B. walkers and crossed the road to reach The Soldier Dick, where the Wainwrights was on top form at £3-10 a pint.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.45am from the road at Danebridge, Wincle, Cheshire. We will be calling for a stiffener at The Rose and Crown, Algreave, around 12.15pm and finishing at The Ship at Wincle around 2.15pm.

Happy wandering !