Dean Row

THE UNICORN AT DEAN ROW, HANDFORTH, BOLLIN VALLEY WAY, MOTTRAM HALL GOLF COURSE, PRIEST LANE, LEGH OLD HALL, WOODEND FARM, LOWER GADHOLE FARM, BOLLIN VALLEY, THE ADMIRAL RODNEY AT PRESTBURY, PRESTBURY SEWAGE TREATMENT WORKS, MOTTRAM HALL GOLF COURSE, BOLLIN VALLEY WAY AND THE UNICORN AT DEAN ROW

Distance: 10-11 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Dry, mostly cloudy.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Steve Courtney with Luna, Tom Cunliffe with Daisy, Alan Hart and Chris Owen.

B walkers: Phil Burslem, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, George Fraser and Geoff Spurrell.

Apologies:  Micky Barrett (attending funeral), Alastair Cairns (business meeting), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Mark Gibby (monitoring York Ebor meeting on TV), Hughie Hardiman (Holland hols), Tony Job (Poynton Show duties), Steve Kemp (illness), Jock Rooney (in Isle of Man), Julian Ross (Vietnam hols), George Whaites (domestic duties)

Leaders: Various. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park of The Unicorn at Dean Row, Handforth.

Starting time: 9.33am. Finishing time: 2.33pm.

This route was chosen by us as part of Lawrie’s recovery route while he awaits a knee operation. So we were left rather rudderless and unprepared when he elected for a stroll around Prestbury with Colin instead of joining us for the start at Dean Row.

Our lack of leadership might also explain why a walk of eight miles went on for nearly 11 as we wandered uncertainly along the Bollin Valley.

By journey’s end we would have given anything for a pint – although we hardly expected to be charged £4-03 for Timothy Taylor Landlord. This topped last week’s record price of £3-85 and went some way to explain the lack of customers in a once-busy pub.

From the car park we turned right on to the main road and right again at the roundabout to enter Lees Lane. We made another right turn at a wooden public footpath sign (5mins) which led us into a farmyard.

Daisy, Tom’s miniature poodle, was off the leash and decided to chase the free-range poultry, but soon fled when a group of ducks retaliated.

We exited the farmyard and crossed two wooden stiles, the latter of which was marked Bollin Way. A metal kissing gate brought us to the right of a refurbished farmhouse (17mins) where we turned right into a field following a yellow arrow.

Reaching a road (27mins) we turned right and crossed a bridge before turning immediately left downhill through a gap stile to reach the right bank of the River Bollin. We soon climbed a flight of steps and turned right away from the river to follow a sign for the Bollin Way marked with a yellow arrow. This took us to the left of a renovated house and landscaped garden where we were once ordered off his property by a lawyer who claimed there was no right of way.

We went through two metal gates to enter the golf course in the grounds of Mottram Hall. After passing an immaculate soccer training pitch, we turned left at a metal gate with a yellow arrow (47mins) to enter a wood which ran along the side of the boundary. After ignoring the first wooden stile on our right (52mins) we crossed a second one (56mins) and walked past a tee to head for some trees to the right of the fairway.

As we reached the trees we forked left and turned right along a path (62mins) which led out of the course (65mins) near a farmhouse. A long drive on our right then brought us to the main road (72mins) opposite The Bulls Head at Mottram St Andrew (There was no apostrophe on the name on the pub wall: did the writer not realise that one head indicated one bull ?)

We crossed into Priest Lane and turned left (73mins) at Rose Cottage, going left again at a wooden public footpath sign marked with a yellow arrow (74mins). This took us over several wooden stiles, passing a pink thatched cottage on our right (82mins) before we reached a flight of steps where we traditionally hold Pietime (84mins), accompanied by port.

Resuming we turned left at a green public footpath sign and then went diagonally left across the main road to head towards Legh Old Hall (85mins). After passing this building on our left, we also passed Legh Hall and then turned left at Legh Coach House (90mins)

While Steve mourned the loss of his hat, which he had left behind at our pie stop, and while we offered to wait while he retrieved it, Chris and Tom strode purposefully ahead. Steve opted to collect it later, by which time we discovered we had been heading in the wrong direction. After some fruitless searching, Peter produced a map and Tom got his gadget out.

Together they directed us to a wooden stile marked with a yellow arrow which had earlier been missed (116mins), We crossed this and three more to reach a lane outside Woodend Farm (124mins) where we turned right to reach the front of Lower Gadhole Farm (126mins). We turned right and followed the path round two paddocks to a wooden footbridge (132mins)

We went left at a wooden kissing gate and left again over a wooden stile before turning right down a lane (134mins). This took us to a bridge over the River Bollin (136mins) which we crossed and turned immediately right. We were on the outskirts of Prestbury, passing a football pitch on our right and turning left at The Village Club (143mins) to reach the car park at the rear of The Admiral Rodney (144mins)

Picture of fungi by that Fun Guy Tom

At 12.10pm the B team, including Colin and Lawrie, were firmly ensconced, enjoying excellent pints of Robbies’ cask bitter for £3-40. They showed no signs of an imminent departure when we left 50 minutes later to return to Dean Row. We paused for lunch (152mins) on benches at the side of the football pitch we had passed earlier and where Chris had once played for the local team.

Continuing, we went straight ahead at the bridge we had crossed earlier (157mins), keeping the Bollin our left as we passed Prestbury Sewage Treatment Works on our right. Beyond it, instead of continuing on the right of the river, we crossed a footbridge on our left (181mins) and followed a path which brought us back to Mottram Hall golf course.

The Par 72 championship course, in the grounds of an 18^th Century Georgian House which has been converted into a luxury hotel, is 7006 yards long. It has been visited by top golfers from all over the world and has also hosted soccer teams prior to Premiership and international matches.

From here we retraced our earlier footsteps back to the banks of the Bollin, crossing the the river by the road bridge (206mins), turning left at the renovated farmhouse  (210mins), going through the farmyard with various species of free-range poultry (224mins) and returning to The Unicorn (230mins)

Next week’s walk will start from The Sportsman at Hayfield at 9.40am, going along The Sett Valley Trail to Birch Vale, then heading up Moorlands Road on to Ollersett Moor, Big Stone and Cracken Edge before reaching The Lamb Inn at Chinley around 12.30pm. Returning via Mount Famine Ridge we hope to be back at The Sportsman for 2.30pm.

Happy wandering !