Disley

December 28, 2016.

DISLEY STATION, RING O’ BELLS, BOLLINGHURST RESERVOIR, MILLENIUM WOOD, BOLKER HALL FARM, BLACK ROCKS, BYRON HOUSE, GREENSHALL LANE, LOWER GREENSHALL LANE, PEAK FOREST CANAL, GOYT VALLEY, HAGUE BAR, HAGUE FOLD ROAD, THE FOX AT BROOK BOTTOM, STRINES STATION, BRUCE’S CLOCK, PEAK FOREST CANAL, HOLLINS CLOUGH SWING BRIDGE, THE DANDY COCK AT DISLEY

Distance: 10 miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Early mist clearing to produce a bright sunny day.

Walkers: Mark Gibby, Alan Hart and George Whaites.

B walkers: Tony Job, Terry Jowett and Geoff Spurrell.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett, Peter Beal, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, George Dearsley and Lawrie Fairman .

Leader: Hart. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Free car parking places at Disley Railway Station.

Starting time: 9.30am. Finishing time: 2.24pm.

Yuletide social duties depleted the numbers for this walk. What was lost in quantity was gained in quality and the trio of A-teamers were rewarded with a glorious sunny day. There was clear visibility from the summit of Black Rocks where we enjoyed a 360 degrees panorama. Sadly, in the absence of any experienced leaders, we did not know all the names of the landmarks in our spectacular surroundings.

For the second successive week your diarist was obliged to wear the mantle of navigator – a responsibility which has never rested lightly on his shoulders. After the early mist disappeared, leading was made even more difficult by a bright low sun which seemed to follow us around and always be shining in our eyes.

It would be churlish to complain about the nuisance of a bright sun in north-west England on December 28, however, and we did manage to negotiate the route with only one minor diversion. We also had the pleasure of meeting the B-teamers at our first watering hole and being re-joined by them at the final pub.

From the station car park we turned right, passing The Ram’s Head on our right and then turning right again just before The White Horse to enter Ring O’ Bells Lane. This took us up to a building with a set of golden bells on its wall. This was once a pub called the Ring O’ Bells and is now a Quaker meeting house.

We turned right in front of the building, crossed a wooden footbridge and followed a path between the graveyard of Disley parish church, St Mary The Virgin. Beyond the graves we took a path diagonally left to cut off a corner (7mins), turned left for 20 yards along a lane and then crossed a wooden stile on our right (9mins) to cross a field diagonally right in the direction of Lyme Cage in the distance.

We exited the field via another wooden stile and took the lane straight ahead. Just before it reached a farm we turned left (17mins) through a wooden kissing gate and walked through a field. Bollinghurst Reservoir soon became visible on our right and we followed the path by a drystone wall which protected the lake.

After passing through a wooden gate and two wooden stiles we turned right at a wooden stile which led into a wood at the end of the reservoir (28mins). After crossing a wooden stile we reached a metal gate at a four-way junction of paths. We went through the gate and carried straight across the junction (32mins) then swung left as we reached a cottage on our right (34mins).

This brought us into Millennium Wood where we followed the beaten path as it headed diagonally right to emerge on a road. We turned right (38mins) and passed Bolker Hall Farm on our left before crossing the road and heading left over a wooden stile by the side of a wooden public footpath sign pointing to Black Rocks.

We walked through a muddy field containing two horses and exited by a wooden stile, aiming for a wooden public footpath sign. We took a path left (47mins) and aimed for the ridge. With the sun glaring directly into our eyes and with hoar frost everywhere, it was difficult to pick out the path but we kept heading upwards for the ridge which we finally reached (65mins).

After admiring the views we started our descent, crossing a ladder stile (71mins). We passed a green building on our left which was known as The Owls’ Nest, being used as an outward bound base for the pupils of Manchester Grammar School, whose caps and blazers bear a badge in which a grey owl is prominent.

Shortly after this landmark, your diarist failed to spot a wooden stile in the hidden corner of a field and we wrongly headed through a broken gate into a field which proved to be a cul de sac. Your diarist retraced his footsteps and found the missing stile while his followers climbed over a gate to reach the right field. We were reunited in the garden of a cottage where a right of way led to a minor road.

We crossed this and followed a public footpath sign at the left side of Byron House (92mins). Beyond the house we turned left down a public footpath which brought us on to Greenshall Lane by the side of Pear Tree Cottage (94mins). We turned right and walked downhill along a rocky road until we emerged on the A6 (107mins).

We crossed this into Lower Greenshall Lane, walking under a railway bridge to reach the Peak Forest Canal (112mins). We turned left to access the towpath and sat on a bench by the side of Bridge 27 for pies and port, bathed in warm sunshine. With the canal on our left we continued to Bridge 25 (126mins)   and turned right through a gap stile.

A muddy path led us over a footbridge (136mins). We crossed a wooden stile and headed right up a flight of steps (137mins) and crossed another wooden stile (138mins). By turning left at a tree marked with a yellow arrow (139mins) we were able to skirt to the left of a pond and enter a car park.

We followed the car park exit to reach a road, where we turned right for ten yards before turning left at a wooden public footpath sign marked with a yellow arrow. We kept initially to the higher path with the River Goyt on our left below. The path went down to the river and then turned right to avoid a large house before it led us back on to the main road.

We turned left (147mins) and crossed a road bridge over the Goyt. On our right was The Torrs Riverside Park , the entrance to Mousely Bottom Wood and a recently refurbished children’s playground. At a road junction (155mins) we crossed into Hague Fold Road for a steep climb which led us ultimately to a narrow road by the side of a memorial bench to Eric Burdekin (164mins).

We turned left and reached The Fox at Brook Bottom (166mins), where we found the trio of B-teamers starting their second pints. The Robbies’ Unicorn cask bitter at £3-15 a pint was in good form again after recent disappointments.

Leaving the pub we turned right in front of a red phone box and descended a rocky path which led us under a railway bridge with Strines Station on our left (179mins).

Literary researchers have claimed a connection between Strines Station and Edith Nesbit, whose book, The Railway Children, was published in 1906 and made into a movie in 1970 starring Dinah Sheridan, Bernard Cribbins, Jenny Agutter and Sally Thomsett. They believe that Edith, who lived in Kent, was inspired by visits to her step-sister.

 Saretta Deakin lived in Mellor next to a real cottage called The Three Chimneys – the name of the fictional cottage described in the book and film. References in Edith’s writing can also be attributed to New Mills, Birch Vale, Thornsett and Strines.

After passing the lake on the right we caught up with the B-team and joined them for lunch on the stones beneath Bruce’s Clock (182mins). Resuming, we crossed the roadbridge over the Goyt and went straight across Strines Road (186mins), passing the house built by “Peeres Swindels” in 1694 (191mins).

We turned left just before the aqueduct carrying the Peak Forest Canal across our path (194mins) and went left over a wooden stile to head diagonally left to a gap stile, which we squeezed through to join the towpath. We turned left with the canal on our right. We went under Bridge 23 (200mins)and Wood End Lift Bridge 24 (207mins) before leaving the canal by crossing Hollins Clough Swing Bridge 25 (213mins).

The road took us under a railway bridge to reach the Dandy Cock (223mins) for more excellent Robbies’ Unicorn, this time at £2-95 a pint. We were later joined by the B team.

On Sunday, January 1, we will be having our traditional New Year’s Day walk starting at 10.30am from Poynton Sports Club car park. We will head for the Macclesfield Canal at Higher Poynton and, by way of a change, turn left to reach The Bull’s Head at High Lane, aiming to arrive at noon. We will return to Poynton for further refreshment. I need to find out which pub is open around 2pm when we expect to return. Please bear in mind that January 1 is “Ladies day” and that friends and family of any gender or transgender are most welcome.

The first Wednesday walk of the year will start at 9.30am on January 4 from the car park of The Boar’s Head at Higher Poynton, with Mark offering to make his debut as leader. It is his intention to take us into Lyme Park and then to head towards Pott Shrigley before pausing for a livener at The Miners Arms, Wood Lane Ends, Adlington, around 12.15pm. We expect to finish back in The Boar’s Head at about 2.15pm.

Happy wandering !

Poynton Pool

December 21, 2016.

POYNTON POOL, PRINCES INCLINE, TOWERS YARD FARM, SYD GOODWILL MEMORIAL BENCH, MACCLESFIELD CANAL, MIDDLECALE COTTAGE, LORD VERNON’S WHARF, THE BOAR’S HEAD AT HIGHER POYNTON, ANSON ROAD, DAVENPORT GOLF COURSE, LADY’S INCLINE AND THE BULL’S HEAD AT POYNTON

Distance: Seven miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Mild and dry while walking.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, Jock Rooney with Tips, and George Whaites.

B Walkers: Phil Burslem, George Fraser, Tony Job, Terry Jowett  and Ken Sparrow.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (foot injury), Tom Cunliffe (pub duties), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Steve Kemp (convalescing)Chris Owen (domestic duties) and Geoff Spurrell (heavy cold).

Leader and Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Poynton Pool car park, off Anglesey Drive, Poynton.

Starting time: 10.19 am. Finishing time: 1.58pm.

Never has an instruction been so joyfully received. “It’s raining outside. We’d better have another pint” was the order. No vote was necessary. The Remainers were unanimous. Furthermore we were rewarded for our patience because 20 minutes (one pint) later, the rain had ceased.

So, on the shortest day of the year, we had our shortest walk. This is often the case on the Wednesday before Christmas when, traditionally, your diarist has hosted a bacon butty breakfast accompanied by mulled wine and followed by mince pies. 

Despite my best efforts the target of a 10am departure time is rarely reached as Wanderers are urged to finish off the last bacon sandwich or mince pie. The wine disappeared as usual without any encouragement being necessary.

After breakfast we assembled in the car park next to Poynton Pool and proceeded along the path with the lake on our left, containing its usual assortment of wading birds – mallards, coots, moorhens, swans, Canada geese, an Egyptian goose and a flock of inshore seagulls. We emerged on South Park Drive, turned right for ten yards and then left along the main road. After some 50 yards we turned left into Woodside Close (13mins).

With Lady’s Incline to the right of the houses we chose the path on the left which is Princes Incline. In the days of mining in Poynton, these were rail tracks which relied on gravity to bring down tubs laden with coal, the weight of which carried empty tubs back uphill for loading. At the end we crossed Towers Road (23mins), passing Towers Yard Farm on our left (25mins). On the right was a plot of land on which an application had been made to build a new detached house.

Our path crossed another and we followed a yellow arrow to cross a road (41mins). This took us past the former home of late Wanderer and local artist Ian Price on our left just before we crossed Hilton Road (44mins) and a bridge over the Middlewood Way. The path continued past a memorial bench to a local ancient called Syd Goodwill on the left (47mins) until we reached the Macclesfield Canal (51mins).

The Macclesfield Canal is one of six which makes up The Cheshire Ring system. It was built between 1826 and 1831 by Thomas Telford. It runs for 26 miles from Marple, where it joins the Upper Peak Forest Canal, south for 16 miles toBosley, where it descends 12 locks, and continues through Congleton to Hall Green, which is a branch connecting it to the Trent and Mersey Canal.

We turned left to reach Bridge 13, by the side of an increasingly decorated pill-box. We left the canal here by turning left and swinging over the bridge to the far side of the canal. We passed Middlecale Cottage on our right (61mins). Beyond it, in a field on our right, two friendly deer came over to the fence to greet us in a second seasonal display of goodwill.

At the entrance to a farm on our right, we turned left and then turned right at a path marked with a yellow arrow (68mins). We turned right again over a wooden stile (73mins). Another wooden stile on our left was crossed and we then turned right to cross Bridge 14 (81mins). This took us back to the far bank of the Macclesfield Canal where we turned left.

The towpath, with the waterway on our left, soon brought us to Lord Vernon’s Wharf (90mins). Here, among the geese and mallards, Lawrie spotted a goosander. We paused at benches for snacks and were joined almost immediately by the B team. Continuing, we walked slowly down away from the canal, anxious not to reach The Boar’s Head before noon. In fact we arrived at 11.59am (93mins) to find it already open and busy.

After sampling the Black Sheep (£3-20) or Landlord (£3-25) cask bitter, the rain started to fall and we were obliged to stay for further refreshment. There were no dissenters rushing for The Boar’s Head exit – or Brexiteers, you might say.

By the time another pint had been sunk, the rain has passed by and we left the pub, tuning left immediately into Anson Road. We walked downhill to the end of the road, crossed it, and then headed uphill on to the grounds of Davenport Golf Club (105mins). We turned left through a gate and crossed the fairway to exit the course via a kissing gate. The path crossed Towers Road and led to Lady’s Incline (115mins).

We walked down the path into Woodside Close and at its end turned right along the main road (128mins). This brought us, after crossing, to The Bull’s Head at Poynton. Here we enjoyed pints of Original at £3-30 or Christmas Cracker at £3-40.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.30am from the section of free parking spaces at Disley Railway Station. We will be heading towards Millenium Wood and Black Rocks before dropping down across the A6, up Hague Bar to The Fox at Brook Bottom, hoping to reach it at noon. From there we will return via Strines to Disley for drinks in The Dandy Cock at about 2.15pm.

Happy wandering !

High Lane

December 14, 2016.

HIGH LANE, JACKSONS EDGE, DISLEY GOLF COURSE, STANLEY HALL, STRINES, GOYT WAY, GREENCLOUGH FARM, ROMAN LAKES, SITE OF MELLOR MILL, MANCHESTER-SHEFFIELD RAILWAY LINE, RING O’ BELLS AT MARPLE, MACCLESFIELD CANAL, GOYT MILL AND DOG AND PARTRIDGE AT HIGH LANE

Distance: Eight miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Dry, warm and sunny.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, Alan Hart, Steve Kemp, Chris Owen, Jock Rooney, Julian Ross and George Whaites.

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

Non-walking drinker: Pete Morrall.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (foot injury), George Dearsley (in Turkey) and Mark Gibby (caring for relative in Ripon),

Leaders:  Davison and Fairman.

Starting point: 11, Carr Brow, High Lane, Disley.

Startring time: 10.10am. Finishing time: 2.04pm.

This walk marked the start of the Wednesday Wanderers’ festive activities and we celebrated Yuletide in style. Colin demonstrated his multi-tasking skills as host, maitre d’, chef and wine waiter as he produced bacon balm cakes and mulled wine for his guests. As we were let down by the non-appearance of Angela in her promised role as pole-dancer last year, we were grateful that Colin did not attempt to add that feat to his accomplishments.

The free food and wine swelled our ranks to 14 walkers and the former category of non-walking drinker returned with the arrival at our final watering hole of Pete Morrall. His emigration to Spain ended prior to the Brexit vote in the Referendum so we have every reason to hope he will not be deported when the terms are negotiated.

In our continued efforts to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour, there will be more free food and drinks to look forward to next week, the details of which can be found at the end of this report.

From Colin’s home we turned left uphill and entered Jacksons Edge Road (5mins) before turning left at a green public footpath sign marked Stanley Hall (7mins). This path took us on to Disley Golf Course, where we kept right and passed the sign for Disley Golf Club, founded in 1889.

Scotland claims to have invented the game of golf in the 15^th Century and the old course at St Andrews is regarded as the “home” of golf. Interestingly (I hope), the game was banned in 1457 by Scottish King James ll, who thought young men were neglecting their archery skills. The ban was upheld by subsequent kings until it was lifted in 1502 by James lV, a keen golfer.

After passing this sign on our right (14mins) we passed the rebuilt Stanley Hall on our left. The former Grade 2 listed building was a derelict ruin a year ago, but has been given a thoroughly modern makeover. We followed a public footpath sign with a yellow arrow down a flight of steps and another yellow arrow pointing diagonally left to reach a path which exited the course.

We crossed a wooden stile and a bridge over the Peak Forest Canal, turning right to swing under Bridge 23 with the waterway on our left (25mins). We turned right at a gap stile (31mins) to walk down to a wooden stile which we crossed and turned right (32mins). On our left we passed a house with an inscription reading “Peeres Swindels purchest this house in the yeares 1694.” Clearly dyslexia is not a 21^st Century phenomenon.

Crossing Strines Road we entered Station Road and crossed a bridge over the River Goyt (41mins). On our left was Bruce’s Clock. This turret clock was made by Thomas Bruce, a foreman mechanic at Strines Print Works, in 1809.

We passed a lake containing a dovecote on our left and Strines Hall to our right before turning left at a red sign for the Goyt Way (45mins). After crossing a bridge over the Manchester-Sheffield railway we paused for pies and port (49mins). This was to be the first of several criss-crossings of the line.

Continuing we passed Greenclough Farm on our left and headed left along the Goyt Way (52mins). Where the path forked we kept to the higher one marked with a yellow arrow and went through a tunnel under the railway line (63mins). The path joins the right bank of the Goyt and we passed Roman Bridge on our left (69mins).

After walking under a viaduct (72mins) we inspected the remains of Mellor Mill, a huge six-storey building once employing hundreds of people. The mill was established by Samuel Oldknow on his Bottoms Hall Estate in 1788 and destroyed by fire in 1892. Lottery funding to unearth the foundations of the mill and its ancillary buildings runs out in July next year, we were told by a guide.

We returned from our brief foray into Bottoms Mill Road on our right and crossed a bridge over the Goyt (90mins) before following a yellow arrow which led us up a flight of steps to Strines Road (91mins). Again we crossed the Manchester-Sheffield railway line, this time via a footbridge. A flight of steps brought us to a road where we turned left (97mins) and climbed a road to the left of Churchgate Lodge.

This took us past All Saints Primary School, Marple, on our left and the cheery sight of the Ring O’ Bells directly ahead. We reached it at precisely 12 noon (102mins) and it was no fault of our leaders that we had to wait a further two minutes, along with the B walkers, for the doors to open. The Robbies’ cask bitter, at £3-10 a pint was in excellent form.

Suitably refreshed, we turned left out of the pub and descended to the right bank of the Macclesfield Canal. This was a direct route back to High Lane, passing Goyt Mill on the left bank (112mins) before exiting at Bridge 11 (143mins). We turned left on the main A6 towards Buxton and soon reached The Dog and Partridge at High Lane on our right (146mins).

After several efforts to start a new barrel, the Wainwrights’ cask bitter was in good nick at a modest £2-95 a pint and the Christmas roast meal was a real bargain at £4-49.

Next week’s walk will start from your diarist’s home at 68, London Road North, Poynton, Cheshire SK12 1BY, at about 10am. From 9am there will be bacon butties, mince pies and mulled wine. We intend to take a walk in the direction of Lyme Park and after some perambulations reach The Boar’s Head at Higher Poynton around 12.15pm. After a bracer there, we will finish our walk at The Bull’s Head, Poynton, at about 2.15pm.

It might be helpful if some of those driving used the car park at the end of my road next to Poynton Pool, where it is an eight-minute walk from the Bull’s Head finishing post.

Happy wandering !

 

Dean Row

December 7, 2016.

DEAN ROW, HANDFORTH, BOLLIN VALLEY WAY, MOTTRAM ST ANDREW GOLF COURSE, NORTH CHESHIRE WAY, THE BULLS HEAD AT MOTTRAM ST ANDREW, LEGH OLD HALL, LOWER GADHOLE FARM, THE ADMIRAL RODNEY AT PRESTBURY, PRESTBURY SEWAGE TREATMENT WORKS, THE UNICORN AT DEAN ROW

Distance: 8 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Cloudy start but sun and blue skies later.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, Steve Kemp, Chris Owen and George Whaites.

B Walkers: Phil Burslem, Tony Job, Ken Sparrow and Geoff Spurrell.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (sore foot), Tom Cunliffe (pub duties),George Dearsley (in Turkey) and  Julian Ross (domestic duties).

Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park of The Unicorn at Dean Row, Handforth.

Starting time: 9.34am. Finishing time: 2.17pm.

The day got off to an exciting start when we found the support staff for a film crew ensconced in the car park, along with an unexpectedly large number of other vehicles. We briefly anticipated the imminent arrival of Keira Knightley or Kate Winslett. We would have even settled for Helen Mirren, but we never solved the mystery of why the film caterers and a double-decker bus were there. 

Our hopes that they might be reprising Last of the Summer Wine, giving us a chance of stardom, were dispelled when we were told they were shooting an advert. If true, which we doubt, the commercial would have featured a cast of hundreds.

Although the opportunity for fame and fortune once again disappeared, we enjoyed a largely flat walk, with only a few patches of mud and the cloud gave way to blue skies and sunshine in the afternoon.

There was also a chance for Chris to take a nostalgic trip down Memory Lane past the soccer pitch where he once played for Prestbury FC. One could imagine a footman calling out the names as the players stepped on to the pitch – Algernon Fortescue, Sebastian Cholmondley-Warner, Chris Owen...

From The Unicorn car park we turned right and right again at the roundabout into Lees Lane. We turned right once again at a public footpath sign (4mins), followed a track into a farmyard, swung right and crossed a wooden stile marked with a yellow arrow (7mins). This was to be the first of a series of wooden stiles and kissing gates too numerous to mention.

We followed a sign for The Bollin Valley Way (13mins) and turned right at a renovated farmhouse, following a yellow arrow (23mins). We went up a flight of steps to reach a road (26mins) where we turned right, crossed a bridge over The Bollin and descended a flight of steps on the left. With the Bollin now on our left we followed a path which led us between two buildings and brought us on to the course of Mottram Hall Golf and County Club.

By following the path on the left of the course, we swung left and passed a soccer training pitch on our right (38mins). We turned right at a metal kissing gate to exit the course (44mins) and then crossed an unmarked wooden stile to rejoin it (53mins). After passing a sign marked NCW (North Cheshire Way) we went into trees but soon turned left to leave the copse and turned right to take a path which was the continuation of the North Cheshire Way.

We passed Healey Hill on our left (66mins) and crossed a main road into Priest Lane (69mins). On our left was The Bulls Head at Mottram St Andrew, which should hang it in shame for the want of an apostrophe. After 40 yards along Priest Lane we turned left at a wooden public footpath sign at the side of Rose Cottage (71mins). We turned left again at a similar sign (72mins) and then crossed a series of wooden stiles and a footbridge, passing a pink thatched cottage on our right before stopping for Pietime (84mins) on a flight of steps.

Continuing we turned left at a green footpath sign to reach a road and dog-legged left and right (86mins) to reach some expensive homes including Legh Old Hall on our left. This was built towards the end of the 16th Century , rebuilt in the 17th Century and altered in the 20th Century. It is constructed of coursed buff sandstone rubble with a Kerrdige slate roof. It is a Grade 2 listed building on the National Heritage list.

After passing the hall we turned left, went through a metal kissing gate and headed diagonally right downhill (90mins). After taking a wrong turn we were punished by encountering our first stretch of mud. We recovered our position by climbing over a metal gate and reaching Lower Gadhole Farm (106mins) where we turned right to follow a yellow arrow.

We followed yellow arrows to reach a wooden footbridge and headed up steps to a wooden kissing gate (114mins). We turned left through a field, went through a wooden gate on our left and turned right along a lane (116mins). This brought us to a concrete bridge over the Bollin, which we crossed and turned right (118mins).

The path on the left bank of the river merged into a road with a football pitch on the right. It was here where Chris was recruited as a young man “to stiffen up the back four.” No comment.

We carried on into Prestbury, passing The Village Club on our left (126mins) and immediately turning left to see the B-teamers entering the rear of The Admiral Rodney on the right. We followed suit (127mins) and joined them for excellent points of Robbies’ Unicorn bitter for £3-20.

The pub is named after Sir George Brydges Rodney, first baron and a knight of the Order of the Bath (1718-92). Born of humble origins, Rodney went to sea at 14 and rose through the ranks to become an admiral. He also represented five different constituencies in the House of Commons during a career in which he captured four enemy admirals – two Spanish, one French and one Dutch – during a two year spell at sea.

He was a controversial character, described by his enemies as vain, selfish and unscrupulous. At one stage he fled to France to avoid his creditors and had to be rescued from jail by a benefactor to enjoy his finest hour, defeating the French at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782 and saving Jamaica from falling into their hands.

With thirsts quenched we retraced our footsteps back to the concrete bridge across the Bollin, carrying straight on there and keeping the river on our left. The footpath took us past Prestbury  Treatment Works, which is easily the biggest sewage farm your diarist has seen. The people of Prestbury must be full of it.

We reached the start of the treatment works on our right (143mins) and left it 15 minutes later before stopping for lunch (159mins) at the far edge of a wood. Continuing we went through a metal kissing gate and turned left over a wooden footbridge across the Bollin (164mins) and turned right to follow apath with the river on our right. This brought us back to the Mottram Hall Golf Club course (169mins) where we were once again able to retrace our steps all the way back to our cars.

There was still no sign of thespians, famous or otherwise, using the facilities of the film crew’s support team. Inside the pub we were offered a selection of cask ales at £3-36 a pint, with a 10 per cent discount if you were a CAMRA member (or pretended to be so).

Next week’s walk will start at 11, Carr Brow, High Lane, Disley, where Colin has kindly offered to provide bacon butties and mulled wine from 9am onwards. We anticipate leaving around 10am and heading for The Ring O’ Bells at Marple, which we hope to reach at about 12.15pm. We will then head back to The Dog and Partridge at High Lane for our traditional Christmas lunch, hoping to arrive at 2.30pm.

Happy wandering !