Whaley Bridge

December 27, 2017.

WHALEY BRIDGE, CROMFORD AND HIGH PEAK RAILWAY LINE (DISUSED), SHALLCROSS INCLINE GREENWAY, MANCHESTER-BUXTON RAILWAY LINE , TUNSTEAD MILTON, SPARK FARM, CHAPEL-EN-LE-FRITH GOLF COURSE, BRADSHAW HALL, COWHEY FARM, ECCLES PIKE, SALT PIE FARM, OLD HALL INN AT WHITEHOUGH, PEAK FOREST TRAMWAY, STEPHANIE WORKS, BUGSWORTH BASIN, PEAK FOREST CANAL, WHALEY BRIDGE BASIN AND THE COCK AT WHALEY BRIDGE

Distance: 8 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Dry with sun, blue skies and cloud, but chilly.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Tom Cunliffe, Lawrie Fairman and Alan Hart.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (Italian hols), Alastair Cairns, Colin Davison (visiting relatives), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Mark Gibby, Hughie Harriman, Steve Kemp, Chris Owen, Julian Ross and George Whaites (domestic duties).

Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Road outside The Cock at Whaley Bridge.

Starting time: 9.39am. Finishing time: 1.55pm.

Dry weather, a low winter’s sun and blue skies only tempted four Wanderers out for this pleasant walk along the gently undulating hills and valleys between Whaley Bridge and Chinley at the edge of Derbyshire’s Peak District. The opportunity to walk off some of their Christmas pudding was clearly not on the menu for some of our regulars as they recovered from the excesses of the season and the entertaining of relatives.

Those of us who escaped the festive aftermath enjoyed the mild weather and a comical interlude involving Tom. Within an hour of berating your diarist for delicately tip-toeing through the mud, and pouring scorn on the suggestion that great care was needed, Tom slipped and fell. The resulting brown stain on the seat of his light fawn trousers suggested an accident of a totally different type.

It served to illustrate the proverbs “Pride cometh before a fall” and “He who laughs last laughs longest.”  Tom is now well on the road to recovery from his Achilles heel problem and it a joy to once again hear his brilliant ripostes and witty retorts after several months on the injury list.

Your diarist was also making his first outing for six weeks after sustaining a back injury during his holiday in Barbados. It is thought to have been caused by carrying a heavy suitcase up and down a flight of stairs in a luxury villa. It is known in the travel trade as an industrial injury.

Passing The Cock on our left, we turned left 20 yards beyond the pub, crossing a stream and heading uphill to the former track of the Cromford and High Peak railway line. When we reached it we turned right and followed it to the point where it became The Shallcross Incline Greenway (8mins).

The Cromford and High Peak Railway was built between 1830 and 1832 to carry minerals and goods between Cromford Canal Wharf and The Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge 33 miles away. It was originally designed as a tramway by William Jessop, his son Josias and their former partner Benjamin Outram, respected engineers and businessmen.

The first section of the line closed in 1963 following The Beeching Report and the last section came to the end of the line in 1967. Four years later The Peak Park Planning Board and Derbyshire County Council bought part of the track to create High Peak Trails for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

At the end of this incline we turned left into Shallcross Road. At its end we crossed Elnor Lane and followed a public footpath sign over a wooden stile which led into a field (20mins). Heading gently uphill we crossed a stone step stile, a wooden stile, went through a wooden gate and over a wooden fence before walking through a wooden gate into a farmyard (44mins)

We swung round the farm buildings and crossed a ladder stile on our right (47mins) which led us to a compound for Houdini goats. As the name of the famous escapologist suggests, they had all disappeared. By going through a protected gate we climbed over a stone step stile and turned right to head downhill towards a tunnel under the Manchester-Buxton railway line. As we did so we could see Combs Reservoir on our right.

We went through the tunnel and headed diagonally left towards a fence, where we turned right to climb downhill, over wooden slats and down stone steps and reached a stream which we crossed twice by two wooden footbridges (62mins). After crossing a wooden stile marked with a yellow arrow we reached the Whaley Bridge Chapel road at Tunstead Milton.

Our group crossed this and turned right for 100 yards before turning left at a green public footpath sign (63mins). We then crossed a series of wooden stiles which took us past a row of stables on our right and through successive fields. At one point Tom gave a remarkable impersonation of Little Bo Peep as he walked blissfully unaware that a flock of sheep was following him. When we reached a handy picnic table at the edge of a field, we stopped for pies and a drop of port (71mins)

Resuming we went through a gate and passed Spark Farm on our left to go over a wooden stile with a yellow arrow (73mins). The next wooden stile took us into the grounds of Chapel Golf Club. We kept to the left of the course and exited via a wooden gate at a wooden public footpath sign on our left (79mins).

After going through a wooden gate we had reached some farm buildings to the left of Bradshaw Hall (88mins). We turned left to skirt these building before turning right and passing them on our right. The entrance to Bradshaw Hall was on our right some 50 yards from our path.

Bradshaw Hall, built circa 1620 and extensively restored in the 1960s, is a Grade ll listed building. It was the family home of John Bradshaw, President of the High Courts of Justice, whose signature appears first on the death warrant of King Charles l.  At his trial in 1649, the king refused to recognise the authority of the court or enter a plea.

Judge Bradshaw, who was born in Wybersley Hall, High Lane, educated at Stockport Free School and King’s School, Macclesfield, was a former mayor of Congleton. He found the king guilty of being a tyrant, traitor, murderer and enemy of the people, and sentenced him to death by beheading with an axe.

Judge Bradshaw, a staunch Republican, subsequently fell out with Oliver Cromwell, but returned to favour when The Lord Protector died and was replaced by his son Richard Cromwell. Judge Bradshaw died in 1659, aged 57, and was buried with honours at Westminster Abbey.

When the monarchy was restored in 1660 and Charles ll was crowned king, he ordered that the bodies of Bradshaw, Oliver Cromwell and Henry Ireton, should be exhumed on the 12^th anniversary of Charles l’s execution. They were displayed in chains all day on a gallows at Tyburn on January 30, 1661. At sunset they were beheaded, their bodies thrown into a common pit and their heads displayed on pikes at Westminster Hall.

In the movie Cromwell, starring Richard Harris in the title role, John Bradshaw was played by Stratford Johns, best remembered for his portrayal of Det Chief Inspector Barlow in the TV series Softly Softly.

After passing the hall we headed left uphill over a series of stiles until we emerged on a road opposite Cowhey Farm (102mins). We turned left uphill and right at a wooden public footpath sign (103mins), passing a National Trust sign marked Eccles Pike. Instead of climbing this hill to our left, we turned sharp right towards an exit gate. It was at this point that Tom had his comeuppance (or in his case falldownance)

We then crossed a series of stiles as we descended through fields and reached a farm on our right (113mins) and swung left to follow the track down to a road (115mins). We turned left, passing Salt Pie Farm on our right (121mins) and crossing the road bridge over the A6 before entering Whitehough and reaching The Old Hall (126mins) for pints of excellent Wainwrights’ cask bitter at £3-20.

After refreshment we left the pub and turned right downhill past Sheridan House to reach The Peak Forest Tramway, where we turned left (129mins). After passing a pond containing two black swans and a plastics company at Stephanie’s Works, we reached the Navigation Inn at Bugsworth Basin, where your diarist paused at a bench for lunch (145mins)

Continuing, we walked along the right bank of the Peak Forest Canal, crossing to the left bank via a footbridge at Bridge 37 (159mins). This brought us to Whaley Bridge Basin marina (168mins). We carried straight on at the end of the marina, walking to the right of Tom Brad’s Croft car park and crossing a bridge over The Goyt.

This took us along the disused Cromford and High Peak Railway line until we turned right past an electrical goods suppliers, reached the main road and turned left under the bridge to reach our cars outside The Cock (180mins)

Next Wednesday’s walk will start at 9.35am from The Sportsman on Kinder Road, Hayfield. We expect to call at The Lamb around 12.15pm and finish back at The Sportsman at about 2.20pm.

The annual New Year’s Day walk will start at 10am on Monday, January 1, from the car park of Poynton Sports Club to a destination to be decided on the day in view of the weather and ground conditions and the conditions of the walkers concerned. It is customary to share festive food and drink.

Happy wandering !

Poynton

Poynton

Dec 20, 2017

POYNTON POOL, PRINCES INCLINE, DAVENPORT GOLF COURSE, MACCLESFIELD CANAL, TRADING POST, GREEN HOUSE FARM, LYME PARK, WINDGATHER, HARESTEADS FARM, BOAR'S HEAD AT HIGHER POYNTON, POYNTON POOL

Distance: 8 miles

Difficulty: Easy

Weather: Dry and cloudy at first, persistent light drizzle later. Mild.

Walkers: Micky Barrett, Peter Beal, Alastair Cairns, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Laurie Fairman, Mark Gibby, Hughie Harriman, John Jones, Julian Ross, George Whaites

S.O.B. walkers: George Fraser, Tony Job, Terry Jowett, Gareth Roberts, Ken Sparrow, Geoff Spurrell, Barry Williams

Non-walking drinker: Alan Hart

Apologies: George Dearsley (Turkey), Chris Owen (poorly sick)

Leader: Fairman                              Diarist: Beal

Starting point: Poynton Pool car park

Starting time: 9.53am         Finishing time: 2.01pm

For a second successive week the allure of free mulled wine, breakfast barmcakes (this time sausage) and mince pies ensured a fulsome turnout of walkers.

Our host Alan, sadly prevented from joining the walk by a combination of back and foot trouble, nevertheless was more than generous in his hospitality at his home before we wandered off in the direction of the nearby Poynton Pool car park to boot up.

An otherwise gentle walk had some drama introduced by a bloody injury to Laurie's hand, caused by a barbed wire fence, but our leader maintained a firm upper lip and continued with his duties.

We left the car park with Poynton Pool on our left and followed a good path which brought us to South Park Drive (10 minutes). We crossed this and turned left down the main road, a short distance later turning left in to Woodside Lane.

We followed this residential road with the grounds of Poynton Sports and Social Club on our right. We took a signed track on the right at a fork and continued up this, crossing a road and going through a gate which brought us in to fields (21 min).

This was the start of the Princes Incline - part of the Poynton Collieries railway system built to service the many small mines in the area. It was originally rope-worked, but converted to locomotives in 1889. The system carried coal from the pits to either Stockport or the nearby Macclesfield Canal, for onward transport to Macclesfield or Bollington.

We continued up the track, now with a ditch on our left, before slanting left and descending down a flight of wooden steps in to woods (29 min). Steps at the other side of a wooded dip brought us to a metal kissing gate, leading in to a field at the edge of Davenport golf course. After two further similar gates, and a false start in to another bit of the golf course, we turned left along a track which soon forked right 37 min) to take us along a path through woods.

We crossed a minor road (50 min) and carried on along an unmade lane which brought us to Hilton Road. We crossed this and entered Prince Road at a sign pointing to the Middlewood Way, which we soon crossed on a substantial bridge.

The Way, now an 11-mile route for walkers, horse-riders and cyclists, is the route of the former Marple to Macclesfield railway line, which closed in 1970. We carried on up a track with the entrance to Middlewood House Community Hall on our left, and past two bungalows, after which the track became a path (62 min).

It was here our leader, with his walking poles tucked under his arm, slipped on a greasy tree root, and trying to steady himself took a firm grip on a barbed wire fence, sustaining a nasty gash to his hand.

After much scrabbling about for tissues and plasters, the flow of blood was stemmed. Some of the Wanderers observed it might be helpful if we actually carried such a thing as a first-aid kit for such an eventuality. Your temporary diarist unhelpfully offered that he did possess such a thing - but it was in his other rucksack.

Veteran Wanderer Alan was to comment later that in all his years of Wednesday walking it was the first time he had known such an injury, or indeed of any of the Wanderers coming to harm.

This was apparently in contrast to the other, more organised rambling groups that he joins sometimes, when seemingly walkers are regularly being escorted away with exhaustion or falling and breaking and spraining things. We took this as a tribute to the Wanderers' fortitude and professionalism.

We continued uphill with Laurie bleeding not too profusely and soon reached the Macclesfield Canal (65 min). We turned right along the towpath to reach the canal supplies shop-cum-cafe known as Bailey's Trading Post, where in the absence of pie-time a tea stop was declared (76 min).

In rather balmy weather we sat outside and enjoyed tea and Bovril, generously purchased by Julian. His claim however that this would exempt him from birthday drinks for 2018 was met with widespread derision.

We left at 11.25, and as we were only 200 yards from our planned refreshment stop, a diversion was clearly needed. We continued along the canal in the direction of Bollington and at Bridge 16 crossed the waterway in to a field (89 min).

We followed a hedge on our right, under power lines, and soon came a a stile on our right. We crossed this and bore left up a footpath which brought us to a lane, which we followed uphill. This brought us to Green House Farm, which we skirted along a footpath on its right.

This brought us out on moorland on the fringe of Lyme Park. We carried on along a grassy track before slanting left down to a good track running alongside a high drystone wall (97 min).

We turned left downhill soon reaching the Park gate at a house called Windgather. From here a track and lane took us straight on, descending and then climbing from Haresteads Farm, to soon reach the canal again near the Trading Post. A short walk down the road brought us to the Boar's Head (150 min), where we found the eight B walkers already ensconced, having walked the two miles from Poynton.

Black Sheep (£3.30) and Ringwood Razorback Bitter (£3.45) was on offer and much enjoyed.

Our straightforward return route took us left out of the pub door and sharp left in to Anson Road, which we followed for its length down to a T-junction. Here we crossed over to take a track which brought us to rejoin our outward route at the kissing gates in the golf course. From here we followed the Princes Incline and retraced our steps alongside Poynton Pool to the car park (195 min).

We debooted and some of the party adjourned to The Fiveways for Holt's Bitter (£3.15).

Pictures by John Jones

Next week's walk will start outside The Cock in Whaley Bridge at 9.35am. We intend to call at the Old Hall Inn in Whitehough around 12.15pm, before returning to The Cock around 2.15pm.

Details of the traditional New Year's Day walk will be announced in the report of this.

Happy wandering!

High Lane

High Lane

December 13, 2017

CARR BROW, DISLEY GOLF COURSE, STANLEY HALL WOOD, RIDGE END, PEAK FOREST CANAL, ROMAN BRIDGE, COWN EDGE WAY, MELLOR AND TOWNSCLIFFE GOLF COURSE, LINNET CLOUGH, FOX INN AT BROOKBOTTOM, STRINES STATION ,  RIDGE END, DOG AND PARTRIDGE AT HIGH LANE

Distance: 7 miles                Ascent/descent: 1,100 ft

Difiiculty: Easy but boggy underfoot

Weather: Dry at first, then squally rain

Walkers: Micky Barrett, Peter Beal, Alastair Cairns, Steve Courtney, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Laurie Fairman, Steve Kemp, Chris Owen, Jock Rooney, George Whaites

S.O.B Walkers: Tony Job, Terry Jowett, Barry Williams

Non-walking drinkers: Alan Hart, Geoff Spurrell

Apologies: Mark Gibby (Lanzarote), George Dearsley (Turkey), Alan Hart (back trouble), Julian Ross and Hughie Harriman (unspecified)

Leader: Davison                              Diarist: Beal

Starting point: Colin's house at 11, Carr Brow, High Lane

Starting time: 10.15am      Finishing time: 1.59pm

The Wanderer's annual Christmas lunch outing was dampened by some squally, unpleasant rain in the middle stages, but we were delighted to welcome back Tom after his prolonged absence with an Achiiles injury.

He almost immediately berated some member of our party for wearing snoods, prompting him to be labelled the Wanderers' own version of so-called style guru Trinny Woodall. This was an image he demolished later in the walk by producing a girly, Mary Poppins-type umbrella which was promptly reduced to wreckage by the Derbyshire weather.

Our host Colin was more than welcoming at his home, providing excellent bacon sarnies and a never-ending supply of mulled wine. We were particularly pleased to see him as he had recently emerged from a hospital stay following a heart episode. Investigations are ongoing.

After a very congenial hour or so were prompted by Tom to stir ourselves and left Colin's fuelled by a reported four litres of mulled wine (in total, not each). We turned left up Carr Brow and near the crown of the hill turned left on a footpath taking us in to Disley golf course, seemingly closed for play because of the recent snowfall and rapid thaw ( 11 minutes).

We turned left across the course and entered a footpath descending through woods. We crossed a stile in to a field and with an embankment in front of us, and bore right with the chimney of an air-shaft to the Disley rail tunnel above us.

With some ramshackle farm buildings ahead of us we bore left up a track to a gate (18 min). We reached a farm where the track became a metalled lane and passed a row of terraced cottages on our left.

At a footpath sign indicating Mellor and Cobden Edge we turned right (22 min). This brought us to Slack Hall Farm where a very muddy track took us down hill to a lift bridge over the Peak Forest canal.

We turned left along the canal and very soon took a footpath on the right at a sign pointing to Mellor, Werneth Low and Gee Cross, along the Cown Edge Way (37 min). We followed a track downhill, crossing two stiles and through a gate and passed house to emerge on the Marple to New Mills road (44 min).

We travelled a short distance along the road to the left before descending on a track to the right towards the River Goyt. We swung left along the river to soon reach Roman Bridge, a packhorse bridge across the river that, in common with the nearby Roman Lakes, has no connection with the Romans at all, but was an attempt by Victorians ro romanticise the area and promote tourism.

We crossed the bridge and immediately turned left at a sign pointing us along the Goyt Way towards the Roman Lakes. Almost straight away we turned right on steps uphill signed Mellor and Cown Edge (49 min). This muddy path brought us to a locked gate where we turned right up wooden steps and then left over a green-painted metal bridge over the Manchester to Sheffield railway line.

A half-hearted attempt to declare pie-time here was short-lived and the party soon moved on uphill to reach the Mellor and Townscliffe golf course. We continued with a line of trees on our right before turning left over the fairway to reach the end of a lane at the Linnet Clough Scout Camp and Activity Centre (62 min).

We turned right up the lane and passed the golf clubhouse on our left. At the top we carried straight on uphill across a stretch of the golf course and at a track again carried on uphill. We emerged at a junction near the 10th tee (81 min).

Here Laurie and five of our number opted to carry on up a track to the left to reach Cobden Cross, a prominent landmark erected by the local Christian community, but now mysteriously missing its central vertical spar.

Your diarist and four others decided to make a beeline through muudy fields in worsening weather towards the pub. This route took us across a series of stiles to reach a grassy ramped path which descended to deliver us to a track just above the Fox Inn, below us on the left.

We reached the open pub door on the dot of noon (105 min), to be joined minutes later by Laurie and his companions. The Robbie's Unicorn at £3-30 a pint was pronounced acceptable.

A leisurely 52 minutes later we braved the rain again and left the pub to turn immediately right down a track with a stream ravine below us on the right. The track brought us to Strines station (124 min), reputedly one of the locations for the book The Railway Children. In the current cultural climate it would be most inappropriate to make any reference to Jenny Agutter waving her red knickers in the air in the subsequent film.

We continued along the road, past a large pond with a dovecote on our right. This was the reservoir for the village's calico printing mill and at the end of the pond a clock orginally built by Thomas Bruce from the mill has been painstakingly restored.

We crossed the Marple road again (129 min) and headed uphill along a track that took us through a tunnel under the Peak Forest canal (137 min). This brought us back to our original outward route, which we followed back through the golf course and on to Carr Brow.

The main party stopped briefly at Colin's to deboot (165 min) while your diarist and George continued down the A6 to the Dog and Partridge (173 min), to pints of Wainwright and the Christmas carvery.

The three B walkers who joined us later - Tony, Terry and Barry - told us they had completed the remarkable feat of visiting a total of four pubs on a walk around Marple Bridge and Marple of little more than three miles, plus buses. A fine achievement.

B Walkers' diary

Apologies: George Frazer (Nativity play), Ken Sparrow (weather forecast), Phil Burslem (family business, Geoff Spurrel (protecting body against probable fall).

Distance walked: 3 or 4 km.  Buses used: 3 plus 1 taxi.

4 pints to sustain us.

We took the 9.44 bus to Marple Bridge, and walked through Brabyns Park to Etherow Country Park. En route, we learned that the George Hotel in undergoing conversion into luxury flats, and that the bowling green will not survive. We had a pleasan, albeit slippery walk round the dam, running through our repertoire of duck names as we hazarded guesses. On returning to Compstall Post Office, a 384 bus turned up, so we jumped on for a ride up to the centre of Marple, knowing that the Ring o’ Bells would not be open until noon, but recalling a previous Christmas walk when we took coffee at the Methodist Hall. On the way we passed the Samuel Oldknow (closed), but found the Bull’s Head 50 yards opposite ope, warm, and welcoming. After a pint of Robbies, we ambled past the Methodist Hall (open to all), up to the Ring o’ B ells, and found it open, cold and nearly empty. Our second pint of Robbies was not very good, and the rain was starting, so we followed the canal back to the centre, just in time to see a 394 arriving.  As it was judged to be too early (1.10) to get a ride to High Lane for lunch, we paused for more Robbies at the Navigation which we found warm and friendly. Our bus timetable promised another 394 at 2.10, but it didn’t materialise. Must get a new timetable! A Lynx taxi eventually turned up, and we got to the D & P for lunch about 3.00. Wainwright made a nice change from Robbies, and the food was up to scratch too. Alan provided transport back to Hazel Grove, much appreciated.

Next week's continuing festivities will see us convene at 9 am at Alan's house at 68, London Road North, Poynton, where mulled wine, sausage barmcakes and Christmas cake are promised  before a walk around the environs of Poynton, calling at the Boar's Head at Higher Poynton around 12.15pm. Drinks afterwards will be at The Fiveways.

::  Alan asks us to park at the Poynton Pool car park near the end of Anglesey Drive, a short walk from his house, to avoid congestion.

Sutton Hall

SUTTON HALL, MACCLESFIELD CANAL, MACCLESFIELD GOLF COURSE, LANGLEY, TEGG’S NOSE COUNTRY PARK, FIONA’S SEAT, LOWER RIDGEGATE RESERVOIR, CHURCH HOUSE, SUTTON, SUTTON HALL FARM, SUTTON HALL, MACCLEFIELD CANAL, SUTTON RESERVOIR, LEE FARM AND SUTTON HALL

Distance: Ten miles.

Difficulty: Mainly easy with strenuous climb.

Weather: Cloudy but dry with moderate temperature.

Walkers: Lawrie Fairman, Hughie Harriman, Alan Hart, Steve Kemp, Chris Owen and Julian Ross.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett and Alastair Cairns ( hols), Colin Davison, George Dearsley (in Turkey), Mark Gibby (Lanzarote hols), George Whaites (Xmas duties)

Leader: Owen. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park of Sutton Hall, Sutton, Macclesfield.

Starting time: 9.37am. Finishing time: 3.02pm.

In a suggested break from tradition, this was a figure-eight walk compiled by Chris which started and finished at Sutton Hall, calling en route for a drink at.... Sutton Hall. The historic former home of the  aristocratic Lucan family was a splendid watering hole.

However I have to report that some whingers were heard complaining “Why has Chris picked Tegg’s Nose again ?” The answer of course is because the summit provides stunning panoramic views across the valleys to Cheshire’s other hilltops – The Cloud at Bosley, Croker Hill and Shutlingsloe. Both the climb and the views are breathtaking.

We were lulled into a false sense of security by a comfortable flat walk beforehand. Leaving the pub car park we turned right over the canal bridge and right again to join the left bank of the Macclesfield Canal.

The canal, 27 miles long from the Peak Forest Canal at Marple, passing through 12 locks at Bosley, and finishing at its junction with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Kidsgrove, was first mooted in 1765. It was not until 1824 that investment was sought and the redoubtable Thomas Telford engaged as engineer.

Work started in 1826 and ended five years later at a cost of £300,000. If only Telford was alive today to show engineers how to build by-passes and roundabouts !

We began with the canal on our right but at Bridge 43 we climbed the cobblestones to cross a to the right bank. After passing The Beehive on the far side of the canal we walked under Bridge 41 (20mins) before going under Bridge 40 and swinging right up steps to cross it and head downhill.

Our group turned left into Black Road with a soccer pitch on our right (23mins) and left again up the cobbles of Richmond Hill (24mins). At the end we swung right and turned left at a green public footpath sign (27mins). This brought us to a track and a dog-leg to reach a green public footpath sign up at flight of stone steps (29mins)

We followed a public footpath sign through Macclesfield Golf Club’s course and passed through a kissing gate (38mins). Twenty yards before we reached a metal gate ahead we turned right downhill (47mins). We crossed a wooden footbridge over the Bollin (53mins), walked through a metal kissing gate (56mins) and crossed a wooden stile to reach a road (57mins).

After turning left we bore left again at Langley Methodist Church (61mins) and turned left into Holehouse Lane (64mins).  As we climbed uphill we passed a pond on our right and reached a wall protecting Bottom Reservoir (69mins). Workmen were fortifying the wall, aided by a drone overhead.

We turned left and entered Tegg’s Nose Country Park (70mins). A steep climb brought us to a wooden kissing gate (80mins). By the time we reached a bench on our left (82mins) we were more than ready for the respite of Pietime (84mins) so we stopped for snacks and port.

Resuming our climb, we went through a wooden kissing gate (93mins) and the more stalwart members of the group continued to the summit of Tegg’s Nose. Despite the high cloud, there was good visibility for the panoramic view. (95mins). The macho men joined their colleagues next to a memorial bench known as Fiona’s Seat.

It is engraved “I have slipped the surly bonds of earth and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings -  Fiona McWilliam 1965-99”. This is one of four plaques dedicated to Fiona, from Macclesfield, of which two are at Tegg’s Nose where she enjoyed walking with her cocker spaniel Amy.

Fiona, an air traffic controller at Manchester Airport, was learning to fly and was one of the passengers in a civilian light aircraft which crashed into a mountainside at Moel Sych, North Wales, on February 12, 1999. The trainee pilot, Fiona and another passenger were all killed. There is a memorial to Fiona at the site of the crash saying “Remember Me.” Another plaque is on a bench at the memorial garden at Manchester Airport from her friends and colleagues.

The inscription at Tegg’s Nose is the opening lines from a poem by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee Jr, of the Royal Canadian Air Force, who died in a plane crash in England in 1941.

With Fiona’s Seat on our left we walked forward for 100 yards and turned right off the main path (101mins). This was the start of our descent, where we made a sharp right turn at a bench (103mins) by the side of a bookcase entitled “Library in the Landscape.” Here Hughie remarked that a defibrillator might be more useful than James Fennimore Cooper’s “Last of the Mohicans” or Jane Austen’s “Persuasion”.

We went through a wooden gate (103mins) and down a flight of steps to cross the Bollin by stepping stones (118mins). We turned left at a wooden public footpath sign marked Gritstone Trail (129mins) and swung left with Lower Ridgegate Reservoir on our left (132mins). We reached a road at the end of the reservoir and turned right 180 degrees to walk down a road (134mins)

Our party passed Clarke Lane Farm on our left and St Dunstan’s Inn on our right (141mins). A right turn took us along a road called The Orchard (143mins). This brought us to the Church House pub at Sutton on our left (154mins). A few yards further along we turned left uphill into Trinity Lane (155mins) and a housing estate. By turning right into Fitzwilliam Avenue, left into Peter House Road, right at a T-junction into Gorville Avenue, left into Selwyn Drive and right at a T-junction, we were able to leave the estate and turn left towards Sutton Hall Farm (162mins).

After 50 yards we went right through a wooden gate and entered the grounds of Sutton Hall and then the hall itself, which has become a country pub restaurant.

This was the ancestral home of Lord Lucan, who was famously, or infamously, involved in The Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War.

We entered (164mins) and were treated to pints of Lord Lucan at £3-70 by Lawrie, who was celebrating the news that he will become a great grandfather in June. Congratulations to him and his family.

Suitably refreshed we left the car park and returned to the Macclesfield Canal, this time turning right with the canal on our left. We went under bridges 44 (169mins), 45 (179mins) and 46 (185mins) before discovering picnic tables on our right just before Swing Bridge 47. Here we paused for lunch (189mins)

Continuing, we passed the swing bridge and left the canal at wooden bridge 48a (200mins), turning right up wooden steps and crossing the canal. We also crossed a main road and headed through a metal kissing gate towards Sutton Reservoir (203mins). Chris was now sweating like a Scouser in a Job Centre as he realised his walk was over-running. He informed us that Sutton Reservoir was still widely known locally as Turk’s Head Reservoir for reasons lost in the mists of time.

We went through two wooden gates (208 and 215mins) and turned right for 50 yards before turning left at a wooden public footpath sign (216mins). We went through a metal gate marked with a yellow arrow (219mins) and reached a lane by the side of a bridge. We turned left (222mins) and reached a road by the side of Lee Farm. We turned right (225mins) and reached a main road (229mins)

After crossing a wooden stile opposite following a wooden public footpath sign, we crossed a wooden stile to reach a road and turned right (234mins). We turned right again at the entrance to Sutton Hall (239mins) and reached our cars to de-boot (241mins) before sampling a final pint of Lord Lucan.

Next week’s walk will start with a meeting at Colin’s house at 11, Carr Bank, High Lane, at 9am for bacon sandwiches and mulled wine. After this bountiful breakfast Colin we lead us on a route of his choosing before returning at about 2.30pm to The Dog and Partridge on the A6 at High Lane for a traditional Xmas carvery lunch.

Happy wandering !

Whaley Bridge

November 29, 2017.

WHALEY BRIDGE, CROMFORD AND HIGH PEAK RAILWAY LINE (DISUSED), GOYT VALLEY, ST JAMES’ CHURCH, TAXAL, TAXAL NICK, WINDGATHER ROCKS, PYM CHAIR, HOO MOOR, FERNILEE RESERVOIR, THE SHADY OAK AT FERNILEE, SHALL CROSS, THE COCK AT WHALEY BRIDGE

Distance: 8.5 miles (13.7 Km)

Difficulty: Strenuous start: easy finish.

Weather: Cool and cloudy becoming warm and sunny.

Walkers: Lawrie Fairman, Mark Gibby, Steve Kemp, Chris Owen, Jock Rooney with Tips, Michael Barrett and Julian Ross.

Apologies: Alastair Cairns – gardening duties, Peter Beal – Theatre going, Colin Davison – undergoing MOT 

Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Kemp.

S.O.B. Walkers: 

Starting point: Main road outside The Cock at Whaley Bridge.

Starting time: 9.32 a.m. Finishing time: 2.27 p.m.

The diary diverges from the normal format. As the diarist is new to the task and faced with a readership of hardened walkers and/or skilled wordsmiths, the diary presents as an approximate description of the walk, with errors (deliberately) included for detection by those with an interest in accuracy. Most good parts are plagiarised from Mr. Hart’s diary of the same/similar walk of September 28th 2016 or added to on the advice of Mr. Fairman.

The weather was cool with the overnight frost improving the heavy going on the higher reaches. Although showers were forecast, they stayed away for the duration of our walk.

From The Cock pub we had headed left and after 20 yards turned left up a path over a stream. This brought us to the former track of the Cromford and High Peak Railway Line where we turned right (1min).

This line from Cromford to Whaley Bridge was completed in 1831. Initially the trains were horse-drawn, but later the animals were replaced with small steam locomotives.Their main cargo was limestone, giving Derbyshire the reputation for exporting itself. The line was linked to The Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge Basin, from where the minerals could be distributed.

The line was closed completely in 1967. Four years later the Peak Park Planning Board and Derbyshire County Council bought part of the track and turned it into The High Peak Trail.

We followed the line until shortly after passing Alpha Mews on our right we turned right at a wooden public footpaths sign. This path took us over a wooden footbridge (11mins) and emerged at a children’s playground where we headed right, picking up a road which led down to the main road (13mins)

After crossing the road we started to climb again up a path opposite, which brought us to a wooden footbridge on our right over the River Goyt (17mins). After crossing this we had a steep ascent to St James’ Church, Taxal, on our right (23mins)

Originally this was called St Leonard’s Church and it has a record of baptisms, marriages and burials dating back to 1610. To its right is a house which was once the village pub, The Chimes at Taxal.

We turned left and after 60 yards, opposite Glebe House on our left, we turned right over a stone step stile (24mins). A long climb through waterlogged fields sorted the men from the boy, with the “boy” claiming writing duties slowed his progress.  Two ladder stiles brought us to a lane (33mins). This brought temporary respite as we turned left for 100 yards before heading right at a green public footpath sign for Windgather Rocks (34mins) and another climb uphill.

We finally reached the cleft in the ridge called Taxal Nick (41mins) and reached a drystone wall with a view over the valley. We turned left through a gate marked “No Bike Riding” and followed the ridge towards a wood. Just before we reached the trees, we headed briefly left and then went right over a wooden stile. This took us through a field to a gate, which we went through to pass the wood on our left (47mins)

There was now another climb to the cliffs called Windgather Rocks (55mins). Here we stopped to admire the views across Dunge Valley with Kettleshulme below on our right and above it on a ridge the distinctive white farmhouse surrounded by telecom aerials easily recognised as Bowstones.  Behind us to the left was The Kinder Range with Castle Naze on our right as we took in the panoramic view.

Continuing, we walked along the cliffs with the drop on our right and a view of a glistening Jodrell Bank radio telescope. A familiar ravine provided shelter for pie time (10.54). There was murmur ofcelebration when Julian shared the news he was having his first “Wandering”, hot soup of the year. Spirits subsequently lowered with the realisation that Alan was enjoying the warmth of the Barbados and exclusive use of his legendary hip flask. Come back Alan, all is forgiven. (11.14). Pie time over and we continued along the ridge until it levelled off by a road. To avoid the mud we walked up the road towards Pym’s Chair. Before reaching the Chair, at the footpath sign, we cut across the Moor to pick up the road down to the Goyt Reservoir.

There was a long descent until we reached a sign on our left marked Hoo Moor and Fernilee (111mins).

Following the sign we walked along a gravel track, through woods until it swung right for Fernilee (136mins). This brought us to the dam with Fernilee Reservoir on our right (142mins).

Fernilee and Errwood Reservoirs were built in the Goyt Valley by Stockport Water Corporation at a cost of £480,000 and completed in 1938. They are currently owned and operated by United Utilities and hold a capacity of 4,940 million litres of water which supply Stockport and surrounding areas.

We reached the far side of the dam road (144mins) and turned left to head uphill to the main road (152mins). Here we turned left and reached The Shady Oak on our right (159mins). 

As it was the cusp of the Diarist’s birthday, he celebrated his birthday and the reduced numbers of walkers by buying coffee, soda and pints of Cumberland Beer at a £3.60 a pint or a staggering £3.70 for two halves.

The combination of drinks and good company, catalysed conversations of breathtaking diversity….from the topical. Who was that lovely that sang Happy Birthday? (answer Clare Grogan https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DKkAQdlr7jY ) …. to high ground of, the architecture to be seen on Portland Street, Manchester…Thank you Mr. Barrett, through discussion on entertainers like the Pet Shop Boys, Dusty Springfield, Bridget Bardot’s pout, and finally onto, established deviant practices of the world. The last topic started in Manchester but was expanded to cover many ports of the world. The knowledge and detail provided by Jock was astonishing and the impeccable use of the third person a relief to all.

Suitably refreshed we turned right out of the pub door and immediately right up a lane by the side of the premises. This brought us to Elnor Lane where we turned left, passing Far End Cottage on both sides of the road (165mins). We didn’t stop at the Ancient Monument on our right called Shall Cross (171mins), nor did we pause for lunch. We turned left into Shallcross Road (174mins) and then right to descend Shallcross Incline Greenway (175mins). This brought us back to the disused railway line with Cromford Court retirement flats on our right (183mins). We passed a memorial stone to Gordon Hill (1930-96), described as “a unique man” (but aren’t we all ?). 

Just before The Cock the path ended and brought us over the stream back to the main road and our cars (193mins). After de-booting we joined our comrades for pints of Robbies’ Unicorn at £3.

For an accurate overview of the walk, see below graphic and link.I'd like to share a track from http://my.viewranger.com/track/details/NjM3NTUxOQ==

Next week’s walk will start at 9.30am from the car park of Sutton Hall, Bullocks Lane, Sutton, SK11 0HE. 01260 253 211. (They’ve kindly agreed for us to use the car park). 12.30 Sutton Hall lunchtime drinks. 14.30 complete, with a Sutton Hall final drink. Chris will lead the team around this figure of eight walk, taking in Macc Forest, canals, Sutton Hall etc. 

Happy Wandering !

Goyt Valley

QUARRY CAR PARK AT STAKESIDE IN THE GOYT VALLEY, WILD MOOR, OLD CHPR RAILWAY LINE, OLD TUNNEL ENTRANCE, EDGEMOOR, THE DUKE AT BURBAGE, BURBAGE EDGE, BERRY CLOUGH

Distance: 8 miles                   Ascent/descent: 1520 ft

November 22, 2017

Difficulty: Moderate

Weather: Cloudy and dry with strong wind

Walkers: Micky Barrett, Peter Beal, Alastair Cairns, Colin Davison, Laurie Fairman, Steve Kemp, Chris Owen

Apologies: Alan Hart (Barbados), Jock Rooney (Cyprus), George Whaites (domestic duties), Mark Gibby (parental duties), Tom Cunliffe (Achilles injury), George Dearsley (Turkey), Julian Ross and Hughie Harriman (unspecified duties)

Starting point: Quarry car park at Stakeside, Upper Goyt Valley

Starting time: 9.50 am                      Finishing time: 2.06pm

Today's walk featured a new starting point, a stretch of historic former rail line and a welcoming reopened pub not visited by the Wanderers for years.

Considering the dire weather forecast of continuous heavy rain and near-gale force winds, the seven-strong turn-out was a credit to the fortitude of our walkers.

And in the event, although the wind was very strong, the predicted deluge failed to materialise, resulting in an enjoyable walk in and out of the beautiful Goyt Valley.

Our departure point was a car park off the one-way narrow road winding up the higher reaches of the Goyt. This was the spot where the giant Pickford's removal company was born.

My Peak District Companion records that it was first worked by Thomas Pickford in 1670. He was in the road-mending business and used teams of fifty packhorses to carry gritstone and paving slabs to London.

The panniers emptied, Pickford arranged to carry other goods on the return journey. Stone eventually became less profitable - the removal business more so. But the packhorse has remained the firm's symbolic trademark.

We turned right out of the car park up the narrow road and soon reached a path leading left down to a packhorse bridge over the swollen small river. Goyt's Bridge has only been here since 1967. It was orginally a mile downstream in the hamlet of the same name, and familiar to tax-dodging smugglers of Cheshire salt.

When the settlement was submerged by the Errwood Reservoir, 30 years after its northern neighbour Fernilee was built, the bridge was dismantled and moved upstream.

We descended the narrow path and crossed the stream, immediately turning sharp left to follow the path with the stream below us on our left. The path here was boggy and wooden duckboards placed to help were treacherously slippy.

The Errwood Reservoir came in to sight ahead of us (30 minutes) and the path swung right to reach a footpath sign to Errwood. Here the path improved and became a track taking us downhill through a gate. At the bottom of the incline we crossed a brook and turned right before immediately taking a fainter path up the hill to the left.

A steep climb up the fellside brought us to the former route of the Cromford and High Peak Railway, with a car park on our right and a pond in front of us (50 min).

The CHPR opened in 1830 and connected Cromford Canal near Matlock to the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge to transport heavy minerals. At first horse-powered, steam engines were later introduced to pull wagons up the inclines on the route. The last part of the route, at one time the highest rail line in Britain, only closed in 1967, although the section we were on ceased operating in 1892.

We turned left along the well-maintained pathway, which contours around several small valleys, before reaching a sealed off tunnel entrance, marking the high point of the CHPR line at 1,624 ft (76 min).

The cutting here, which we shared with four elderly (that means they looked older than most of us) fellow walkers, was the only shelter from the winds which had been buffetting us for the past half-hour. Pie-time was declared slightly later than usual.

We retraced our steps for 20 yards and turned right at a fingerpost reading Buxton and Bishops Road. This path took us gently uphill across the fellside before reaching a small gate at the top of some woods (87 min).

We descended here and come to a fork in the path where we turned left, soon coming to a wooden set of steps taking us down to a lane. We turned right here towards some impressive houses with a  large duckpond and the lane swung left to take us on to a long straight stretch towards Burbage, an outskirt of Buxton.

We entered housing and soon forked right to emerge on the main road with our objective The Duke pub in front of us (120 min). This pub was formerly The Duke of York until its closure for some time. And despite us thinking it had only recently reopened, apparently the current management is in its fifth year.

We arrived six minutes before their noon opening time. But they could not have been more welcoming. Not only did the charming lady host invite us in to wait, but she then arrived at the table to take beer orders and delivered the drinks. A rare luxury. Wainwright's Ale was £3.50 a pint.

There is a mystery here - despite the pub being called The Duke of York previously, eagle-eyed Laurie noted that the nobleman depicted on the front of the menu now was in fact Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington. Questioning of bar staff and further research failed to discover the reason for this.

We resumed by crossing the road to the right of the pub, turning immediatly left, and turning right down a residential street. This began to climb along what was the old Macclesfield to Buxton road, and soon after becoming a rough track we came to a small gate on the right, marked by a green Peak and Northern Footpaths Society sign (136 min).

We followed the bridleway uphill, bearing right, with a wall and woods on our right. The path veered away from the woods to the left at a fork (141 min) and crossed boggy land before climbing steadily in very strong wind to a gate in a drystone wall at the corner of a sparse wood (153 min).

We had a brief lunch in the lee of the wall, with excellent views over Buxton and towards Axe Edge and the ridge of Chrome Hill, before continuing through the gate and over the crest of the fell, with the summit of Burbage Edge a short distance away on our right.

Laurie pointed out that on Wild Moor to our right, about 10 years ago, there was a bid to breed the rare hen harrier after a pair arrived unexpectedly in the valley. Despite a 24-hour watch being kept on the nest it was unsuccessful. This iconic hawk is now virtually extinct in England, apparently because of the preponderance of crows and foxes, and illegal shooting by grouse moor gamekeepers.

A distinct but boggy track took us over the moor and we reached a track joining from the left, signed toward Axe Edge (160 min).  The route from here was straightforward, descending down the left bank of heather-clad Berry Clough to reach the Goyt again at a wooden footbridge (175 min).

We climbed to the road, turned right and came in to view of the packhorse bridge we had crossed at the start of the walk (181 min). We soon reached the car park (184 min).

Pictures by Colin

After debooting five of our number reconvened at the Shady Oak at Fernilee, where so-so Jenning's Cumberland Bitter was £3.60 a pint. We declared ourselves still not sure about the welcoming nature of this pub for walkers.

Despite that, next week's walk will start outside The Cock at Whaley Bridge at 9.30 am, stopping en route at the Shady Oak for refreshments around 12.30 pm and back at The Cock at 2.15 pm.

Happy Wandering!