Chapel-en-le-Frith

18 January 2017

CHAPEL-EN-LE-FRITH, BOWDEN HALL, MALCOFF FARM, GREEN LOW, RUSHOP EDGE, WANTED INN AT SPARROWPIT, GOLDPIECE FARM, BAGSHAWE, KING'S HEAD INN AT CHAPEL

Distance: 10 miles.       Ascent/descent: 2,100 feet.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Low cloud giving poor visibility through the morning, clearer in the afternoon.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Colin Davison, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, Jock Rooney and Tip

Apologies: Micky Barret (still swinging the lead), Tom Cunliffe (long and tearful farewell to the Lantern Pike Inn), George Dearsley (practising hedonism Turkey), John Jones (Explaining to South Africa how to do it better), Steve Kemp (dubious trip to the far East), Laurie Fairman (cruising lectures), Julian Ross (running out of excuses), George Waites (pre-alterations alterations),

Leader: Davison. Diarist: Davison

Starting point: Miry Meadow public car park behind the Co-op in Chapel-en-le-Frith.

Starting time: 9.45 am. Finishing time: 2.20pm.

Regular and avid readers of this august journal will perhaps detect your diarist’s flagrant plagiarism of the works of earlier and more talented writers. For this he begs the forgiveness of his victims and the forebearance of his readers

We were not exactly sure why so few of us – apart from those with legitimate excuses - assembled for this week's excursion from Chapel-en-le-Frith, but it may not have been entirely unconnected with the rather miserable weather forecast.

As it was, only four of us set off from the carpark in mist which quite baffled half of our party as to our whereabouts and route. Whilst Alan has rarely any idea of where he is, Navigation officer Ian Rooney is quite another matter. Both were convinced we were some miles Southwest of the A6 despite passing Bowden Hall and Green Low well to the Northeast of that thoroughfare.

The vaporous miasma abated in the afternoon when Peter joined us following his dental appointmentand we enjoyed splendid views from the hills above Chapel.

Our select quartet left the car park below the Co-op in Chapel by the footpath which brought usthrough an archway at the back of the Roebuck Inn.

We turned left into the Market Place and thence Burrfields, an alley which led us past Chapel Parish Church where we turned right along a footpath downhill into a modern housing development. The old winding footpath through the town has been preserved despite this new building and past Morrison's supermarket on our right. The path dipped over Blackbrook and up the other side, still through housing.

We crossed the old main road linking Chapel and Chinley. Ahead,another stretch of footpath brought us to the A6 Chapel by-pass (20 minutes). In a previous diary entry, Alan remarked that this was“worth remembering as a way out of the town avoiding roads and traffic almost completely”. Evidently he failed to heed his own advice.

We crossed the busy by-pass and followed a grassy path immediately opposite through fields. This took us through two metal kissing gates before we  came to Bowden Hall on our right. This imposing Grade Two listed building, with its own private lake, will be familiar to viewers of the gloomy TV series The Village as the home of the wealthy industralist family before they upped sticks to Lyme Hall at Disley in the second series.

We emerged on a lane (27 min) and turned right along the road past the Hall whose tower clock once adorned Chapel Parish Church. Reaching a T-junction (intersecting the Wash to Slackhall road), we went straight ahead through a gate and passed through a field with a wall on our left to Birchenheadwood. The path is well marked through this and emerges on a bank which we descended directly to a bridge over a stream.

On the far side, a track winds uphill to a gate and a road. Turning right into the hamlet of Malcoff, we took the second footpath on our left just past Malcoff farm. This is a walled track at first which becomes less defined when it climbs steeply through moorland fields to the bridleway connectingHayfield to Rushop Edge below Green Low where we turned right. We stopped for pie time at the second clough with a major stream (84minutes).

Continuing, we reached Sheffield Road, built as a turnpike from Chapel-en-le Frith, at a T-junction. Crossing this, we walked straight ahead along the minor road towards Perryfoot. About 200yds along on our right, we crossed a stile. This lead to a poorly defined path across fields and stiles with a wall and overlooking a shallow ridge on our left.

Eventually, this path becomes a walled track.About 200yds before reaching a line of cottages at Sparrowpit, we turned left over a wall through fields to a farm. Passing between the farm buildings wereached the crossroads at 12.05pm and our objective, the Wanted Inn, immediately in front of us (140mins).

The pub, a former farmstead that lies on the Pennine watershed at 1,217 feet, started life as The Three Tuns in 1700 and became a key stop on the packhorse route between Sheffield and Manchester.

It was here in 1758, in the middle of the night, that two riderless horses galloped in. It seems their owners, runaway lovers Clara and Allan had been murdered with a pickaxe in nearby Winnats Passby five miners from Castleton who had overheard them talking in an inn in the village and noted their obvious wealth. Their bodies were thrown down a pothole. Their killers were never caught but local legend has it that when the wind howls through Winnats the young couple's souls can be heard begging for mercy.

The pub was renamed the Devonshire Arms in 1839 after its owner, the eponymous Duke. But when the 10th Duke died in 1950, leaving massive death duties, it was put up for sale. It remained unsold and became known as "the unwanted inn", until being bought six years later by Mr and Mrs Jack Buswell from Whitehough, who gave it its new name. Their son Neville went on to achieve fame as Ray Langton in Coronation Street.

As ever, the present Landlady greeted us with a smile and served us with excellent Farmer's Brown Cow bitter from the Bradfield Brewery and Marston's Pedigree, both at £3.20 a pint. Half way down our first pint, the lonely figure of a rambler emerged from the mist and slowly resolved itself into that of our chum Peter who quickly caught up our pace of alcoholic consumption.

Suitably refreshed we left the pub. Turning right, we crossed the Castleton road and walked through Sparrowpit (derived from ‘Spar Pit') past Bennett's Well on our left before turning right at a stone step stile marked with a wooden public footpath sign (150mins). A series of stiles, wooden and stone but all slippery, brought us to a three-way crossroads where we paused for lunch (164mins).

Resuming we followed the signs downhill pointing to Slackhall and Chapel. We first passed Upper Bagshaw Hall on our right then Bagshaw Hall farm. After crossing a wooden stile (176mins) and a wooden footbridge (180mins) we reached a road which we followed under the bypass into Chapel.

As we entered the town we passed, on our left, a gold-painted pillar box. This commemorated the feat of Stockport-born Anthony Kappes, who won the gold medal at London in the 2012 Paralympics. Partially-sighted Kappes won the tandem sprint cycle race. He had previously triumphed in the same event at Beijing in 2008.

We passed the Chapel Methodist Church on our left, presided over by the inappropriately-named Rev Kerry Tankard, and the former Primitive Methodist Bethel Chapel, dated 1852, on our right, proving the town was once a hotbed of rival non-conformists.

As the Roebuck was closed for refurbishment, we repaired to the King’s Head in the market place. This turned out to be warm, bright and comfortable and the Black Sheep bitter was in excellent form at £3.00 per pint. Alan renewed his acquaintance with the erstwhile chef of the Kingfisher at Poynton and the Cock at Whaley Bridge who now plies his talents at King’s Head.

Next week's walk will start at 9.45am at the Old Hall, Whitehough, Chinley. Hopefully, we will ascend South Head, drink copiously in The Lamb Inn at lunchtime and return to the Old Hall at approximately2.30pm. Happy wandering.