Whaley Bridge

May 11, 2016

THE COCK AT WHALEY BRIDGE, CROMFORD TRAMWAY, TAXAL CHURCH, TAXAL NICK, WINDGATHER ROCKS, PYM CHAIR, DUNGE VALLEY GARDENS, THE SWAN AT KETTLESHULME, TODDBROOK RESERVOIR, WHALEY BRIDGE

Distance: 9 miles​Ascent/descent: 1,643ft

Difficulty: Easy

Weather: Cloudy but dry and bright. Mild

Walkers: Peter Beal, Laurie Fairman

Leader: Fairman​Diarist: Beal

Apologies: Alan Hart ( 'various factors'), Graham Hadfield (bad back), George Whaites (painters in), Tom Cunliffe (unknown), George Dearsley (Turkey), Mickey Barrett (sailing off Turkey), Colin Davison (sailing round Britain)

Start: The Cock Inn, Whaley Bridge

Starting time: 9.35am​Finishing time: 2.20pm

A sparse turn-out indeed for this week's walk above the Goyt Valley, perhaps influenced by some of the Wanderers girding their loins, or just packing, for their walking trip to Bulgaria the following day.

The remaining duo were rewarded with pleasant weather and delightful countryside, although long-distance views were spoiled by a thick haze.

Sadly, one of our objectives, the gardens at once renowned Dunge Valley, famous for its rhododendrons, seemed to have fallen in to disrepair, although there were some fine specimens still on show.

En route we also gleaned an update on the progress of Colin on his round-Britain sailing odyssey. He reported he had reached Northern Ireland on his way to the Scottish Isles. All sounded well as he was drinking beer.

We left the Cock and turned immediately left up a narrow footpath to the Cromford tramway, where we turned right along a familiar route, under a tunnel, and at a residential development took a path to the right which brought us out at the main Whaley to Buxton Road.

We crossed this to take a track immediately opposite and dropped down to cross the River Goyt by a footbridge. A steep pull uphill on a metalled track brought us to Taxal Church (25 minutes).

We turned left and almost immediately right, through a gate which took us in to a field going uphill. We crossed a stile and passed through a broken section of drystone wall to emerge on a lane (35min).

We turned left here and immediately right on a path slanting on to the open moorland. We climbed steadily through the sparse heather and reached Taxal Nick, a slight depression in the ridge (45min).

Here we turned left and passed through a small gate, keeping just below the ridge on our left, heading for Windgather Rocks, the outline of which could be seen on the skyline ahead of us.

We bypassed a farm on our right and went through a metal gate and over a stile on to open grassland. A steady climb brought us to Windgather Rocks (60 min). Here a party of hard-hatted schoolchildren were just arriving to be introduced to the thrills of rockclimbing. They looked less than enthusiastic.

Pietime would normally be declared here, but as it was only 10.35 we pressed on along the ridge, which eventually leads to Shining Tor, Cheshire's highest point. A short distance further on we crossed a stile to the adjoining minor road, to avoid the boggy ground ahead.

We reached the junction of minor roads at Pym Chair (85 min),where we declared a leisurely 15-minute pietime, enjoying the fact there were no big boys present urging us onwards.

We turned right, steeply downhill and shortly after a copse of conifers, followed a footpath sign in to a field on our right (90 min). We soon reached a farm, where we spotted a stile party hidden in a corner to our right.

We crossed this and followed the path through fields, over three more stiles, before reaching two metal kissing gates that brought us to Dunge Farm, the site of Dunge Valley Gardens, famous for its rhododendrons and azaleas (120 min).

The gardens had a run-down and almost abandoned feel to them, despite once being listed in the collection of Great British Gardens. Research found that the owners were retiring and announced that the gardens would only be open on weekends this summer if help could be found to restore them to a safe and viable state.Sadly, this seems not to be the case and they would appear to be doomed.

We walked through the collections of buildings, spotting some rhododendrons in bloom, and followed a track which became a metalled lane. This brought us to a crossroads at Fivelaneends (the fifth route was a track) and we continued straight on. We followed this until reaching a stile on our left, which took us in to a grassy, wooded valley, where we followed the stream downhill before reaching a track where we turned right.

Very soon a snicket on the left brought us out in to the rear yard of The Swan at Kettleshulme (160 min). As usual, this was busy with diners and we settled happily on benches outside. Marston's Bitter was £3-20 a pint.

Resuming, we crossed the Whaley to Macclesfield road and followed a footpath sign through the busy nursery opposite, passing an imposing house on our right. We turned right down the lane and followed this for some distance until dropping down to a bridge over the Todd Brook.

Just before the bridge we took a stile on the right and followed a path through the woods, high above the stream, before dropping down to a stretch of extremely boggy ground at the head of the Toddbrook reservoir (185 min).

Here our route forward would previously have involved a scramble up a four-foot-high wall of masonry housing a sluice in to the reservoir. Happily, during the course of replacing the machinery the kind souls have incorporated a ladder.

We crossed the almost dry stream bed, climbed the ladder and continued along the left bank of the very full reservoir before reaching the dam wall. Here we dropped down right through Whaley Bridge's Memorial Park to emerge near The Cock and our cars (205 min).

The next walk, on Wednesday, May 25, will start at Longnor at 9.45am with drinks afterwards at The Cheshire Cheese around 2.20pm. Discussions about an en-route venue are still ongoing.

**Your temporary diarist is not going to Bulgaria but will go for a walk next Wednesday, May 18, anyway. Anyone wishing to join me on The Not The Bulgaria Walk Walk, should meet outside the George in Hayfield at 9.30am.

Happy wandering!