Bollington

November 15, 2017.

BOLLINGTON, ST OSWALD’S CHURCH, WHITE NANCY, KERRIDGE RIDGE, SPRINGBANK MILL, RAINOW, LIDGETTS LANE, BULL HILL LANE, WALKER BARN, PEDLEY FOLD FARM, THE ROBIN HOOD AT RAINOW, THE VIRGINS’ PATH, INGERSLEY VALE WATERFALL AT WAULKMILL FARM AND THE CHURCH HOUSE INN AT BOLLINGTON

Distance: Seven miles.

Difficulty: Easy after strenuous climb to start.

Weather: Mainly cloudy but dry with good visibility.

Walkers: Mickey Barrett, Peter Beal, Alastair Cairns with Daisy, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, Mark Gibby, Hughie Harriman, Alan Hart, Chris Owen, Julian Ross and George Whaites.

Apologies: George Dearsley (in Turkey), Steve Kemp (in Malta) and Jock Rooney.

Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Road in Church Lane outside The Church House Inn, Bollington.

Starting time: 9.40am. Finishing time: 2.02pm.

You can follow the route here

https://strava.app.link/JeSF3xI95H

either click on the link or cut and paste it into your browser.

For the fourth successive Wednesday, the Wanderers were blessed with dry weather on a surprisingly warm mid-November morning. However overnight rain had created muddy conditions in some of the fields we crossed and there were a couple of casualties.
Happily neither Lawrie nor George was hurt when they slipped and fell, but their clothes betrayed their plight. Lawrie was returning to the fold after a prolonged absence caused by a heavy cold, which developed into pneumonia, followed by a working cruise, a wedding and a US holiday. His first walk in five weeks involved a steep climb at the start but he had only reached the lower foothills of Kerridge Ridge when he found himself up to his fetlocks in Somme-like slime.

From Church Lane we walked with the Church House Inn on our left and passed the boarded-up St Oswald’s Church on our right. We turned left at The Crown on the corner, passing the former millpond on our right. Further along on our left, opposite a tree festooned with bird boxes on our right, was the sad sight of the overgrown Tullis Russell Coating bowling green.

After passing the abandoned green we turned sharp right (5mins) up a track leading to a gate. We went through the gate and then set off in different directions to climb towards White Nancy.

This famous landmark was built by the landowner to celebrate Wellington’s defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. At one time it had a door and window. On the inside was a table and chairs. Now it has been bricked up and painted white so it can be seen for miles.

It is believed the building was named after a white horse called Nancy which carried several loads of bricks up the steep hill so it could be built.

The quickest members of our 11-strong group reached the summit at 10am (20mins) where they caught their breath and waited for their colleagues to arrive. After admiring the view and posing for a photograph we continued (28mins) along the ridge through two metal kissing gates (30mins)

By now Colin had taken command and led his followers along the high path with views of Astro Zeneca in the Hurdsfield Industrial Estate on our right below. Lawrie led George on a lower path, where they encountered deep mud into which George inevitably plunged. Both paths came together at a road by the side of a house called Springbank Mill (64mins)

This brought about a premature impromptu Pietime as the main party awaited the arrival of the missing duo. We then turned right (73mins) along Lidgetts Lane for 40 yards before crossing it to the left and following a green footpath sign uphill through a field. We reached a road and turned right (80mins)

At the top of Bull Hill Lane (88mins) we turned left for 30 yards and then crossed the main road to follow a footpath sign pointing up stone steps into a field (89mins). After crossing a wooden stile (93mins) we turned immediately left, crossing two stone step stiles (95 and 97mins) before reaching a metal gate in front of Brink Barn (98mins). Here we paused for pies and port.

Continuing, we walked to the left of Brink Barn and followed a path which went parallel with the road below us. We passed a sign for Walker Barn (102mins) and reached the road, passing a house which was once a pub called The Setter Dog (105mins)

Your diarist noticed some manly tears being shed for this former Marstons’ pub which called Time and closed its doors some 12 years ago.

After passing it on our left we turned left downhill. After going through a wooden gate we turned left with a barbed wire fence on our left (110mins). The track became a road leading through a farmyard (112mins). We crossed a stone step stile on our left by a green public footpath sign (124mins) and headed downhill through a field.

Our party scaled a ladder stile (128mins), then a double stile and a series of stiles which brought us to a road (132mins). We went through a white gate and turned left for 50 yards, and then turned right over a stile to follow a path down to a footbridge across a stream (138mins). We then climbed a ladder stile, headed uphill and crossed a stone step stile to reach a narrow road (141mins)

Turning left downhill we emerged by a main road at the side of Pedley Fold Farm (147mins) and turned right. Pedley Hill became Church Lane. We left this to go up Stocks Lane, which ran parallel with it, and reached The Robin Hood (152mins). Here pints of Wainwrights’ cask bitter at £3-10 and Timothy Taylor Landlord at £3-40 were deemed to be in fine form.

Suitably refreshed we went back down Stocks Lane, passing the village stocks on our left, and turned right into Chapel Lane (154mins). A right turn into Sugar Lane brought us to a public footpath sign pointing to the rear of a row of cottages on our right (159mins). The flagstones led us to a route known as The Virgins’ Path.

This was so called because two centuries ago there was no church in Rainow. Brides-to-be had to walk through sometimes muddy fields to reach the nearest church in Bollington. To keep their dresses pure white, local farmers laid down flags across the fields so the village maidens would arrive at church unsullied.

The path leads to the picturesque Ingersley Vale waterfall opposite Waulkmill Farm (172mins) where we stopped for lunch. Continuing our journey we passed the derelict mill on our right before reaching the overgrown bowling green on our right and retracing our footsteps back to the cars to de-boot (184mins).

In The Church House awaited a pretty barmaid and a choice of Wainwrights or Adnams Southwold, both at £3-10 a pint.

Pictures by Colin

Next week’s walk will start at 9.50am from the far car park at Errwood Reservoir on the road to Buxton out of Whaley Bridge. To reach the right car park you need to cross the road bridge between Fernilee Reservoir on your right and Errwood on your left. Turn left ignoring the car park above the road, cross a metal bridge and ignore another car park on your right. Enter the one-way road and park at the Quarry Car Park on your right.

After a livener around 12.15pm at The Duke in Burbage (formerly The Duke of York), we expect to return to the car park around 2.15pm to de-boot before driving to The Shady Oak at Fernilee about 2.30pm.

Happy wandering !