Ridgegate Reservoir

January 13, 2016

RIDGEGATE RESERVOIR, MACCLESFIELD FOREST, SHUTLINGSLOE, WILBOARCLOUGH, OAKENCLOUGH, HANGING GATE PUB, GREENBARN, RIDGEGATE

Distance: 8 miles

Difficulty: Easy, but tricky underfoot

Weather: Sunshine, light cloud later. Some snow on ground.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Laurie Fairman, Jock and Keiran Rooney plus Tip, George Whaites

SOB walkers: George Fraser, Tony Job, Malcom Smith, Ken Sparrow, Geoff Spurrell

Apologies: Mark Gibby, Alan Hart (Benidorm), Tom Cunliffe (w*^*king), Colin Davison (b*^*ing), John Jones

Leader: Fairman​Diarist: Beal

Starting point: Lay-by at Ridgegate reservoir, Macclesfield Forest.

Start time: 9.38am​Finishing time: 2pm

The first snow of the winter on the higher ground, combined with bright sunshine at first, showed off the Peak District and Staffordshire Moorlands scenery at its best - although the conditions underfoot were somewhat tricky.

We were also able to visit after something of a long absence the Hanging Gate pub, now under new and friendly management after a period when its existence was apparently threatened.

Firstly Laurie wishes it to be known that your diarist's assertion that he was among the many fallers in last week's walk was incorrect. He was, he explained, merely performing a double pirouette after slipping, although not actually making contact with the ground. He made amends for that this week however.

The eagle-eyed among the Wanderers will have noticed that Colin provided your temporary diarist with the explanation of 'b*^*ing' to explain his absence from this week's outing. Several explanations of a scurrilous nature spring to mind, and the weather is surely too cold for boating. Any suggestions will be gratefully received and Colin will hopefully enlighten us next week.

Our five Wanderers left the lay-by at Ridgegate and headed along the road to the top of the reservoir, where we took a path at the side of the road on the right. We soon turned left to cross the road, headed up a track opposite and immediately took a footpath on the left in to the trees of Macclesfield Forest.

The land to the west of Shutlingsloe is all part of the Forest, which used to stretch 15 miles as the proverbial crow flies from Marple in the north to Bosley in the south. As my trusty Peak District Companion points out, a medieval forest was not exclusively woodland. The word referred to land reserved for royal hunting parties, as distinct from the privately-owned equivalent - the chase.  

We turned right on another footpath (10 minutes) and at a broad track turned left (14min), still climbing steadily.

At another junction we carried straight on (22min) and shortly after took a path on the left near a bench. This brought us, on the right, to a kissing gate leading on to open moorland and a Northern Footpaths Society sign reading "Wildboarclough via Shutlingsloe" (28min).

The sun had come out by this time and there were fine views of snow-covered Shutlingsloe ahead and to the right over the Cheshire plain. 

We continued along a flagged path over the moor, reaching a gate in a wall at the bottom of the steep climb to the 1,659 ft summit on our right (41min). Realising the steep descent from the summit might prove difficult in the slippy wet snow we decided to forego the climb and instead headed forward down a snow-covered gully which required careful footwork.

This brought us to a drystone wall, where we turned right (54min) and came to a stile on the left, which we crossed for the descent in to Wildboarclough (60min). Another stile and a small footbridge lead to a gap in a wall which we went through and reached a metalled track where we turned right (69min).

This lead to the minor road that runs up the isolated valley of Wilboarclough (76min), where we turned right. This brought us to the Crag Inn, on whose car park wall we declared pietime.

We resumed by continuing a short distance down the road to take a gate in the wall on the right on a path slanting diagonally right and climbing uphill. The route here through the fields, going through a series of five small gates, not easily spotted in the lines of drystone walls, has been marked by a helpful farmer with red discs marking each of them.

At the crest of the hill we climbed a railed stile over a drystone wall to reach a lane where we turned left (100 min).

We continued down the lane and past a small gate on the right where a sign told us that the moorland rising above us was part of the Piggford Moor Nature Reserve. We descended slightly and just before a bridge over a stream, went through a gate on the right (113min).

We climbed steadily up a narrow path with the stream on our left. At a gate and a bridge on our left we crossed to the opposite bank and slanted uphill to the right (126min).

We crossed a track leading to the comverted farmstead of Oakenclough - the former Tatton constituency home of Chancellor George Osborne - and continued through a gate to climb steeply uphill with a wall on our right. 

This soon brought us to a gate leading on to open moorland (131min), which we crossed slightly to our right, reaching at the crest of a hill, a wall. We turned right, reached a gate on our left and passed through it to join a sunken muddy path to emerge at the Hanging Gate (151min).

Awaiting us were the five B walkers, who had taken a direct route on the minor roads from Ridgegate. The Hyde's Bitter at £3 a pint was very acceptable.

The pub has apparently had a somewhat uncertain history since the departure of the Wanderers' favourite Estonian, Luda, for the Rose and Crown at Allgreave. Now however it is under new and youthful management who will hopefully ensure its survival.

We left the pub via a gate in its back garden and continued down a footpath, through three kissing gates, to reach a road where we turned left. Soon after we took a stile on the right to carry on down through fields. Here Laurie managed to prove he was more than capable of falling down, despite his failed efforts of the previous week.

We passed behind a wooden stable building, took a path to the right behind two modren houses and then across a track leading in to fields, reaching a lane which we crossed down and up steep steps on either side (171min). Three more stiles brought us to a farmhouse that was, and might still be, the home of Rugby legend Fran Cotton.

We skirted this on the left and reaching a driveway, slanted right down to a bridge over a stream. This marked our departure from the route of the Gritstone Trail, which we had followed from the pub.

A steep climb up steps brought us in to a field and then to the Ridgegate reservoir dam (194 min), where we paused for lunch. A short stroll brought us to the Leather's Smithy pub, from where we continued right up the road to our cars (210min), before returning after debooting. 

We reunited with the B walkers after their five-and-a-half mile walk to enjoy Theakston's Bitter at a rather eye-watering £3-40.

Next week's walk will start outside The Cock in Whaley Bridge at 9.30am, calling at The Shady Oak at around 12.15pm. 

Happy wandering!