Dean Row

January 9, 2019.

DEAN ROW, HANDFORTH, VICAR FARM, BOLLIN VALLEY TRAIL, MOTTRAM HALL GOLF COURSE, BULLS HEAD AT MOTTRAM ST ANDREW, LEGH OLD HALL, WOODEND FARM HOUSE, LOWER GADHOLE FARM, THE ADMIRAL RODNEY AT PRESTBURY, BOLLIN VALLEY TRAIL, PRESTBURY WATER TREATMENT PLANT AND THE UNICORN AT DEAN ROW

Distance: 9-10 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Frosty, sunny start, remaining dry.

Walkers: Tom Cunliffe with Daisy, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, Hughie Hardiman, Alan Hart, Chris Owen, Julian Ross and George Whaites.

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

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (Antipodean hols), Peter Beal (La Palma hols), Alastair Cairns (w*^king), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Mark Gibby (medical tests) and Jock Rooney (unhappy with chosen route)

 Leaders: Various. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Rear car park of The Unicorn at Dean Row, Handforth, Wilmslow.

Starting time: 9.39am. Finishing time: 2.35pm.

A cold and frosty morning gave way to wintry sunshine and the best sort of weather we could expect at this time of the year. Despite pessimistic forecasts from some quarters there were no muddy patches to avoid and a handsome turnout – if one can use that adjective in the circumstances.

Entertainment was provided by Daisy, who gave a passable imitation of Bambi on a frozen pond; by a lady golfer who made Tom an offer he found hard to refuse; and by Julian, who managed to arrest an escaping dog whose owner seemed reluctant to have him returned: more of these tales later.

We also enjoyed pints of excellent cask bitter in a traditional British pub, and further refreshment in an old but refurbished inn where we were served by a glamorous barmaid with an exotic East European accent.

The chosen route, which was predominantly flat, had the added advantage of encouraging our recovering comrades to join us. As an added bonus we encountered our chums from the B team at both watering holes to swap yarns.

From The Unicorn car park we turned right for 100 yards and then turned right again at the roundabout. After 200 yards we turned right yet again at a public footpath sign and followed the track to Vicar Farm. Ducks and geese scattered as we walked through the farmyard and crossed a wooden stile before heading right downhill.

As we swung left at the end of a copse of trees on our left Daisy decided to drink some water on a frozen pond. As a miniature poodle Daisy is a lightweight but the ice was melting and in she went. We waited in vain for Tom to plunge into the icy waters and rescue the maiden in distress. Instead he urged Daisy to rescue herself with words of encouragement. Although unscathed she was soon shivering and Tom spent half an hour thawing her out inside a pouch he created in his coat.

On reaching a palatial rebuilt farmhouse on our left, we turned right following yellow arrows and emerged through a metal kissing gate at a road next to a bridge over the River Bollin. We turned right over the bridge and immediately left at a sign marked Bollin Valley Way. This took us along the right bank of the river, up a flight of steps and across a farm-track.

A wide path with hedges each side took us to the left of a mansion and towards Mottram Hall Golf Course. Soon after we entered the grounds a woman shouted “Fore” and her golf ball landed a few yards from Tom. He pointed to where the ball had landed under a tree. “Can you put it in a nice place for me ?”, the lady inquired to a round of sniggers.

The public footpath kept us to the left edge of the course, passing a soccer training pitch and at one stage leaving the ground to walk by the side of a wood before we re-entered the grounds and crossed the course. We exited the grounds to the right of a substantial cottage and followed a lane down to a main road.

We crossed with The Bulls Head pub on our left and went down Priest Lane for 50 yards before turning left at a sign for Rose Cottage. After 20 yards we turned left again at a wooden public footpath sign and followed paths leading through bushes, over stiles and to the left of a pretty pink cottage before reaching a flight of steps where we paused for pies, port and humbugs (99mins)

Resuming we walked for 20 yards and turned left back to the main road. Diagonally opposite to the left we followed a driveway which took us past Legh Old Hall on the left. At the end of this cul de sac there was a yellow arrow on a passage on our left which led through a field. We crossed a stile on our left marked with a yellow arrow and crossed fields to emerge at Woodland Farm House (116mins)

We walked to the right of the building and swung right again at Lower Gadhole Farm  where the public footpath led us through a series of paddocks and stables. We proceeded to reach a bridge over the River Bollin (130mins), which we crossed and turned right along the Bollin Vally Way.

As we reached the outskirts of Prestbury, a dog trailing a lead sprinted past us and for once Julian made an effective tackle and a citizen’s arrest. The pursuing owner, far from being grateful for the intervention, grumbled about the dog being “a bloody nuisance” and took the proffered lead without a word of thanks.

We continued into Prestbury, turning left at The Village Club and entering the rear of The Admiral Rodney on our right (139mins). The six B-teamers were already in situ having commandeered the best seats in the house. We joined them for excellent pints of Robbies’ Unicorn at £3-60 and a friendly welcome from the landlord.

Some of the Latin scholars among our group pondered the inscription Non Generant Aquilae Columbas on the pub wall. This means “Eagles do not breed doves” and was the motto of HMS Rodney, the Nelson-class battleship which, like the pub, was named after one of our famous sea lords.

Built at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead and launched in 1925, she weighed 33,000 tons, was 710 feet long and capable of 23 knots (26mph). Her finest hour came in May, 1941, when she played a major role in sinking the feared German battleship Bismarck some 400 miles off the French coast at Brest. HMS Rodney was sold for scrap in 1948.

Leaving our pals behind, we continued by retracing our steps back to the right bank of the River Bollin. Instead of re-crossing the bridge we carried along the picturesque riverbank. The sylvan scene on our left was soon in sharp contrast to the sight on our right of the Prestbury Water Treatment Plant, which covers some 600 yards in length.

We noted that the rotating sprinklers above the tanks were motionless – something of a rarity in a sewage farm.

After passing the treatment works we paused for lunch (169mins) before continuing to a footbridge (173mins) on our left which we used to cross the Bollin and re-enter Mottram Golf Course. From here we once again retraced our footsteps back to The Unicorn car park to deboot (225mins)

Inside the guest cask ale, Rambler, from the Wincle Brewery, was £3-63 and served by a bubbly blonde barmaid with a dazzling smile and the sort of accent which sent James Bond weak at the knees.  

Next week’s walk will start at 9.40am from The Little Mill Inn at Rowarth. Tom will lead the troops to The Lantern Pike at Little Hayfield, where he was the landlord until two years ago. He expects to arrive around 12.10pm for a bracer and return to The Little Mill Inn for a final slurp at about 2.30pm.

Happy wandering !