High Lane

May 31, 2017.

HIGH LANE, LYME PARK, LYME CAGE, MONKHOUSE MEMORIAL, BOWSTONES FARM, SPONDS HILL, HANDLEYFOOT, TODD BROOK, HARDY GREEN, THE SWAN INN AT KETTLESHULME, CORNHILL FARM, THE POSTING HOUSE, RINGSTONES CARAVAN PARK, HALLWORTH MEMORIAL AND THE SOLDIER DICK AT FURNESS VALE

Distance: 9-10 miles.

Difficulty: Strenuous climbs.

Weather: Blue skies and sunshine.

A walkers: Peter Beal, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart and George Whaites.

B walkers: Phil Burslem, George Fraser, Tony Job, Geoff Spurrell and Barry Williams.

Apologies:  Mickey Barrett (sailing off Turkey), George Dearsley (living in Turkey), Terry Jowett (chest infection) and Julian Ross (decorating one of his portfolio of houses)

Leader: Davison (with amendment from Fairman). Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Carr Brow, High Lane.

Starting time: 9.37am. Finishing time: 2.16pm.

A glorious sunny day brought out seven A walkers for a new route involving nearly ten miles of walking and a four-mile bus ride. We welcomed back Lawrie, whose wife Wendy is recovering from pneumonia, and George, who failed a fitness test and is still awaiting his hip replacement operation.

When we met the five B walkers at our final watering hole, the Magnificent Seven became The Dirty Dozen.

For the first 90 minutes the A team seemed to be climbing ever upwards as we went from High Lane through Lyme Park to Bowstones. When our leader indicated we had one more hill to climb before we started our descent, Lawrie intervened to steer us away from the summit of Sponds Hill and down to the first pub for a livener.

During the journey George described how his pre-operation assessment had turned into a script from Carry On Nurse, giving him high blood pressure. Consequently he was not deemed fit for the surgery. One would have thought that a septuagenarian who can walk the best part of ten miles on a hot day has more than proved his fitness.

We assembled outside Colin’s house and walked back down Carr Brow to the A6 where we turned left and crossed the main road to go right into Park Road (2mins). We then went right into Woodlands Road (11mins) which led us down a footpath to The Ladybrook Trail.

We turned left through a gate (15mins), went through a tunnel under the Manchester-Buxton railway line (18mins) and climbed over a ladder stile to enter Lyme Park (20mins). A long climb brought us to Lyme Cage (38mins), passing within a few feet of a magnificent herd of red deer.

From Lyme Cage we had a panoramic 360 degree view of the surrounding countryside. Descending towards Lyme Hall, we turned left before reaching the building, taking a lane with the former stables on our right (47mins).  The climb now continued to a ladder stile (53mins) which we crossed and turned left, keeping a drystone wall on our left.

This brought us to a memorial (72mins) erected by the family of Allan Monkhouse, playwright, novelist and literary editor of The Manchester Guardian, who hailed from Disley and was a keen hiker.

We reached another ladder stile on our left (77mins), crossed that and another wooden stile to reach Bowstones Farm on our left. Instead of viewing The Bowstones which gave the farm its name, we turned right following The Gritstone Trail towards Sponds Hill (79mins). At a convenient drystone wall we stopped for pies and port, overlooking Manchester Airport in the middle distance (83mins)

Continuing we crossed a wooden stile (85mins) and were heading for the summit of Sponds Hill when Lawrie executed a bloodless coup, leading us to the left to follow a sign for Whaley Bridge and Kettleshulme via Handleyfoot (89mins). His argument that Colin’s proposed route would make us late on arrival at the first pub won the day.

The footpath followed a depression in the fields until we reached a fork in the paths (102mins). We swung left and crossed a wooden stile to reach a road, where we turned right (105mins). At a green public footpath sign (107mins) we turned left over a little-used stile and followed a footpath along the left of a field full of ewes and lambs.

We crossed a stone step stile (111mins) and headed towards two tall trees. By the left of them we crossed the first of three stone step stiles (114-118mins) before crossing Todd Brook (122mins) and a derelict mill on our left. Reaching a road by the side of cottages at Hardy Green (126mins) we turned right.

This took us to the end of Kishfield Lane (131mins). Another right turn brought us to The Swan Inn on our left (132mins). We enjoyed pints of Marstons’ cask bitter at £3-30 in the beer garden.

Resuming after our thirst-quenching drinks we turned right to retrace our steps into Kishfield Lane and continued past Hardy Green until we reached the road bridge over Todd Brook where we paused for lunch (148mins). When we continued our journey we passed on the left a farmhouse to where late Wednesday Wanderer Ivor Jones was evacuated from Hazel Grove during the war.

As we approached Cornhill Farm we turned left at a public footpath sign to go through a wooden gate (159mins). We crossed a ladder stile on our right (165mins) and headed downhill. After crossing a stone step stile (167mins) we went diagonally left through a field to reach a wooden gate and emerge on a road (172mins) by the side of The Posting House.

Colin informs us this was not a post office but had been a stable where fresh horses could be provided.

We turned left along the road and turned right at a footpath sign (175mins). We went through a small wooden gate  (177mins) and followed the beaten track to reach Ringstones Caravan Park on our left (185mins). We went through a metal gate and turned right along a stony track. We joined a lane straight ahead (187mins) and on our left was the second memorial we encountered.

It was to David Hallworth, a 50-year-old farmer and father-of-two, who died at Ringstones Farm in 2007 after sustaining head and chest injuries when he was crushed by one of his cows. An inquest was told that he was herding his animals through a cattle race, which is a metal barrier used to guide cows in a queue facing forwards so they entered a corral in single file. An eye witness said one of the cows appeared to have been spooked because it ran back into the race and crushed Mr Hallworth against the barrier. The memorial said he was now “Farming pastures new.”

Our descent brought us to the end of Yeardsley Lane (200mins), where we turned left and reached The Soldier Dick on our left (201mins) for pints of Wainwrights’ cask bitter at a bargain £2-85. We then caught a bus back to High Lane and a short walk up Carr Brow to the cars outside Colin’s house.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.30am from The Soldier Dick car park. We have permission to use it but are asked to park as far from the pub building as possible. We intend to head for The Pack Horse on Mellor Road, New Mills, arriving at about 12.15pm and returning to The Soldier Dick for further refreshment around 2.25pm.

Happy wandering !