Sutton

September 26, 2018.

SUTTON HALL CAR PARK, MACCLESFIELD CANAL, MACCLESFIELD GOLF COURSE, LANGLEY METHODIST CHURCH, BOTTOMS RESERVOIR, TEGGS NOSE, LOWER CROOKED YARD FARM, MACCLESFIELD FOREST, LEATHERS SMITHY AT LANGLEY, RIDGEGATE RESERVOIR, LANGLEY CRICKET CLUB, FOLD FARM COTTAGE, TRINITY LANE ESTATE AND SUTTON HALL

Distance: 8 miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Dry, warm and becoming sunny.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, Chris Owen, Julian Ross and George Whaites.

Cyclist: Colin Davison.

Apologies: Micky Barrett (Turkey yachting hols), Tom Cunliffe (twisted knee), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Lawrie Fairman (awaiting knee op), Hughie Hardiman (filial duties), Steve Kemp (recovering from op)

Leader: Owen. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park of Sutton Hall, Sutton, Macclesfield.

Starting time: 9.35am. Finishing time: 2.06pm.

For the second successive week there were six A-teamers for a walk led by Chris. This time Peter and Julian replaced Alastair and Tom in the starting line-up. Julian explained that Tom had sent his apologies after twisting his knee while sitting on a child’s swing that had gone out of control.

I would like to state that nobody laughed when they heard this story. Unfortunately I cannot. But I would like to add that after the hysteria had subsided we all wished Tom a speedy recovery. It could be that this is why children over 12 are banned from playground swings.

After the early summer’s prolonged heat-wave gave way to showers and blustery winds, we were treated to lovely weather and magnificent views as September went out in style. We also enjoyed sun-drenched tables in the beer gardens of two attractive watering holes.

From the car park we headed back to the main road and Bridge 44 of the Macclesfield Canal (3mins). Here we turned left with the waterway on our right.

The Macclesfield Canal, designed by Thomas Telford, opened in 1831 and runs for 26 miles linking the Peak Forest Canal at Marple with the Trent and Mersey Canal via its Hall Green branch to the Hardys Wood section. It has 12 locks at Bosley which alter its levels by 118 feet.

One of its innovatory features are its roving bridges, also called snake bridges, which enabled barge horses to switch towpaths on different sides of the canal without being untethered.

We used one such bridge to switch to the opposite bank at Bridge 43, now walking with the canal on our left and Macclesfield Golf Course on our right. Leaving the canal at Bridge 40 (21mins) we turned right downhill and then left into Black Road (23mins). We soon headed left up Richmond Hill (24mins) and followed a green public footpath sign at the top, heading right (25mins)

When the footpath split two ways we turned left (26mins) and crossed a gravel track to continue along the footpath. We went slightly right when we reached a sign for Macclesfield Golf Club to our left (30mins) and followed the footpath across a stony track (36mins). As we passed through a kissing gate (38mins) we identified the telecom mast on the summit of Croker Hill on our right and the shape of Shutlingsloe immediately ahead of us in the distance.

We turned right downhill at a green public footpath sign (46mins)and crossed a wooden footbridge (51mins) before passing through a metal kissing gate and reaching a road (54mins) where we turned left. At Langley Methodist Church we turned left in the direction of Macclesfield Forest (60mins)

Passing St Dunstan’s Inn on our left we turned left down Holehouse Lane (63mins) and reached the new wall in front of Bottoms Reservoir where we turned left (66mins). We walked through a wooden gate and turned right to start a climb up Teggs Nose (69mins) but soon veered off to the right (71mins) following a less distinct track uphill.

After passing through two wooden gates (72 and 74mins) we reached the Gritstone Trail and turned left (81mins), pausing for pies and port on three conveniently-sited logs overlooking the valley below (85mins)

Resuming we went through a five-barred wooden gate (86mins)and followed the wooden public footpath sign for Macclesfield Forest and Shutlingsloe (87mins). This took us past Lower Crooked Yard Farm on our right (91mins) before we turned left over a stone step stile (99mins). We crossed another stone steps stile and turned left along a gravel track (103mins)

A metal gate led us into Macclesfield Forest (104mins) and we followed a wooden public footpath sign marked Forest Bridleway (109mins) to continue our journey. A metal gate (125mins) marked the end of the forest and we proceeded down a road which brought us to the Leathers Smithy (134mins)

Pints of cask bitter were priced at an eye-watering £3-95 but they were in good form and we enjoyed them in the beer garden in bright sunshine. Within minutes we were joined by a pseudo cyclist as Colin arrived on his hybrid electric bike.

As we bade him farewell and resumed our return route we took a path along the Gritstone Trail opposite the pub and walked with Ridgegate Reservoir on our left and turned right along the Gritstone Trail (139mins). After crossing a wooden footbridge (142mins) we went through a wooden gate (143mins) and turned left at a metal kissing gate just before we reached the Langley Water Treatment Works (147mins)

After some 100 yards along the footpath we stopped for lunch (149mins). Continuing we went through a metal kissing gate (157mins) where we fed Jacko, a Shetland pony, with two apple cores before turning right and right again along a road. We passed Langley Cricket Club (158mins) and Fold Farm Cottage (163mins), both on our right.

We turned left at a public footpath sign (164mins) and passed Langley Methodist Church on our right (167mins) as we turned left along Langley Road. We turned left into Trinity Lane (180mins) and entered a modern housing estate where we turned right into Fitzwilliam Avenue (181mins), left into Peter House Road (184mins), right at a T-junction into Gonville Avenue and left into Selwyn Drive (186mins)

At the end of Selwyn Drive we turned right at a major road (187mins) and left at Sutton Hall Farm (189mins). This brought us to a door on our right (190mins) which we entered and arrived in the car park of Sutton Hall to de-boot (191mins) before enjoying pints of Lord Lucan for £3-80.

Sutton Hall was the birthplace of Ralph Holinshed, a 16thCentury scholar, whose tome The Chronicles of England , Scotland and Ireland – whatever happened to Wales  ? – were published in 1577. It is alleged his works were shamelessly plagiarised by a budding playwright called William Shakespeare.

The hall later became part of the family estate of the Earls of Lucan. The 3rd earl, Charles George Bingham, was a field marshal at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War and commanded the cavalry. He and his brother-in-law Lord Cardigan, commander of the Light Brigade, despised each other which may have caused misunderstandings leading to the heroic but foolhardy Charge of the Light Brigade immortalised in literature and film.

The 7th Earl of Lucan, George Charles Patrick Bingham, disappeared in 1974 after the murder of the family nanny at their home in Belgravia. Rumours of his whereabouts in different corners of the globe were never confirmed and he was never seen again. He was officially presumed dead in 2014 and his son, George Bingham, became the 8th Earl of Lucan in 2016.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.35am from outside The Sportsman on Kinder Road, Hayfield, led by Peter. He aims to take us up Williams Clough before reaching The Lantern Pike, Little Hayfield, around 12.30pm. We expect to be back at The Sportsman for a final drink at about 2.15pm.

Happy wandering ! 

Manchester

September 19, 2018.

PICCADILLY STATION, MANCHESTER, LONDON ROAD, CANAL STREET, PORTLAND STREET, PRINCESS STREET, ST PETER’S SQUARE, MANCHESTER TOWN HALL, BRIDGEWATER HALL, G-MEX EXHIBITION HALL AND CONFERENCE CENTRE, CASTLEFIELDS, ROMAN FORT, DEANSGATE, THE NORTHERN QUARTER, CABANA CURRY HOUSE

PUBS VISITED: THE APE AND MONKEY, THE CROWN AND ANCHOR, THE MOON UNDER THE WATER, MR THOMAS’S CHOP HOUSE, SAM’S CHOP HOUSE, THE CIRCUS TAVERN AND THE WALDORF

Distance: 4-5 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Cloudy and Windy but Dry.

Walkers: Alastair Cairns, Tom Cunliffe, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, Chris Owen and George Whaites.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (preparing for hols the next day), Peter Beal (Greek island-hopping), Colin Davison (rambling round Kinder), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Lawrie Fairman (preparing for knee op), Hughie Hardiman (filial duties), Steve Kemp (recovering from bone-marrow op) and Julian Ross (w*^king)

Leader: Owen. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Piccadilly Railway Station.

Starting time: 1020am. Finishing time: 5.30pm.

In a break from our normal routine those interested assembled at Manchester’s main station for a hike to coincide with a promotion of sculpted bees which were displayed at sites around the city centre. It was the last chance to see this urban art exhibition which began on July 23 and ends on September 23.

Local schools, assisted by professional and emerging artists, had collaborated to create a swarm of more than 100 giant-sized colourfully-decorated bees on pavements and squares throughout Manchester. It was a joint production by Wild In Art and Manchester City Council designed to stimulate interest in the city. Bees, indicating hard-working creatures, are incorporated in the city’s coat of arms.

Each of the bees was themed to illustrate different aspects of Manchester’s contribution to the world of art, culture, music, sport, television, technology and science. The quality of the exhibits and the imagination and innovation involved was outstanding.

We did not, however, make the most auspicious of starts as your diarist had advertised a rendezvous – Wetherspoons on the station’s first floor – which no longer exists !  It is a tribute to the enterprise of the Wednesday Wanderers that despite the misinformation we all managed to find each other, only to suffer from premature evacuation.

An announcement on the Tannoy system advised all passengers repeatedly to leave the station immediately. Only as we were exiting the front door were we informed that it was in fact a drill and we could return inside. We were left to wonder how many passengers missed their trains as a consequence.

Chris, who had suggested the walk and was leading it, then produced maps in plastic weather-proof folders along with coloured marker pens so we could tick off the bees we encountered en route. If only we had also been issued with clipboards we would have been a match for the parties of schoolchildren enjoying the same adventure.

As we set off from the concourse we emerged on London Road (the station’s  former name as I recall) and turned left towards Whitworth Street, passing the handsome Fire Station, built in 1905, on our right. We turned right and made our way to Canal Street in the city’s gay quarter as Tom took a succession of selfies which showed him gurning for his phone-camera with the individual bees in the background.

Chris led us past the Town Hall and Library Theatre via St Peter’s Square, scene of the Peterloo Massacre in 1819.

This was the site called St Peter’s Fields where an estimated 70,000 people had gathered to hear a radical orator called Henry Hunt demanding reform of parliamentary representation in the era of rotten boroughs and MPs appointed by patronage. Magistrates called for the Manchester And Salford Yeomanry to arrest Hunt. They charged into the crowd, knocking down a woman and killing a child before apprehending the celebrated speaker.

A magistrate then ordered the 15^th Hussars to disperse the angry crowd. With sabres drawn they charged into the terrified throng, killing an estimated 15 people and wounding 500. Hunt and eight who shared his platform were charged at York Assizes with sedition. Five were found guilty. Hunt was jailed for 30 months and the others for lesser terms.

A civil case brought on behalf of a wounded weaver against four members of the Yeomanry was dismissed. The court ruled their actions had been justified. The site was then renamed Peterloo as an ironic comparison with the Battle of Waterloo which had been fought four years earlier. This happened, lest we forget, less than 200 years ago !

We then headed past the magnificent Midland Hotel towards the GMex exhibition centre and conference hall, which was once Exchange Station. We crossed Deangate and headed for the Castlefield area with its Museum of Science and Industry. Beyond the ruins of a Roman fort and a recently installed replica of its main gateway, we passed Barca Restaurant by the side of the canal.

Returning via Knott Mill Station we walked along Deansgate, passing the imposing John Rylands Library on our left before turning right on to John Dalton Street for the first of the day, Joseph Holts’ cask bitter at £2-75 a pint, at The Ape and Apple (115mins). Suitably refreshed, we turned left on to Cross Street and right along Church Street, where the barrowboys used to have their stalls, before heading for the Kabana Curry House  at the junction of John Street and Thomas Street.

Here we enjoyed an exotic change from Pietime (130mins), although Alastair made the schoolboy error of sitting opposite Tom. As the latter tried unsuccessfully to perform the simple task of filling a glass with water, he released a tsunami all over the table and Alastair suffered from soggy chapattis.

The spicy meal had prepared us for our second drink of the day which we enjoyed, after passing The Printworks on Withy Grove (formerly Thompson House, where your diarist worked for 13 years) and headed past Hanging Ditch, The Old Wellington and Sinclair’s Oyster Bar on our right  to reach the Crown and Anchor at the rear of Manchester Cathedral (145mins) for more pints of Joey Holts. From here we returned to Deansgate for one in The Moon Under The Water (165 mins), a Wetherspoons’ pub dispensing Ruddles for £2-25 a pint.

The pubs now came thick and fast as we had single pints in Mr Thomas’s Chop House (168mins), walked along King Street to turn left at Pall Mall and call at Sam’s Chop House, where there is a statue to its former customer, the artist LS Lowry (180mins). From here we headed to The Circus Tavern on Portland Street for pints of Tetleys in the city’s smallest pub (190mins).

Our final port of call was The Waldorf on Chatham Street (200mins) before returning to Piccadilly for our trains home (210mins).

Next week’s walk will start at 9.35am from the car park of Sutton Hall in Sutton, Macclesfield. Chris will once again lead us on a walk which will take us along the Macclesfield Canal and up Teggs Nose before we descend to The Ryley Arms for a livener around 12.30pm. We expect to retrun to Sutton Hall for a last pint at about 2.15pm.

Happy wandering !

Hathersage

HATHERSAGE SWIMMING POOL, BROOKFIELD MANOR, NORTH LEES, STANAGE EDGE, STANEDGE POLE, LONG CAUSEWAY, REDMIRES RESERVOIR, BROWN EDGE, HIGH LAD RIDGE, HIGH NEB, STANAGE EDGE, HATHERSAGE AND THE OLD HALL AT HOPE

Distance: Ten miles.

Difficulty: Moderate with strenuous climb at start.

Weather: Dry with cloudy start changing to blue skies and sunshine.

Walkers: Micky Barrett, Tom Cunliffe, Mark Gibby and Alan Hart.

Apologies: Peter Beal (Greek island hols); Alastair Cairns; Colin Davison and Jock Rooney (attending funeral);George Dearsley (in Turkey); Lawrie Fairman (awaiting knee operation); Hughie Hardiman; Steve Kemp (recovering from bone marrow transplant); Chris Owen (hols) ; Julian Ross; George Whaites (hols) .

Leader: Cunliffe. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Outside Hathersage Swimming Pool on Oddfellows Road, Hathersage.

Starting time: 9.59am. Finishing time: 2.48pm.

It has been many years since the Wednesday Wanderers walked from Hathersage, a village in the Hope Valley. Tom, inspired by memories of his youth, volunteered to lead this walk on what for Micky and Mark was new territory.

A steady climb out of the village to Stanage Edge, passing a link with literary history en route, was rewarded with spectacular views from the summit. The panorama looked even better when we made our return journey as the sun came out and the earlier grey clouds were replaced with white fluffy ones.

It would be easy – and huge fun – to find fault with Tom’s leadership. One could mention his bewilderment as he studied the map at one stage unable to spot the landmark right next to him; his wildly optimistic estimate of the time it would take; his failure to plan for a pub visit during the walk; and that there was no licensed establishment at the finish worthy of our custom.

But that would be churlish, and we are not churls. Suffice to say that we are grateful to Tom for reminding us of the beautiful landscape not far from our doorsteps.

From our cars parked free in Oddfellows Road, we walked through the Pay and Display car park and turned right along a passage marked Toilets which brought us to the main road (2mins). We crossed to the right of the public toilets and headed right before turning immediately left up a cobbled street which became Besom Lane.

At the end of the lane we turned left uphill along a lane which petered out and became a stony track. We went through two gates marked with yellow arrows (14 and 22mins). We reached Birley Lane (26mins) and turned right passing Bronte Cottage on our left. The significance of the name of the renowned authoress was to be revealed soon afterwards as we turned left at a wooden public footpath sign (29mins) and headed up a steep lane.

At the top of this lane on the left lies North Lees Hall, designed and built by Robert Smythson in the 16^th Century with a distinctive battlemented facade. It is almost certain this building inspired celebrated authoress Charlotte Bronte as the model for Thornfield Hall, home of Mr Rochester in “Jane Eyre.”

Charlotte, born in Bradford but raised in the Yorkshire village of Haworth, was a clergyman’s daughter and she stayed with her friend Ellen Nussey, daughter of the vicar of Hathersage. They both  visited North Lees Hall, which bears a striking resemblance to fictional Thornfield Hall, where Mr Rochester’s mad wife Bertha lived in a padded cell in the attic. This account is said by  folklore to copy the true story of a local mad woman who died while locked in a blazing attic.

Charlotte Bronte’s life (1816-55) was also marred by tragedy. In eight-months at the end of 1848 and beginning of 1849, her brother Branwell and her novelist sisters Emily and Anne all died from tuberculosis. Charlotte married a clergyman in 1854 and soon became pregnant but died from TB or typhus before the child was born.

We continued along a gravel track and turned right at a standing stone marked with a yellow arrow (38mins). A wooden gate led us into a wood (41mins) where we followed the path to reach a lane and turned left (46mins). Just before reaching the public toilets on the left we turned right (47mins) at a public footpath and headed uphill through bracken.

`Taking a right fork where the paths divided (48mins) we entered another wood and continued with a steep final ascent to reach Stanage Edge (62mins) and stopped for pies and port while we admired the view across the valley below us, marred only by the sight of Hope Cement Works in the mid-distance.

Continuing we turned left along the edge with the cliff on our left. After crossing a wooden stile (72mins) we turned immediately right away from the edge along a stone-flagged path. We reached a lane (73mins) and swung right. This path brought us to Stanedge Pole, marking the border of Derbyshire and Yorkshire. We entered the latter county and continued until we reached a road at what was once Redmires Reservoir (98mins). It appears to have been drained and is now more of a puddle than a lake.

We turned left and went left again (106mins) at a green public footpath sign. Heading uphill we crossed a wooden stile (112mins) and a bridge over a stream before turning left over another wooden stile (126mins). The path brought us to a derelict cottage where we turned left before a large pond (142mins)

After using stepping stones to cross a stream (146mins) we climbed uphill, passing grouse butts until we reached a copse full of evergreens behind a broken square wall (157mins). After much deliberation and persuasion Tom accepted this was the plantation marked on his map and we followed a well-trodden path by the side of a broken drystone wall.

After a long trek across moorland using the wall as our guide we reached a stone building (188mins) on our right known locally as “the bus shelter.” Here we stopped for lunch. When we resumed we were only a few yards from Stanage Edge (189mins) and we turned left with the drop now on our right. At a path leading to a rocky outcrop we turned right (197mins) and dropped down to a lower section of the ridge. This brought us back to the crevice (204mins) which had earlier brought us on to Stanage Edge.

From here we retraced our footstepsdownwards, passing North Lees Hall and then Hathersage Cricket Club on our right (250mins). We reached the main road in Hathersage (252mins) and turned right, reaching the George Hotel (254mins) only to find it was ...an hotel. Tom said we would go to the Little John pub instead but that was closed. So we returned to our cars (262mins to de-boot and drive to The Old Hall at Hope.

Here, in the sunny beer garden, we enjoyed pints of Dizzy Blonde and Wainwrights’ cask bitter for £3-55.


Pictures by Tom

Next week’s walk has been organised by Chris and will start at 10am from Wetherspoons on the 1^st floor of Piccadilly Railway Station, Manchester. It involves calling at some of the city’s historic pubs and what we have been promised is a hidden gem of a curry house. There is much flexibility in the itinerary and individuals might vary the route according to their return train times.

Happy wandering !

Ashford-in-the-Water

ROUTE:   ASHFORD IN THE WATER, PENNYUNK LANE, MONSAL HEAD, LITTLE LONGSTONE, GREAT LONGSTONE, HARDRAKE LANE, LONGSTONE EDGE, BLACK PLANTAION, MOOR LANE, DALE FARM, THE PACKHORSE AT LITTLE LONGSTON,MONSAL TRAIL, THE BULL'S HEAD ASHFORD IN THE WATER.

Date: September 5th 2018

DISTANCE:  8 miles.

DIFFICULTY:  Easy peasy.

WEATHER:  Sunny with fluffy white clouds.

WANDERERS:  TOM, MARK, JULIAN, MICKY, JOCK.

LEADER (From the front.) TOM.

ROUTE  REDIRECTION OFFICER (Shouting loudly from the back) JOCK.

DIARIST:  JOCK.

START TIME: 10:00

FINISH TIME: 14:30

Having extracted Tom, Mark & Julian from the Ashford Tea Room we set off up Vicarage lane turning left up the short steep footpath leading up to then over the fields to Pennycunk Lane which brought us eventually to Monsal Head (11:30). Following the minor road to Little Longston we passed the Packhorse (11:35) and on reaching the gate after the last dwelling on the right we took the left of the two footpaths leading from the stiles on either side pausing at the concrete water trough for pie time. No one had any port on offer and it is fair to say that until this point no one had missed Harty. The path led us to the metropolis of Great Longston  leading us through the kid's playground and on to the Church where we followed the road sharp right to a walled lane on the left which zig zagged over the fields to join Hardrake Lane leading up to a multi pointing signpost where we turned left and up onto Longston edge. From thence it was an easy downhill stroll down Moor Lane turning sharp left at Black Plantation and eventually right for Dale Farm and over the fields back to Little Longston  reaching a very busy Packhorse at 12:45. Cannot comment on the form or price of the beer as I was drinking Carling Black Label which was in excellent form.

On leaving the pub we returned to the gate with the two stiles and took the right hand Monsal Trail path to where it turned left onto the disused railway and crossing this descended the steps to the field below stopping for pie time number two. From then on it was an easy stroll over the fields crossing Longston Lane and Ashford Lane to emerge onto Vicarage Lane back down to the cars to de-boot and head for the Bull's Head (14:30) where the beer was off and had to be changed (I should have stuck to the Carling !)

Next week's walk will start from Hathersage at 09:50 (meet in Oddfellows Lane, Hathersage, next to the swimming pool) with Tom leading for Stanage Edge and beyond (see him for details). Halfway pub usually not available so make provisions ! Wish I could be there but Kieran, Colin and I attending an old caving club friend's funeral.

HAPPY WANDERING.