Torkington Park

August 24, 2016.

TORKINGTON PARK, SCARHILL BRIDGE, HAZEL GROVE GOLF COURSE, MIDDLEWOOD WAY, WYBERSLEGH TREATMENT WORKS, DOVE HOUSE FARM, PEAK FOREST CANAL, MACCLESFIELD CANAL, THE RING O’ BELLS AT MARPLE, MACCLESFIELD CANAL, GOYT MILL AT HAWK GREEN, MIDDLEWOOD WAY, MARPLE GOLF CLUB, CLOUGH HOUSE FARM, HAZEL GROVE GOLF CLUB, TORKINGTON PARK AND THE WILFRED WOOD WETHERSPOONS AT HAZEL GROVE

Distance: 10 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Warm and sunny.

A Walkers: Micky Barrett, Peter Beal, Mike Brockbank, Ron Buck, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, Steve Kemp, Chris Owen, and Jock Rooney with Tips.

S.O.B. Walkers: George Fraser, Terry Jowett and Geoff Spurrell.

Apologies: Tony Job (Poynton Show duties) and George Whaites (Grandpa duties)

Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Torkington Park free car park.

Starting time: 9.30am. Finishing time: 2.47pm.

What a difference a free pint makes ! The announcement that our favourite ancient relic would be buying drinks to celebrate his 81st birthday resulted in a bumper turn-out for this walk. Apart from The Dirty Dozen A walkers, shepherded by Tips, three Silly Old Buggers joined us at the final watering hole to raise a glass to our leader Lawrie. How fortunate that he had chosen a Wetherspoons pub which sells its beer at considerably keener prices than its neighbours.

We also had yet another debutant in Lawrie’s grandson, Mike Brockbank, a charming young man who then demonstrated he had inherited the Fairman gene for chippiness when confronted by Mr Angry, a farmer who accused us of trespassing on his land.

The bare-chested land-owner might have had a valid point, but he surrendered the moral high ground with an aggressive, foul-mouthed and bullying attitude. Instead of our co-operation, he left with a flea in his ear.

The incident brought some entertainment to a glorious summer’s day, good ale supped outside in the sunshine and a mainly flat walk without any energy-sapping climbs in the sweaty conditions.

From the car park adjoining the A6 opposite The Rising Sun in Hazel Grove, we made a prompt start through the park, passing Torkington Lodge on our right.

This is a Grade 2 listed building in Regency style which was built at the beginning of the 19thCentury by the Legh family. It was bought for municipal use in 1935 and used as council offices.

We exited the park on to Torkington Road (4mins), turned right and followed it when it swung right away from the continuation of the main road (9mins). We then turned right into Highfield Road (10mins). At the end of this road we crossed a T-junction and went through a passageway (15mins). This took us under a railway bridge to reach a lane where we turned left (18mins)

We walked under Scarhill Bridge (22mins) and entered Hazel Grove Golf Club (25mins). The club was founded in 1913 and we passed a wooden statue of its course designer. We crossed the course and followed a sign for The Middlewood Way (30mins). This took us through a field over a wooden stile where we turned left and immediately right towards Oakfield Farm (34mins). 

We reached The Middlewood Way and turned left (38mins). Just before a gate we turned right over a wooden stile marked with a yellow arrow (49mins) and entered a field. We turned right, went over a wooden stile and through a metal kissing gate (62mins) and crossed another wooden stile to reach a road where we turned right (64mins)

We crossed this road at a bus stop to turn left along a farm track (68mins), stopping at a bridge over The Macclesfield Canal for pies, accompanied by port and damson gin (72mins). Resuming, we crossed a wooden stile (74mins) then went over a double stile to head first right then left through a gate into a field (79mins). Three more wooden stiles marked with yellow arrows followed in quick succession (83mins).

After the last of these was an extraordinary sign which read: “Temporary Footpath Closed. Please use Permanent Footpath” (86mins). We turned left along a lane, through a wooden gate (88mins) and headed left with Wyberslegh Treatment Works on our right. We crossed a wooden stile to a lane and turned left (92mins).

Passing Dove House Farm on our right (93mins) we turned right at a green public footpath sign into a field (95mins). We went over a wooden stile marked with a yellow arrow in the right hand corner and turned left into a field (98mins). We exited via a wooden stile and turned left towards The Peak Forest Canal (103mins).

The footpath was overgrown with nettles and brambles which would have needed a scythe, machete or panga to clear. Having nothing bigger than a Swiss army knife, we followed a route clearly used by many hikers alongside the proper path. As we emerged from the field and prepared to cross a wooden stile opposite to continue our journey we were confronted by the furious farmer (106mins)

When we tried to explain that the public footpath was overgrown and impassable, he insisted “That’s not my problem.” Clearly it is. Having cleared the wooden stile and reached the safety of the far side, Colin threw petrol on the fire by shouting “We’re laughing at you. The answer is in your own hands. You could clear the footpath yourself.”

Colin then disappeared on his way, leaving our depleted numbers to deal with the now incandescent farmer. At this stage Mike ignored the steam coming from his adversary’s ears and criticised his “bad attitude”.  Blessed was the peacemaker Mark, no doubt using the people skills of a trained officer of the law, who placated Mr Angry with soothing words and gestures. Whether he had a Taser in his rucksack as back-up we will never know.

The path on the far side of the stile went through a tunnel. Immediately afterwards we turned left up wooden steps to reach The Peak Forest Canal (113mins). We headed right for Marple with the canal on our left. The towpath took us under Bridge 21 (125mins) and we turned off at Bridge 19 (140mins) to follow the path now on the left of the waterway.

We crossed the road at Bridge 1 where the Peak Forest Canal joins the Macclesfield Canal (146mins), coming off the canal at Bridge 2 opposite The Ring O’ Bells pub in Marple, known locally as “The Ringer” (148mins).We enjoyed the excellent Robbies’ cask bitter at £3-10 in the garden terrace outside.

On the wall was an ancient placard advertising pipe tobacco. It advised: “Ask For Ringer’s Shag: The Old Welsh Favourite.” We decided against putting such a request to the barmaid.

Suitably rested and refreshed, we continued along the right bank of the Macclesfield Canal, passing the pub’s terraced garden on our left. Further along we admired the impressive Goyt Mill at Hawk Green (157mins).

It was built in 1905 by Jonathan Partington for the Goyt Spinning Company. It is six storeys tall and covers 260,000 square feet. In its heyday it employed 480 mill staff and 12 officer workers. It had 82,000 mule spindles and 45,000 ring spindles. The coal for its engines was supplied by mines in Poynton and Staffordshire. The mill is now in multiple use by local firms.

Just beyond the mill on our left we stopped for lunch at a bench (160mins). Continuing we turned right at a footpath to enter Marple Golf Club (161mins). We crossed this to reach The Middlewood Way and turned left (176mins). After passing a bench in memory of Gladys Ward we turned right 50 yards beyond (191mins), saying farewell to Mark who planned to continue walking along the Middlewood Way as far as Higher Poynton before heading for home.

We went through a wooden kissing gate marked with a yellow arrow and through a metal kissing gate leading through a farmyard (193mins). This brought us out opposite Hawthorn Cottage where we turned left along a road. At a wooden footpath sign at Clough House Farm we turned right (199mins) and crossed a series of three wooden stiles to enter Hazel Grove Golf Club (205mins)

Our group exited the golf course through a copse, crossed a wooden stile to enter a field and another to leave it (213mins). We turned left along a road and were guided through a passage on our left to a housing estate. This brought us back to Torkington Park and our cars (230mins).

A half-mile walk along the A6 towards Stockport took us to The Wilfred Wood Wetherspoons on our left (240mins) where Lawrie bought a round of drinks as we toasted his continued good health.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.30am from The George pub car park in Hayfield. We intend to climb Mill Hill before heading back to The Lantern Pike at Little Hayfield for a bracer at about 12.30pm, finishing back at The George for final drinks around 2.15pm.

Happy wandering !

Furness Vale

August 17, 2016.

FURNESS VALE, RINGSTONES CARAVAN PARK, THE MURDER STONE AT LONGSIDE, LYME PARK, LYME CAGE, THE DANDY COCK AT DISLEY, PEAK FOREST CANAL AND THE SOLDIER DICK AT FURNESS VALE

Distance: 9 miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Warm and dry but cloudy.

Walkers: Micky Barrett, Ron Buck, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Peter Greathead, Alan Hart, Steve Kemp, and Jock Rooney with Tips.

Apologies: Peter Beal (narrow-boating). George Dearsley (in Turkey), Lawrie Fairman (Anglesey hols), Mark Gibby (domestic duties), Chris Owen (hols), Julian Ross (Slovenia hols).

Leader and Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park of The Soldier Dick pub on the A6 at Furness Vale.

Starting time: 9.30am. Finishing time: 1.55pm.

This has become known as “The Phallic Walk” for reasons I will leave you to surmise. In the absence of Lawrie, your diarist led the group and once again proved his incompetence in the role. Although we made a prompt start and reached our target pubs in ample time, the loss of one of our walkers could not be overlooked.

This is not even a first offence. Some ten years ago I led a group of ten from Disley and returned with three. Clearly I am a fool and must be punished.

We had been promised sunny weather from start to finish but cloud cover reduced the temperature to perfect walking conditions for the steady uphill climb for the first 82 minutes. This included a short detour to The Murder Stone on Disley Old Road at Longside, of which more can be read later.

From the pub car park we turned right in the direction of Buxton along the A6 and after a few yards turned right again at The Imperial Palace. For those of you who might suspect there is a hidden architectural gem in Furness Vale, I should point out that this is a Chinese restaurant.

Our route took us steadily uphill, continuing as the road became a track and swinging right at the entrance to Ringstones Caravan Park (9mins). This brought us to a farm where we went through a gate next to stables on our right (14mins).

After passing through an open gateway we turned immediately right uphill with a drystone wall on our right. A steady climb brought us to a road where we turned right (25mins). After nearly half a mile we found The Murder Stone on our right (32mins).

 This was erected by public subscription in 1874 to mark the spot where William Wood, a cloth merchant from Eyam, was murdered on July 16, 1823. He was returning from market in Manchester with £50 in his pockets when he was battered to death by three men in sailors’ clothes. His body was taken in a cart to The Cock at Whaley Bridge, where the inquest was held.

The killers made their way to Macclesfield where they bought expensive new clothes to replace the bloodstained ones which they gave away. One of the highway robbers, Charles Taylor, 17, from Salford, was caught at the Greyhound, Macclesfield. While in custody he used his own stockings and gaiters to hang himself.

A second culprit, Joseph Dale, 18, was caught on a ship in Liverpool. He was tried , sentenced to death and hanged in April, 1825. The third man, whom Dale named as Pratt, was never caught. The press coverage, available online, makes fascinating reading.

After a brave photographic session by Steve, who never flinched as cars sped by, we retraced our footsteps, passing on our left the stile by which we had earlier reached the road. Some100 yards beyond it we turned right (42mins) following a footpath sign for Bowstonegate and Lyme Park.

The path took us within 50 yards of The Dipping Stones, two ancient rocks where food and money were exchanged without direct contact during the Great Plague of 1665. Instead of examining the stones we turned right to cross a wooden stile (48mins). This brought us to a stone step stile (57mins) which we also crossed.

On reaching a lane (64mins), we turned left and then took a path on the right just before a cattle-grid (65mins). We crossed a footbridge over a stream (67mins) and carried on to cross a road and follow the public footpath sign uphill. This brought us to a ladder stile (73mins). We crossed a lane and went through a wooden gate and over a wooden stile (75mins). One final climb took us to a stone step stile and a ladder stile which we crossed to enter Lyme Park (82mins).

Here we paused for pies and port while Tom disappeared into the woods. When he returned we continued through the woods downhill, crossing a ladder stile to exit them (86mins). We made our way through a herd of Highland cattle and crossed a wooden stile(95mins) before heading uphill to reach Lyme Cage (105mins).

The cage was originally a hunting lodge, later used as a park-keeper’s cottage and a temporary prison for poachers. The first structure was built about 1580 and the current building was constructed on three storeys in 1737. Lyme Hall was the ancestral seat of the Legh family for nearly 600 years. Like the Shallcross estate mentioned in last week’s diary, the 1,400 acre estate was given to the family for their valiant services at the Battle of Crecy in 1346. In 1942 the hall and estate were handed to The National Trust.

At Lyme Cage we turned right downhill and reached the entrance hut (121mins) where we turned right to exit the park. At the fork in Red Lane we turned right towards St Mary’s Church (130mins), then turned right along a narrow footpath (132mins). This took us over a wooden footbridge and on our right the old pub sign for The Ring O’ Bells, which is now A Friends’ Meeting House for Quakers.

We turned left along Ring O’ Bells Lane, emerging on the road next to The White Horse and turning left (136mins) We reached the main traffic lights in Disley and turned right along the A6 before crossing the road and reaching The Dandy Cock (139mins). Here we enjoyed pints of Robbies’ Unicorn for £3.

Suitably refreshed, we turned right out of the pub and right again downhill and a under a railway bridge. We turned left into Sherbrooke Road (143mins) and reached The Peak Forest Canal. Here we turned right (145mins) with the water on our left until we crossed to the opposite bank at Bridge 26 and paused for lunch on a bench (150mins).

Continuing, our route was now flat for the journey back to Furness Vale. The nostalgic smell of Love Hearts from the Swizzels-Matlow factory in New Mills could be scented 100 yards before we reached the converted mill on our left (168mins).

We passed The Torrs Riverside Park on our left (173mins) and reached Furness Vale Marina (189mins) where we turned left to leave the canal at Bridge 31. Unfortunately Steve had lost track of the advance party but was also out of the sight of Colin and Jock with Tips at the rear. Consequently he went beyond Bridge 31 for another half mile before realising he had overshot the route.

Meanwhile the rest of us had turned right over the bridge and turned right again before The Crossings pub along a private road (191mins).

We turned left at a public footpath sign which brought us out on the A6 opposite The Soldier Dick (195mins). Inside there was a choice of Marstons’ and Wainwrights’ cask bitter.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.30am from Torkington Park free car park on the A6 opposite The Rising Sun at Hazel Grove. Lawrie will lead us to the Ring O’ Bells at Marple, which we expect to reach around 12.15pm. He will then lead us back to the Wilfred Wood VC Wetherspoons  in Hazel Grove for about 2.15pm and buy his Wednesday Wanderers’ chums a drink to celebrate the 81^st anniversary of his birth.

Happy wandering !

Whaley Bridge

August 10, 2016.

WHALEY BRIDGE, CROMFORD AND HIGH PEAK RAILWAY (DISUSED), SHALLCROSS GREENWAY INCLINE, SHALLCROSS,  HILLSIDE FARM, HAY LEE FARM, COMBS INFANT SCHOOL, CHAPEL STATION, MARTINSIDE HOUSE, EAVES HALL, GRANGE PARK, THE ROEBUCK INN AT CHAPEL-EN-LE-FRITH, FRITH KNOLL, ECCLES PIKE, OLLERENSHAW HALL, THE COCK AT WHALEY BRIDGE

Distance: 11 miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Dry, warm, mainly cloudy with sunny intervals.

A Walkers: Greg and Mickey Barrett, Tom Cunliffe, Lawrie Fairman, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, Steve Kemp, Chris Owen, Jock Rooney with Tips, and George Whaites.

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

Apologies: Peter Beal (narrow-boating), Colin Davison (motor-cycling), George Dearsley (in Turkey) and Julian Ross (family hols in Slovenia).

Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Road outside The Cock at Whaley Bridge.

Starting time: 9.30am. Finishing time: 2.53pm.

There was another good turn-out for this week’s journey in perfect walking conditions as we traversed the Goyt Valley. We matched the ten from last week, replacing Colin with one man and his dog. Some said it was a good swap: I couldn’t possibly comment.

Despite the large number, we made an admirably prompt start. There were some adventures as we climbed over and under barbed wire at certain points and the later than usual finish can be explained by the greater distance travelled. We also walked along and passed sights steeped in 1,500 years of history. My apologies to older members of the Wednesday Wanderers for repeating information which may already be known to them.

Our group  passed The Cock on the left and turned immediately left up the path over a stream which leads to the former track of the disused Cromford and High Peak Railway, where we turned right.

The history of this railway, approved by Parliament in 1825, is a series of snapshots demonstrating the confident spirit and achievements of those times and the subsequent decline as that era ended. The railway was designed by Josias Jessop and Benjamin Outram and completed in 1832. It was 33 miles long linking Cromford Canal wharf at High Peak Junction with the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge. The eventual cost of £180,000 was £25,000 above Jessop’s original estimate.

It was a great feat of engineering because its summit at Ladmanlow was 1,266 feet above sea level. To put that in perspective the present-day highest summit in the UK is Ais Gill (1.169 feet) on the Settle-Carlisle line.

Initially the wagons containing mainly minerals were pulled by teams of horses until the first steam locomotive, built by Robert Stephenson and Company, was delivered in 1841. Six more locos were bought but the line depended on the prosperity of the canals it linked and by the middle of the 19th Century they were in decline. Ironically this was caused by the success of other railways.

Although the line never made a profit, it soldiered on bringing limestone from local quarries until Harold Macmillan’s Tory Government appointed Dr Richard Beeching, a director of ICI, to find ways of reducing the subsidies to railways. They were losing out in freight and passengers to lorries and cars.

In 1963, Beeching’s report recommended closing 2,363 stations (55%) and 5,000 miles of track (30%). This included the Cromford and High Peak Railway, which fully closed in 1967.

The track took us to and along Shallcross Incline Greenway (8mins). At the end of a steep uphill climb (16mins) is a plaque pointing out the site on the right where once stood Shallcross Hall.

The land on which the hall stood was given to the Shallcross family by King Edward 111 for services rendered at the Battle of Crecy in 1346. The last hall was built there by John Shallcross, the county sheriff, in 1723. It fell into disrepair and from 1968-70 it was plundered for its floorboards, fixtures and fittings before being destroyed by fire.

We turned left at the end of the Greenway into Shallcross Road (16mins). At the end of this on the right we turned right into Elnor Lane (17mins) to reach the monument called Shallcross (21mins).

It is believed to be an Anglo-Saxon word derived from Shacklecross. The old Norse word “shakel” means tapered pole. The original was made of wood and commemorated a mission to the High Peak  by Archbishop Paulinas of York (563-644). It was replaced by a stone replica in the 8th Century and was a place where penitents were fettered until they atoned for their sins (an early example of S and M).

The shaft of the cross was discovered being used as a pedestal for a sundial in a local garden. It was subsequently returned to its site at the junction of Elnor Lane and Old Road (the Roman road to Buxton). It is now registered as an Ancient Monument.

After Mickey had performed some bizarre pagan ritual by circling the cross several times, we turned left up Old Road, passing Elnor Lane Farm (23mins) and then turned left up a rough track (27mins). This proved to be a long, steady ascent until it flattened out with Combs Reservoir below on our left. We reached a road and forked right (50mins), passing Hillside Farm on our left (52mins).

We reached farm buildings and turned right at a yellow arrow to go through two wooden gates (56mins). After crossing a stone step stile (62mins) we went through a field to a wooden gate in front of a farmhouse (65mins). We went through the gate and to the left of Hay Lee Farm.

This took us through a metal gate on the left of a field and immediately right over a wooden stile (71mins). We crossed a stream by stepping stones and went through a series of three wooden gates before crossing a wooden footbridge (87mins). We reached a lane through a gap stile and turned left (78mins).

After passing Watercroft on our left (81mins), the lane gave us a view of Castle Naze to our right, the elevated ridge which was once an Iron Age fort. We reached a bench (85mins) where we paused for pies, port and Chris’s home-made damson wine.

Continuing, we passed Combs Infant School on our right (87mins) and turned right at the end of Lesser Lane. After passing Newbrook House on our left we turned left (91mins) and then turned right in front of a cottage (92mins). We crossed a wooden stile and turned left uphill. We carried on over another wooden stile to keep heading uphill and then crossed another in front of a drystone wall. 

Here we turned right (101mins) with the wall on our left and swung left to cross a bridge over the Manchester – Buxton railway line. At the far side of the bridge we turned right through a metal gate marked with a yellow arrow (103mins). The path to the left of the track crossed a lane (115mins) and we followed a yellow arrow to go straight on. This brought us to Chapel-en-le-Frith Station.

The town itself is nearly two miles away from the station, but as Jock remarked, they put the station there so it would be next to the railway line.

Chapel-en-le-Frith is known as either “the Capital of the Peak District” or “The Home of Ferodo.” It started more modestly when it was established by the Normans in the 12th Century as a hunting lodge. Its name means chapel in the forest. During the 20th Century, Chapel became the headquarters of the Ferodo motor parts manufacturers, which specialises in brake pads.

We entered the station car park and took a path on the left (118mins). This brought us to a road where we turned right (123mins). After walking under a rail bridge we passed Martinside House on our left (127mins). There was no sign of the anticipated public footpath so we carried until we found one on our left pointing along a farm track (132mins).

We turned left off a track to Higher Eaves Farm and swung left downhill (139mins). Lawrie  believes we passed the unseen Eaves Hall on our left but somehow we lost our way and were obliged to climb over and duck under barbed wire fences until we reached a rough lane and turned right (150mins).

We went left over a bridge across a stream and left again at a green public footpath sign leading to a housing estate (152mins).  We turned right at the first junction and reached Grange Park Road. We turned left at Grange Avenue (155mins) and took a short cut across Grange Park. This brought us to Rowton Grange Road (161mins). We headed up a flight of stone steps on our right which ended opposite The Roebuck (162mins).

Here we enjoyed pints of Tetley’s cask bitter at £2-90 and presented the barmaid with the Wednesday Wanderers’ certificate of approval. The pub is advertised as “a business opportunity” so we hope the new licensee maintains the standards in this traditional pub. Ten minutes after our arrival we were joined by the SOB team who had walked from Whaley Bridge on a more direct route.

After the twists and turns involved in reaching Chapel, our return journey appeared to be a straight line back to Whaley Bridge. We turned right out of the pub door and reached Eccles Road (166mins). Our route took us past Frith Knoll on the right (172mins) and Lydgate Farm on our left (185mins). Lunch was taken on a bench overlooking Chapel below us (189mins).

Resuming, we passed the National Trust sign for Eccles Pike on our right (195mins) and started our descent to our destination. We passed Top O’ Eccles Farm on our right (200mins) and passed a field on our right containing a pair of llamas. As we passed Ollerenshaw Hall on our left (206mins), the Canadian national flag was flying from the pole outside.

The hall, built around 1800, was once the home of an eccentric man named Thornhill. He bought the property and 170 acres of land in 1822 for £8,000 which he had made as a carrier in Stockport. Although known for his meanness, Thornhill used to get up early every day and make breakfast for his servants.

He claimed to be able to talk to the dead and to be the target of devils, which he shot. In 1839, at the age of 47, he married a 40-year-old heiress named Miss Barlow. It was not a marriage made in heaven. They quarrelled endlessly. When Miss Barlow was left an inheritance, they could not agree on which of them should receive it. Neither did. When Thornhill died in 1845, he left more than £30,000 to his brother Jonathan and £5 to his wife.

After passing the hall we swung right with the lane (213mins). We went left through a metal gate to enter a field. We exited it into New Horwich Road and turned right (228mins), before heading left at a green public footpath sign (230mins) along a lane. We turned right at a white arrow (231mins) and reached the main road through Whaley Bridge. We turned left under the railway bridge and reached The Cock (235mins). Here we enjoyed pints of Robinson’s Unicorn cask bitter for £3.

Next week’s walk will start from the car park of The Soldier Dick at Furness Vale at 9.30am. We intend to head uphill past Ringstones Caravan Park, The Dipping Stones, the former Moorside Hotel and enter Lyme Park before dropping down into Disley for a livener in The Dandy Cock around 12.20pm. We will return to Furness Vale along The Peak Forest Canal, expecting to arrive back at The Soldier Dick at about 2.30pm.

Happy wandering !

Bollington

August 3, 2016.

BOLLINGTON, WHITE NANCY, KERRIDGE RIDGE, RAINOW, WINDYWAY ANIMAL SANCTUARY, WALKER BARN, THE ROBIN HOOD AT RAINOW, STOCKS LANE, FLAGG COTTAGE, THE VIRGINS’ PATH, INGERLEY VALE WATERFALL, THE CROWN AT BOLLINGTON.

Distance: 8 miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Dry and warm with cloud and sunny spells.

A walkers: Greg and Mickey Barrett, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, Steve Kemp, Chris Owen and George Whaites.

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

Apologies: Peter Beal (narrow-boating), George Dearsley (in Turkey) and Julian Ross (Slovenia hols).

Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Free public car park opposite The Spinners Arms, Bollington.

Starting time: 9.38am. Finishing time: 2.08pm.

The welcome return of Mickey Barrett after a prolonged absence due to a series of exotic holidays also brought two more debutants for this walk. Mickey’s 27-year-old son Greg and his pal, Steve Kemp, joined us for this popular figure-eight journey.

Last week’s debutant, Chris Owen, also appeared for a route near his home on the outskirts of Macclesfield during which he found himself in unfamiliar territory.

Rather like a pilot who has recently crashed, Lawrie climbed back into the metaphorical cockpit to lead us. Although his guidance was not flawless, he did achieve the important objective of reaching both pubs within the allotted time. It also gave him an opportunity to launch yet another new career as a catwalk model, demonstrating the WW polo shirts for which Tom is now taking orders. (Tom tells me that neither Kate Moss nor Naomi Campbell was available, and Lawrie’s fee was more modest – a pint of Black Sheep !)

The newcomers swelled our ranks to ten and we were able to introduce them to the four SOB-teamers, who had taken advantage of the bus service to beat us to the first watering hole by ten minutes. It was at The Robin Hood where Lawrie performed his modelling assignment.

Earlier he had led us left uphill out of the car park to the premises of F.Smith, a splendid bakery on the right of the main road through Bollington. To enter the shop is to step back in time to the 1950s, but well worth the visit because of the qualities of its pies.

Beyond the bakery we turned right up Church Street (6mins), then up Lord Street (9mins) as we aimed for the famous landmark of White Nancy in the distance above us. At Cow Lane we carried on up a flight of stone steps (13mins). We reached the distinctive folly known as White Nancy in a creditable 24 minutes, including time taken for the purchase of pies.

White Nancy is an 18 feet tall Grade 2 listed building which was erected at the top of Kerridge Hill in 1815 to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. It was erected by order of the Gaskell family who lived below the hill at Ingersley Hall. Originally it had a door and windows with seats around its walls and a large circular table in the centre. It is unclear whether the landmark was named after the Gaskells’ daughter Nancy, or a horse of that name which had hauled the heavy table up the hill.

It had been a breath-taking climb in more ways than one. After pausing to admire the panoramic views, we carried on along the ridge, passing the Hurdsfield Industrial Estate, including Astro Zeneca, on our right and reaching the Trig Point at its apex (45mins). After dropping down gradually, we crossed a stone step stile to reach a road in the village of Rainow (60mins).

This quiet village witnessed the finale of a chilling mass murder drama in 1977 when an escaped prisoner was shot dead by police as he tried to kill his hostage with an axe. Billy Hughes, aged 30, was being driven by guards from Leicester Jail to Chesterfield for a court hearing. Hughes, from Preston, attacked his guards with a knife and escaped in their car leaving them bleeding by the roadside.

After crashing the car in icy conditions at Beeley Moore, Hughes found an isolated dwelling called Pottery Cottage on the A619 near the Highwayman pub. It was the home of Arthur Minton, 72, his wife Amy, 68, their daughter Gill Moran, 38, her husband Richard, 36, and their adopted daughter Sarah, aged 10.

Over the course of a week, Hughes repeatedly raped Gill Moran and systematically murdered her family. Then, with Gill as his hostage, Hughes made his getaway in her dead husband’s Chrysler. Police, who had been alerted by neighbours, set up roadblocks and Hughes crashed into a wall. But when police tried to arrest him, he held an axe to Gill’s head and demanded their unmarked Morris Marina.

He took off again with Gill and again crashed into a wall in Rainow, where police had used a bus as a roadblock. This led to a 30-minute stand-off before Hughes lost patience and swung the axe at Gill’s head. An heroic Cheshire police superintendent, Peter Howse, parried Hughes’ arm so the axe blow merely gashed her forehead. Then, as the two men struggled through the window of the car, Det Sgt Frank Fell shot Hughes three times with a revolver from 12 feet. Hughes continued to struggle until another officer, Det Con Alan Nicolls, finished him off with a shot throught the heart.

Nine months after the drama known as The Pottery Cottage Massacre ended, Gill Moran remarried. Six months after the wedding she had a baby, but the marriage ended in divorce.

At the road through Rainow we turned right for 50 yards before crossing it and going left up a flight of stone steps. This led through a field to another road (67mins) where we turned right. This brought us on to the main road where we turned left for 50 yards before turning right up a stone step stile into a field. A series of stile led us into a field where two picnic tables overgrown with weeds were used for Pietime (82mins). The usual port ration was supplemented on this occasion by Chris, who produced a flask of delicious home-made damson gin.

Continuing we went over a wooden stile with a marker for the Gritstone Trail. We went through a metal kissing gate and a wooden gate before turning left at a drystone wall (89mins). This led to a dead end so we were obliged to retrace our footsteps and go beyond passing a farm on our left and crossing a wooden stile to reach a road  (95mins). We turned left and immediately left again to head uphill and pass the Windyway Animal Sanctuary, which seeks homes for unwanted pets, on our left.

Our group now headed downhill, passing Walker Barn Methodist Chapel on our left (102mins). We reached a main road and turned right for 20 yards before heading left at a green footpath sign (104mins). We left the concrete farm track at a footpath sign marked with a yellow arrow (106mins) which led us to a wooden gate with a yellow arrow. We turned left (108mins).

By following the beaten path we were able to go downhill through a series of gates and stiles to enter and exit fields. We crossed a wooden footbridge (133mins) and headed uphill over a ladder stile. Another climb took us over a stone step stile to a lane where we turned right (136mins). This soon brought us to a green footpath sign pointing left uphill (139mins). The diverted path took us steeply uphill past marker posts until we reached a metal gate marked with a green footpath sign. Here we turned left (142mins).

Again we were able to follow the well-trodden path through gates and over stiles until we saw the former Methodist chapel in Rainow ahead of us. We turned left over a stone step stile just before the building (151mins) and a path on our left led us through a gate to the road on the opposite side of The Robin Hood (153mins). We entered the pub (154mins) and found the SOB team had reserved a room for us where we enjoyed pints of Black Sheep and Bass for £3-30.

Mickey, Steve and Greg formed an overflow in another room and sadly missed the shirt-modelling performance of our octogenarian leader.

Leaving the pub we went down Stocks Lane, passing the ancient stocks on our left and then winding right to Sugar Lane where we turned right (159mins). We passed The Old Hall on our left and turned right at a footpath sign to follow the path behind Flagg Cottage (165mins).

This was the start of the Virgins’ Path, so called because there was no church in Rainow until the 19^th Century. Prior to that any maidens heading to the altar had to walk through fields to reach the churches in Bollington. To save the embarrassment of having their white wedding dresses (and thus their reputations) besmirched in mud, local farmers laid down flagstones so the brides’ dresses would remain white. Many of these flagstones remain.

At the far side of the fields, the path reached the picturesque Ingersley Vale waterfall on the left opposite Waulkmill Farm on the right (182mins). Lunch was taken here before the last lap of the journey past a derelict mill on the right, a large pond on the left and The Crown on the right corner of Church Street (195mins). Here we enjoyed pints of Hancocks or Atlantic cask bitters for £3-35 in the sunshine on the benches outside.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.30am from the road outside The Cock at Whaley Bridge. We anticipate stopping for a bracer at The Roebuck in Chapel-en-le-Frith around 12.30pm before returning to The Cock for further refreshment at about 2.20pm.

Happy wandering !