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 !