Sheldon

June 22, 2016.

SHELDON, HADDON GROVE FARM COTTAGES, MILL FARM, MILL DALE, LATHKILL DALE, BAGSHAW DALE, SHUTTLEHILL COTTAGE, THE BULLS HEAD AT MONYASH, DALE VIEW COTTAGES, NURSERY FIELDS FARM, MAGPIE MINE, THE COCK AND PULLET AT SHELDON

Distance: 8 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Dry and mainly sunny.

Walkers: Alan Hart, Jock Rooney with Tips and Julian Ross.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (Japan hols), Peter Beal (Greek island hols), Tom Cunliffe (injured knee), Colin Davison (circumnavigating Great Britain and Northern Ireland), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Lawrie Fairman (cruise lecturing), Mark Gibby (in Kent) , Graham Hadfield (French hols), George Whaites, (Spanish hols but injured)

Leader: Rooney. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Road near The Cock and Pullet at Sheldon, Derbyshire.

Starting time: 10am. Finishing time: 3.09pm.

Julian made a welcome return to the fold after a lengthy absence spent enhancing his property empire, while other Wednesday Wanderers enjoyed exotic holidays on land and sea, at home and abroad. Consequently, as the nights started to draw in, there was only a trio or walkers for this comfortable hike through one of the Peak District’s prettiest dales.

We started from the quaint village of Sheldon, near Bakewell, which is famous for its Magpie Mine and its Sheldon Duck.

The Magpie was a lead mine built in the Cornish style and it flourished in the 18th and 19thCenturies. Its ruin is the most complete example of this type of mine in the Peak District and has been given Ancient Monument status.

According to legend, in the 1600s a duck was seen flying into an ash tree in Sheldon. It never emerged. But 300 years later, when the ash tree was felled, the image of a duck appeared in the marking inside the timber. It was displayed for many years at Ashford-in-the-Water Post Office and postcards bearing a photo of this remarkable tree pattern were sold. Later, the timber merchant who felled the tree reclaimed it and used the board for his mantelpiece at home.

(What I find most extraordinary about this legend is that for 300 years, from generation to generation, the good people of Sheldon passed down the story of a duck which had flown into a tree and never been seen again. Then, 300 years later, when the tree was felled and the pattern of a duck appeared in the timber, somebody said: “That must be the duck which we have talked about in Sheldon for three centuries.”

Because otherwise it would be a complete load of b*^locks)

Passing The Cock and Pullet (no giggling at the back) on our left, we turned left at a green public footpath sign (2mins) and crossed a stone step stile. We squeezed through a gap stile to enter a field and exited it through another stone step stile.

We went through a wooden gate marked with a yellow arrow (5mins), turned right and then left through another wooden gate to aim towards the distinctive ruins of The Magpie Mine with its broken tower and intact chimney.

Our outward route took us left of these buildings along a grass track (10mins) and we went straight on where footpaths crossed. After passing through a wooden gate we turned left, went through an open gate and turned right (20mins). At the right corner of the field we were now in, we dog-legged first right and then left over stiles marked with a yellow arrow. We crossed another stone step stile to reach a road, Horse Lane, linking Monyash with Ashford-on-the-Water, where we turned left (26mins).

We followed the sign for Bakewell  (31mins) and turned right down a gravel track (38mins). This brought us to the B5055 between Monyash and Bakewell. We turned right (44mins). After passing Haddon Grove Farm Cottages on our right (46mins) we immediately turned left at a wooden public footpath sign to enter a field.

An open gate with a stone step stile by the side of it brought us to a country lane next to a wooden public footpath sign (55mins). We crossed the lane to enter the drive of Mill Farm opposite, leaving the farmyard via a wooden stile marked with a yellow arrow (57mins). After passing through a wooden gate we walked downhill through a wood and emerged in Mill Dale.

Our descent took us to a five-barred wooden gate on our left just in front of the River Lathkill. Here we turned right and stopped at an idyllic spot in a sylvan setting by the side of the river. It was time for pies and port (70mins)

Resuming our journey with the Lathkill on our left we now embarked  on one of the most picturesque walks in the Peak District with the river babbling by our side as we walked along a gorge protected by towering cliffs. We reached the main road (118mins) and turned left uphill.

But after 20 yards, instead of going directly along the road to the pub, Jock led us along a public footpath on our right which took us over a series of stone step stiles into Bagshaw Dale. This direct route took us to a lane (132mins) where we turned left, soon reaching a road and turning left again (133mins)

We passed Shuttlehill Cottage on our right (135mins) and Monyash Primitive Methodist Church, built 1888, on our left before turning left once again to reach The Bulls Head at Monyash on our left (137mins). Both on the pub’s sign and its menu there is a shocking absence of an apostrophe.

The pub has existed in one form or another since medieval times when they held a market on the village green. But there is a warning on its website that sometimes morris dancing is permitted.

After ordering three pints of Black Sheep at £3-30, we took two of them back because they were cloudy and failed to clear. The barman had no hesitation in replacing the two returned pints with three pints of Chatsworth, which were in good form and enjoyed in the sunny beer garden at the back of the pub.

Suitably refreshed, we retraced our footsteps past the Methodist Church and Shuttlehill Cottage and continued until we passed Dale View Cottage, built in 1762 (143mins). We turned right, passing Nursery Fields Farm on our left (151mins) on a direct route through fields, stiles and gates. Lunch was taken (157mins) on some chair-shaped stones and we continued afterwards over a stone step stile into a copse (170mins).

Our trio reached a road and turned right (174mins). We ignored a sign pointing left for Sheldon (176mins) and carried on until we came to a large tree, beyond which was a wooden public footpath sign on our left (179mins). We followed this over two stone step stiles, heading for Magpie Mine which we reached and explored  briefly (187mins).

Then we dropped down to the path, over a stone step stile which brought us back to the wooden gate we had been through from the opposite direction earlier (194mins). We retraced our footsteps back to the road (199mins) and turned right to enter The Cock and Pullet (201mins).

As we downed pints of Doombar for £3 and Timothy Taylor’s Landlord for £3-20, Jock informed us that back in the 1970s, when the pub had reopened after refurbishment, the Wednesday Wanderers were its first customers. Apart from Jock the group comprised Roy de Courcey, Ivor Jones, John Partington and Peter Miles.

As we are uncertain about the availability of a fully-trained leader, next week’s walk will start from the car park at Poynton Sports Club at 9.30am. It is intended to go across the Macclesfield Canal along the Ladybrook Trail through Lyme Park up to Bowstones before dropping back into Disley for a bracer at The Dandy Cock around 12.30pm. We anticipate returning for another jar in The Cask Tavern on Park Lane, Poynton, at about 2.30pm.

Happy wandering !

     

Longnor

June 15, 2016.

LONGNOR, CHROME HILL, HOLLINSCLOUGH, FERNYDALE FARM, THE QUIET WOMAN AT EARL STERNDALE, BEGGAR’S BRIDGE, LONGNOR AND THE PACK HORSE INN AT CROWDECOTE

Distance: 8-9 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Cloudy but mostly dry with occasional light drizzle.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Tom Cunliffe, Alan Hart and Jock Rooney with Tips.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (in Japan), Colin Davison (circumnavigating Great Britain and Northern Ireland), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Lawrie Fairman (cruise lecturing), Mark Gibby (in Kent), Graham Hadfield (in France), John Jones (painting narrowboat) and George Whaites (injured back: in Spain).

Leader: Rooney. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Main cobbled square in Longnor, Staffs.

Starting time: 10.02am. Finishing time: 2.42pm.

An impressive list of exotic holiday locations took their toll on the numbers for this walk from Longnor, our second visit to the Staffordshire market town in three weeks. On this occasion, instead of heading south-east towards Hartington, we aimed north-east for Earl Sterndale.

Following the sunshine of a week ago and the torrential rain at the weekend, this was a predominantly grey day with a hint of drizzle. Nevertheless there was clear visibility as we wandered through some spectacular scenery.

As we assembled in the main cobbled square in Longnor, a sign above the Craft Centre informed us of the prices charged for buyers and sellers on market days. This was dated 1903and signed by Sir Varney Harpur Crewe, baronet and lord of the manor. Clearly such names are not only to be found in the fictional novels of Dickens and Austen.

After waiting for Tom to perform his lengthy ablutions, we went past the public toilets adjoining the square and headed up Chapel Street. At its end we turned left and immediately right up Lane Head (1min). A set of wooden steps on our right (2mins) led us into and across a field and over a wooden stile (7mins).

We reached a narrow gap stile (13mins) which promised to be a challenge for Tom’s muscular thighs, but he overcame the challenge and the stile by climbing over it. We continued uphill to a road where we turned right (19mins).

This took us uphill past a set of traffic lights until we reached a wooden public footpath sign on our left (26mins). We followed this along a gravel track and crossed a wooden stile (31mins) and then a wooden footbridge (35mins). Our route was taking us past the left shoulder of Chrome Hill

We exited the field by a wooden gate and reached a gravel path where we turned left (39mins). After crossing another wooden footbridge (44mins) we went through a metal gate (48mins) and passed the Hollinsclough Church of England Academy on our right (59mins). (In olden days these used to be called primary schools).

Jock led us to two convenient benches opposite Hollinsclough Methodist Chapel where we paused for pies (61mins). Resuming, we turned left uphill and then right at a wooden public footpath sign marked with a yellow arrow (64mins).

We crossed a footbridge (68mins), went through a metal gate and joined a public bridleway which merged from our left (84mins). After crossing a cattlegrid to reach a lane, Jock was obliged to consult his map – always a bad sign – before directing us through a gap stile on our right (86mins).

This proved to be a mistake when we found ourselves heading back to Chrome Hill, so we retraced our footsteps back to the gap stile and turned right (96mins). We continued along the lane until we reached a wooden stile marked with a white arrow on our right (99mins). We crossed this and went through a wooden gate (100mins). 

Our route took us through a gap stile (102mins), an open gate by the side of a wooden public footpath sign (104mins), across a cattle-grid (105mins) to a T-junction where we turned right (108mins). We followed this path until turning left at a wooden public footpath sign marked with a yellow arrow (125mins).

A steep climb took us through a wooden gate at the top of a hill where we followed the direction of a yellow arrow on the gate (129mins). By this stage we had lost our leader, who had gone back to retrieve a forgotten stick. (After all that practice one wonders why he didn’t shout “Tips: Fetch.”)

With our first target of Earl Sterndale in sight, we were able to carry on leaderless over a stone step stile (133mins) and head downhill with a drystone wall on our right. Two metal gates were negotiated as we reached a lane and turned right (139mins).

We went straight ahead at a crossroads (148mins), passing Fernydale Farm on our left (150mins) to reach the village, whose sign had lost three letters, thereby transforming it into The Viking-sounding name of Arl Sternda.

We soon arrived at The Quiet Woman pub on our right (152mins), whose inn sign depicted a decapitated lady. (Surely it can only be a matter of time before the PC brigade take action against this blatant piece of male chauvinism. We look forward to hearing Julian’s view)

The Marstons’ cask bitter at £3 a pint was deemed to be below standard by our sommelier, Tom, although he seemed to enjoy the pub’s pie: another example of his radical new diet.

We continued our walk by turning left and left again out of the pub to its rear and headed uphill through a gate into a field full of tups. We crossed a concrete and bar stile (155mins) to enter the next field and after crossing a stone step stile (158mins) we turned left to follow a wooden public footpath sign.

After crossing another stone step stile (160mins) we turned right at a wooden public footpath sign to descend steeply downhill  (161mins). We went through a wooden gate down steps (166mins) and paused for lunch (168mins). Continuing afterwards, we turned left through a wooden gate and then a metal gate (171mins) which took us through a farmyard (175mins).

We turned right at a public bridleway (179mins) and crossed Beggar’s Bridge (183mins). This took us through a field to a metal gate by the side of a barn, where we turned left to join a concrete path uphill (192mins). After going through a metal gate we passed some farm buildings (196mins) and headed downhill (197mins).

This brought us to the main road through Longnor with the Cheshire Cheese in sight on our right (199mins). We reached our cars (200mins) and de-booted. Your leader and diarist repaired to The Pack Horse Inn at Crowdecote in our respective cars and were welcomed with a choice of beers at £3 a pint just before their 3pm closing time.

Next week’s walk will start from Sheldon, Derbyshire, at 9.55am. If you pass The Cock and Pullet (an unfortunate name) on your left, there is roadside parking available further on where we can assemble. It is our intention to head through Lathkilldale to reach The Bull’s Head at Monyash around 12.30pm and return for a further libation at The Cock and Pullet at about 2.30pm.

Happy wandering ! 

  

Taddington

TADDINGTON, BRAMWELL MEMORIAL INSTITUTE, FLAGG, PASTURE BARN, THE DUKE OF YORK AT POMEROY, THE CHURCH INN AT CHELMORTON, BANK PIT SPRING, SOUGH TOP, THE QUEENS ARMS AT TADDINGTON

Distance: 8-9 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Mixture of cloud, blue skies and sunshine.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart and Jock Rooney with Tips.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (w*^king on house),Colin Davison (sailing round British Isles), George Dearsley (in Turkey),Lawrie Fairman (cruise lecturing), Graham Hadfield and George Whaites (both injured), Julian Ross (w*^king).

Leader: Rooney. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Outside The Queens Arms at Taddington, Derbyshire.

Starting time: 9.50am. Finishing time: 2.30pm  

A variety of injuries, jobs and holidays reduced our numbers for this walk, which proved that sometimes flat can be beautiful. Apart from a steady climb at the start and another at the beginning of our second leg, this route had little in the way of undulations. Nevertheless we were able to appreciate the beauty of the English countryside in the summer, accompanied by the call of the curlew.

In the absence of Lawrie, Jock modestly accepted the crown of leadership, while protesting he was not worthy and probably incapable of reaching our watering holes in time. Methinks he doth protest too much ! He steered us almost flawlessly through fields full of wild flowers, sheep and cattle and arrived at the pubs within the accepted margins of error.

It was also an opportunity to bask in sunshine in the beer garden of one of your diarist’s favourite country pubs, while finding that our final hostelry was not only open but much improved.

We passed The Queens Arms on our left as we walked out of Taddington, turning right at the Bramwell Memorial Institute up a stony track which begins life as Dokendale Road (2mins).This brought us to a road where we turned left (11mins).

After passing a road on our right we went right over a stone step stile marked with a wooden public footpath sign (15mins). Our route then took us through fields, over a stone step stile (20mins), a wooden gate (22mins), an open gateway marked with a yellow arrow (24mins) and exited by an open gate on our right .

A gap stile (26mins) a wooden gate (29mins) and a stone step stile (34mins) brought us to a road where we turned right. After 80 yards we turned left to follow a wooden public footpath sign through a field (36mins).

After crossing a stone step stile at a wooden public footpath sign (44mins), we crossed a wooden stile marked with a yellow arrow (47mins), then crossed a stone step stile on our left (48mins). We exited the field via a stone step stile opposite Flagg Methodist Church (51mins).

Behind us we noted that Flagg Hall was owned by M.M. and A.S. Mycock and opposite us was Mycock Lane, which we entered.

Where the lane swung left we proceeded straight ahead through a metal gate following a wooden public footpath sign (54mins). This led us through a gap stile (57mins) and in quick succession a wooden stile and a stone step stile (62mins). Another stone step stile brought us to a lane where we turned left (68mins).

After 50 yards we turned right at a wooden public footpath sign (69mins) and followed the track until we reached the shade of a copse at Pasture Barn where we paused for pies and a rum ration (75mins). We were also able to assemble our own chairs and table with an assorted pile of stones.

Resuming, we took a left fork and headed diagonally left through a field to cross a series of four stone step stiles leading to a road (85mins).

We turned right towards The Duke of York at Pomeroy. In the pub car park a neon sign proclaimed that a mobile canteen called “Bev’s Baps” was open for business. With The Duke of York’s chef charging £11-75 for fish and chips, and £13-50 for Cajun chicken, Bev’s baps seemed quite tempting.  

But we continued, passing the pub on our right before detecting an overgrown path on our right where the road swung left (89mins). We went down a flight of steps and crossed a stone step stile into a field. We headed through an open gateway and went diagonally right through another field.

We should have crossed a stile on our right next to a manure mound, but missed it and reached the corner of two drystone walls. Other hikers must have made the same mistake because a makeshift step stile had been created to allow us to scale the wall and swing over it and reach a track (101mins).

We turned right along a public bridleway to reach a road (122mins) where we turned left and then took the first right (123mins). At a T-junction (131mins) we turned right uphill with St John The Baptist Church, Chelmorton, on our right, and The Church Inn on our left (132mins). Here we enjoyed excellent pints of Marstons’ Pedigree for £3-60. Surprisingly, pints of lager were cheaper at £3-40.

Suitably refreshed, we turned left out of the pub and headed uphill past a cottage called High Low and took the right fork of a footpath which took us past Bank Pit Spring on our left. A plaque informed us that this spring was at the end of Grove Rake lead-mining site and was known as Illy Willy Water for reasons unexplained.

A steady climb took us to a lane (145mins) where we dog-legged right and then left to follow a wooden public footpath sign and head directly back to Taddington. Our route took us across a series of four stone step stiles before pausing for lunch (165mins).

Continuing, we passed Sough Top (170mins) on our left and began our descent into Taddington, crossing another series of stiles, predominantly of the stone step variety, to reach the main road (182mins). We turned right and returned to our cars to de-boot (190mins).  

After some hesitation we decided to have a drink in The Queens Arms and are pleased to report it seemed more welcoming than previously. Barnsley bitter was £3-40.

Next week’s walk will start from the main square in Longnor, Staffs, at 10am. It is anticipated we will ascend Chrome Hill on the way to The Quiet Woman at Earl Sterndale, arriving at about 12.15pm. We will then circle back to our cars to de-boot and drive a mile to The Pack Horse at Crowdecote for further refreshment at around 2.30pm.

Happy wandering !

Rushton Spencer

June 1, 2016.

RUSHTON SPENCER, CHURNET VALLEY RAILWAY LINE (DISUSED), DUKE’S WELL, BOSLEY CLOUD, POOL BANK MILL, THE COACH AND HORSES AT TIMBERSBROOK, LLAMALAND, FLOWERY FIELDS FARM, DEEPDALE HOUSE, THE OLD SMITHY. ST LAWRENCE’S CHURCH, RUSHTON, AND THE KNOTT INN, RUSHTON SPENCER

Distance: 11 miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Dry and cloudy but with good visibility.

Walkers: Ron Buck, Tom Cunliffe, Lawrie Fairman, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, Jock Rooney with Tips, and George Whaites.

Apologies: Peter Beal (hols in Majorca), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Graham Hadfield (back injury), Julian Ross (w*^king).

Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Free municipal car park at rear of the car park of The Knott Inn, Rushton Spencer, Staffs.

Starting time: 9.45am.

Finishing time: 3.20pm.

It was not clear whether a malevolent farmer had blocked off a right of way or whether we had followed a wrong path. In any event we took an hour longer than expected to finish this walk around the Staffordshire-Cheshire border.

Fortunately we enjoyed good walking weather beneath a cloudy sky which threatened rain from time to time but never materialised. We also had some further adventures with cattle, but Tips has gained in her confidence, barking her threats if any cows looked menacing.

Tom also had his moment when a huge flock of sheep enveloped him and we could hardly hear his cheery cry of “*^^* off” above the sound of bleating.

From the car park we headed back past The Knott Inn pub on our right and the former Rushton Station on our left.

This was built in 1844 five years before the North Staffordshire Railway’s Churnet Valley Line was opened, linking North Rode to Uttoxeter with 14 stations over 27 miles. The line closed to passengers in 1965 and to freight in 1968.

On the far side of the road we followed the disused railway before turning left down a flight of wooden steps (13mins). We carried on at the foot of the steps across a field and went over a stone footbridge across a stream (14mins).

We crossed another footbridge (23mins) and two wooden stiles leading to a farm track where we turned left (31mins). We turned left again at a wooden public footpath sign next to a wooden stile marked “Gritstone Trail” (40mins)

After crossing a wooden stile and walking along two sets of planking (51mins) we crossed a wooden stile to reach a road (53mins). Here we turned left before passing Duke’s Well on our right and following a wooden public footpath sign just beyond it to turn right (55mins). We turned right yet again up a flight of stone steps (59mins) and reached the summit of Bosley Cloud marked by a Trig Point (65mins)

In good visibility we spent six minutes admiring the various landmarks illustrated by a map on the TP, including The Wrekin which is 39 miles away.

We then left our lofty perch (71mins) and went left downhill into some woods, in the middle of which we stopped for Pietime (82mins). Resuming, we exited the woods by turning left down a steep flight of steps (95mins). This brought us to a road where we turned left (97mins).

At the sign for the village of Timbersbrook, Lawrie deemed it expedient to introduce a loop which would prevent us from reaching the pub before it opened so we turned right into Weathercock Lane (101mins). We turned left (107mins) to follow a Gritstone Trail marker which took us around Pool Bank Mill.

On the far side of the farm buildings we went through a kissing gate to enter a field (110mins), and passed through three more before heading through a wooden gate to cross a farm track. This brought us to a wooden stile and two stone step stiles which we crossed and turned left uphill to reach a road (121mins).

We turned right and reached The Coach and Horses on our right (126mins), where Tom judged the Robinsons’ Unicorn bitter at £3-30 a pint to be “average.” He was more impressed with the huge ham sandwich and chunky chips, smothered in mayonnaise, which are part of his new dietary regime.

Suitably refreshed we left the pub’s beer garden and its panoramic views to reach the main road and turn left uphill. After 100 yards we turned right into Cherry Lane (128mins), attracting the attention of two llamas who galloped over to see us. Passing Llamaland on our left, we joined a road by turning right (132mins), later crossing to the left hand side (141mins) to cross a wooden stile marked with a yellow arrow.

We crossed another wooden stile and carried straight ahead along a farm track (153mins). This took us past Flowery Fields Farm and Long Edge House, both on our left (160mins). We turned right at an oak tree where we went down some overgrown steps to cross a wooden stile and enter a field (167mins).

It was here that Tom was surrounded by a flock of besotted ewes and their lambs like a male stripper on a Hen Night. He escaped their unwelcome attentions through a small gate into the next field (169mins). Lunch was taken on a mound next to a wooden stile (171mins). We crossed the stile to enter a field and left it by another stile and a footbridge, crossing another wooden stile and then a double stile (176mins).

We reached and followed a path left (179mins), and climbed a gate to leave the field (182mins). This brought us to a road where we turned right, passing Deepdale House (191mins) before crossing the road and turning left up steps and over a wooden stile at a wooden public footpath sign (192mins).

After crossing two wooden stiles we found ourselves trapped in the corner of a field, doubling back to go through an open gate and head for the corner of the next field. This time we decided to risk emasculation by climbing over the barbed wire fence (210mins).

We reached a main road (216mins) and turned left, passing The Old Smithy on our right (219mins). Opposite Dingle Lane on our right we turned left following a sign for the parish church (221mins). We turned right at a sign for Rushton Parish Church (228mins).

There has been a church here since 1368 and St Lawrence’s Church, a Grade 2 listed building, was rebuilt in sandstone in the 17th Century. Because of its remote location it was known as “the chapel in the wilderness.”

We passed the church on our left and walked through the graveyard before plunging steeply downhill. We followed the beaten path to a kissing gate leading over a bridge. We crossed the bridge and turned immediately right to drop down, turn right and go under the bridge (237mins). We were now on another section of the disused Churnet Valley Line which soon led us back to our cars  (242mins).

Next week’s walk will start at 9.50pm from outside the Queens Arms at Taddington, Derbyshire. We intend to reach the Church Inn at Chelmorton around 12.15pm for a bracer before returning to the Queens Arms at 2.20pm.

Happy wandering !