Furness Vale

November 9, 2016.

FURNESS VALE, RINGSTONES CARAVAN PARK, HIGHER DISLEY, LYME PARK, LYME CAGE, THE DANDY COCK AT DISLEY, THE PEAK FOREST CANAL, NEW MILLS, FURNESS VALE MARINA AND THE SOLDIER DICK AT FURNESS VALE

Distance: 8-9 miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Cold and misty but dry.

Walkers: Lawrie Fairman, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, Steve Kemp, Chris Owen, Jock Rooney with Tips and George Whaites.

B Walkers: Phil Burslem, George Fraser, Tony Job, Terry Jowett and Geoff Spurrell.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (foot injury), Peter Beal, Tom Cunliffe (w*^king), George Dearsley (in Turkey) and Julian Ross.

Leader: Hart. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park of The Soldier Dick at Furness Vale.

Starting time: 9.36am. Finishing time: 2.02pm.

Weather warnings of snow and rain the day before had been downgraded to fog and mist by the morning of this walk. In the event it was a dry day with no fog and very little mist so The Magnificent Seven and The Famous Five were rewarded for their attendance.

There were two late cry-offs. Tom (Mr Reliability) Cunliffe found he had a pub to run while Colin was obliged to look after Angela, who was suffering from chest pains. After various ribald and predictable offers to rub or kiss the affected area better, your diarist was instructed to pass on our best wishes.

Much of the talk this day revolved round the surprise choice of Donald Trump as next president of the USA. None of the polls had suggested this was likely so it is clear that many voters would not admit they were planning to vote for the brash Republican candidate. We had all seen the noisy trumpeting Trumpers at his rallies. The pollsters clearly had not realised there were so many silent Trumpers out there. No wonder it has caused such a stink.

For reasons beyond my comprehension, this walk starting and finishing at The Soldier Dick, calling at The Dandy Cock en route, has been nicknamed The Phallic Route. It involves a long stiff climb at the start, reaching its climax at Lyme Park, followed by a slow descent and a flaccid finish.

From the car park we turned right towards Buxton along the A6 and turned right just after The Imperial Palace Chinese restaurant into Yeardsley Lane. This was the start of a steady ascent, swinging right at the entrance to Ringstone Caravan Park (9mins). We entered a farmyard and went through a gate by the side of a stable (12mins) and carried straight ahead into a field.

We turned right keeping a drystone wall on our right (14mins) and trudged uphill to a road. Half a mile to the right is The Murder Stone, as previously documented, but we turned left (26mins) for 60 yards. At a gate marked “No Sledging” we went right over a stone step stile (29mins) and followed the path signed with a marker post. This led us to a wooden stile on our right (37mins).

A few yards further downhill are the “Dipping Stones,” where rocks had been chiselled out to provide two depressions in which money could be left in vinegar. During the Great Plague of 1665 villagers in contaminated areas such as nearby Eyam left cash in the disinfected bowls alongside shopping lists and later collected food and other essentials brought in exchange by sympathisers from unaffected villages.

We crossed the stile and then a stone step stile (45mins) followed by a ladder stile (52mins). The path led us across a farm track with a cattle-grid on the left (56mins). We went straight on to the right of the cattle-grid and followed the path across a wooden footbridge, through a metal kissing gate, across a road and up a flight of wooden steps (61mins).

Heading upwards through a boggy field we went over a ladder stile and crossed a lane (66mins) to follow the path through fields. This involved crossing three more wooden stiles until we reached the wall outside Lyme Park (79mins) which we entered via a stone step stile and a ladder stile leading into a wood. Here we paused for pies and port.

Resuming we went through and emerged from the wood over a ladder stile (90mins). We turned left and aimed towards Lyme Cage, a landmark on the top of a ridge which has served as a hunting lodge and a poachers’ cell over the centuries. After crossing a wooden stile (94mins) and nearing the Cage, we saw a stag party a few yards to our right. Six impressively-antlered males were presumably the losers during the rutting season as there were no signs of any females. After trying in vain to stare us out, they wandered away, perhaps in search of a lap-dancing club.

We reached the Cage (108mins) and turned right downhill with Horsecoppice Reservoir coming into view on our right. We took a path to the right of the entrance hut and emerged by the East Gate exit (120mins) to enter Red Lane. With St Mary’s Church, Disley, on our right, we left Red Lane (134mins) by the side of The Ram’s Head and crossed the A6. This brought us to The Dandy Cock on our left (138mins) where we enjoyed pints of Robbies’ Unicorn for £2-95.

Leaving the pub we turned right and right again to walk under the railway bridge before turning left into Sherbrooke Road (141mins). This brought us to the right bank of the Peak Forest Canal, where we turned right (144mins).

The construction of The Peak Forest Canal was promoted by Samuel Oldknow, authorised by Parliament in 1794, financed by Richard Arkwright and engineered by Thomas Brown and Benjamin Outram. It was completed just six years after it had been approved despite the fact that Britain was now involved in the Napoleonic Wars.

The seven-feet wide canal is 15 miles long and contains 16 locks which raise it 209 feet at Marple. It runs from the Ashton Canal at Dukenfield through Newton, Hyde, Woodley, Bredbury and Romiley before crossing the River Goyt via Marple Aqueduct. After Marple Locks it goes through Strines, Disley, New Mills, Furness Vale and Bridgemont, terminating at Bugsworth Basin, with a branch to the centre of Whaley Bridge, which once connected with the Cromford and High Peak Railway.

Trains brought about the decline of canal traffic. In the 1920s the Peak Forest Tramway and Buggy Basin closed. By the early 1960s Marple Locks fell into disuse and banks deteriorated to make many parts impassable. But the Peak Forest Canal Society and the Inland Waterways Association campaigned for restoration. The canal was dredged, restored and reopened, mainly for pleasure craft, in 1974. Buggy Basin was reopened in 2003.

When we reached Bridge 26 we crossed and swung round to the left bank, went under the bridge and stopped for lunch at a bench with the canal now on our right (148mins). Continuing we marched along the towpath for two miles, passing the Swizzels-Matlow sweet factory in New Mills (179mins)

The firm, which makes Love Hearts and Parma Violets, stated life as a market stall in Hackney in the 1920s run by the Matlow brothers. As a result of Hitler’s Blitz of London in 1940 it relocated to its present site, which was a disused wick factory. It now employs 500 people and has an annual turnover in excess of £50million.

We continued along the towpath, passing Peter Beal’s narrowboat, Hot Metal, at Furness Vale Marina before exiting at Bridge 31 (201mins). We turned left to reach the road and turned right across the bridge and the level crossing, emerging back on the A6 (204mins). We turned right and crossed the road to reach The Soldier Dick car park (206mins)

After de-booting we entered the pub to find the S.O.B. team, including debutant Wednesday Wanderer Phil Burslem, a friend of Geordie George and former neighbour of WW legend Ivor Jones,, already enjoying pints of Wainwrights’ cask bitter for £2-85. We are delighted to welcome Phil to the fold and hope to see him again.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.30am from the road outside The Cock at Whaley Bridge. We anticipate reaching the Old Hall at Whitehough for a livener around 12.15pm, returning to The Cock about 2.15pm.

Happy wandering !