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 !