Langley

Langley

August 9, 2017

BOTTOMS RESERVOIR, TEGG'S NOSE COUNTRY PARK, SADDLERS WAY, CLOUGH HOUSE, HARDINGLAND, FOREST CHAPEL, TOOT HILL, BUXTORS HILL, NESSIT HILL, RIDGEGATE RESERVOIR, THE LEATHER'S SMITHY, MOSS LEA FARM, LANGLEY

Distance: 9 miles                Ascent/descent: 1,850ft

Difficulty: Moderate with stiff climbs

Weather: Dry and mild, sun later

Walkers: Peter Beal, Mark Gibby, Hughie Harriman, Chris Owen, Julian Ross

Additional walker: Laurie Fairman

Apologies: Jock Rooney and Colin Davison (believed in Isle of Man), Steve Kemp, Tom Cunliffe (injured), George Dearsley (in Turkey), George Whaites (recovering from hip op) and Alan Hart (man 'flu).

Leader: Owen                      Diarist: Beal

Starting point: End of Holehouse Lane, Langley, between Bottoms and Tegg's Nose reservoirs.

Starting time: 9.44am                     Finishing time: 2.04pm

Today's walk was an extended version of a route that marked Chris Owen's debut as leader back in March. This time he decided that the previous outing was clearly not long enough or steep enough and threw in one more hill.

The extra effort was justified however by some superb views over the Derbyshire and Staffordshire hills and the Cheshire plain as sunshine replaced the cloudy conditions at the start of the walk.

Your temporary diarist had the duty unexpectedly thrust on him by Alan's heavy cold and as he was on unfamiliar ground without the benefits of pen or paper, the following account will rely heavily on the usual journalistic assets of a fertile imagination and a healthy dose of plagiarism.

As the walk was completed so recently I will also omit some of the interesting local history included in your regular diarist's report of March 29, 2017.

We started at a parking place at the southern corner of the Tegg's Nose reservoir dam, overlooking the adjoining Bottoms reservoir.

Rarely if ever can a Wednesday walk involve such a tough start - a climb up to the 1,246ft summit of the Tegg's Nose Country Park, an ascent of more than 600 feet in the first half mile.

We passed a stone memorial bench as the steep section levelled out (20 minutes) and passed some well-maintained and brightly painted remains of the machinery used by the quarry workers that helped shape the landscape here, where millstone grit has been extracted since the 16th century.

We turned right at a T-junction on the track (35 min) and followed a sign for the Gritstone Trail, the 35-mile walk from Disley to Kidsgrove. We reached the Tegg's Nose visitor centre and car park (40 min) and bore left to reach a steeply descending bridleway that emerged at the dwelling of Clough House (53 min).

Here we began to climb again up a track between drystone walls until we reached a stone stile over the wall on the left (63 min). We crossed two fields and then entered Macclesfield Forest on a good track contouring through the trees.

This brought us out on a more substantial track known as Charity Lane, where pietime was declared (80 min). There were splendid views towards Cheshire's highest point of Shining Tor and the pointed peak of Shutlingsloe.

We continued right along the track, which brought us to a junction with a lane a short distance from the remote St Stephen's Chapel - more commonly known as Forest Chapel - on our left (98 min).

We turned right down the road and soon took a stile to the left (104 min) to join another good path through the forest, descending to a minor road, which we crossed to take first a footpath and then a more substantial forestry track, climbing steadily.

We reached a junction near a spot where on earler walks we have emerged on to the open moorland for the ascent of Shutlingsloe and bore right uphill to reach an excellent viewpoint with three benches where we paused to admire the views over the reservoirs towards the Cheshire plain. The map reveals this as Nessit Hill.

From here we descended gradually on tracks and paths to reach the head of Ridgegate reservoir, so depleted of water that a lone angler was almost in the middle of the expanse.

We took a track alongside the road to reach The Leather's Smithy pub (163 min), where we found Laurie waiting for us. Laurie, recovering from a scalp op, had done a five-mile walk through the forest but apparently narrowly missed us at Forest Chapel.

Leaving the pub we crossed the road and crossed the bottom of the reservoir dam, through a metal kissing gate to a field where we paused for lunch. Shortly after we passed a field on our right containing three small ponies. Rather bizarrely Chris was able to tell us their names (for the record these were Jacko, Gizmo and Lily).

We emerged on a minor road at Moss Lea Farm (183 min), turned right and passed Langley Cricket Club on our right. We turned right in to the residential Forest Drive and

took an alley at the end to emerge opposite the (closed) St Dunstan's pub.

We turned right and very soon left up Holehouse Lane to soon reach the cars (218 min).

Our leader and your diarist debooted and adjourned to the nearby Sutton Hall for pints of Lord Lucan bitter from the Wincle Brewery at £3-70.

Next week's walk will return to Macclesfield Forest with an ascent of Shutlingsloe. We will start at 9.40am from the parking spaces on the road at the top end of Ridgegate reservoir, calling for refreshments at the Hanging Gate around 12.30pm. Post-walk drinks will be taken again at the Sutton Hall around 2.30pm.