March 14, 2019
WHITE HORSE AT DISLEY, GREEN LANE, MILLENNIUM WOOD, BLACK ROCKS, SEVEN SPRINGS CAMP, MOORWOOD FARM, SOLDIER DICK PUB AT FURNESS VALE, PEAK FOREST CANAL, WHITE HORSE
Distance: 8 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Weather: Strong winds, some slight rain at first, then dry
Walkers: Peter Beal, Chris Owen
Alternative walkers: Colin Davison, Laurie Fairman
B walkers: George Fraser, Tony Job, Geoff Spurrell, Barry Williams
Non- walking drinker: Alan Hart
Apologies (known or rumoured): Tom Cunliffe (Morocco), Mark Gibby and Hughie Harriman (monitoring Cheltenham racing), Alistair Cairns (wandering in Keswick, later changed to Eskdale valley), George Dearsley (Turkey)
Leader: Beal Diarist: Beal
Starting point: White Horse at Disley
Starting time: 9.40am Finishing time: 2.06pm
Forecasts of strong wind and heavy rain clearly affected today's turn-out, leaving only your diarist and Chris to fly the flag for the A-walkers. Our recuperating colleagues Laurie and Colin, together with four of the B-walkers, were more resilient and chose to ignore the dire predictions of stormy weather, which as so often failed to be as bad as feared.
We can only assume those who failed to show had sound excuses, such as washing their hair, manicurists' appointments, or returning their overdue library books.
The A walk was close to not happening at all, as Chris belatedly realised he was waiting for his colleagues not at the White Horse, but at the nearby White Lion on the A6. He arrived at the correct venue just as your diarist was debating whether to change in to his boots to venture out on a solo expedition or return home to his duvet - a moral dilemma that was happily narrowly avoided.
We left the pub and turned up Ring o'Bells lane, past a building that was once a pub of that name and the old Disley Quaker Meeting House. With Disley Church on our right, we briefly joined Red Lane, before swinging left near the vicarage in to Green Lane.
The metalled lane became a rougher track after around half-a-mile, near the point at which a house on the right now proclaimed itself as Disley Kennels, with a field of half-a-dozen alpacas opposite now advertising Alpaca Trekking. A quick Google search revealed 40-minute walks with the beasts are available for such groups as hen parties. I think the RSPCA should be informed.
The track became a footpath, which descended to a track, opposite which was the protected area of Millennium Wood. We entered this and soon emerged on Mudhurst Lane, the high-level road linking Disley with the Macclesfield Road.
We turned right and after 150 yards scaled a stile on the left, with the rocky crest of Whaley Moor, known as Black Rocks, ahead of us. The path led through boggy ground before rising on the short climb to the ridge, where the wind was at its strongest.
We turned sharp left to follow the ridge, which descended to a muddy pasture and farmyard, which we crossed to reach the High Disley to Whaley Bridge minor road. We took a narrow path immediately opposite that emerged at Seven Springs Camp outdoor activity centre.
We turned right just past the buildings and took a path through fields with the busy A6 road far below us on our left. We reached the buildings of Moorwood Farm, crossed a track and climbed another marked footpath to the right, leading us on to a track and another set of fields.
As we began to descend towards Furness Vale we inexplicably lost the footpath and had to climb a fence and two gates to reach the A6 200 yards from the Soldier Dick pub to our right.
We had to wait a minute before the noon opening time and a pint of Wainwright that Chris and your diarist pronounced undrinkable and requested be replaced - one of the hazards of arriving early at pubs and getting the first pints of the day.
Laurie and Colin arrived almost immediately, having completed a walk of six miles from Colin's house in High Lane, through Lyme Park and crossing to Buxton Old Road to descend to Furness Vale.
As Chris and your diarist were preparing to leave B-walkers George, Geoff, Tony and Barry arrived, having left from Disley and followed the line of the Peak Forest canal to Furness Vale.
We crossed the A6 from the pub and took a track between houses immediately opposite that passed under the Buxton rail line and swung left to emerge on Marsh Lane below the level crossing.
We turned left, crossed the bridge over the canal, and turned left along the towpath with Furness Vale Marina on our left. We followed the canal for two miles until reaching a swing bridge, which we crossed and bore left up a lane which soon emerged next to the Dandy Cock pub in Disley, a short distance from the White Horse.
Here we found not only Alan waiting for us, but the landlady and four of her friends lavishly dressed as if for Ladies' Day, noisly following Cheltenham on the TV and indulging in a frenzy of online betting. We sat quietly and enjoyed pints of Robinson's Dizzy Blonde (£3-30).
Pictures by Colin Davison
Your diarist tenders his apologies for next week. He will be in the Lakes.
Next week's off-the-wall wander is a Manchester city centre walk, its an allegedly free walk so long as the guide is tipped (they ask for £8 pp but at the end of the day I suppose it’s optional?). This walk is rated No1 by Tripadvisor click on this link for more:
We meet at the Alan Turing statue located in Sackville Gardens opposite Chez Cafe at 11:00am with the tour lasting 3-3.5 hrs including a 15 min break at some point. The walk finishes at Exchange Sq which makes it handy for our first slurp of the day at the Oyster Pub. The organisers say that the walk goes ahead come what may so unless there is a nuclear attack just check the weather forecast etc.
if you are coming but for reasons best known to yourself arrive late you can call me (Tom) on 07729052183 for directions to catch up.
So, if you want a leisurely and pleasant walk around our city centre with your chums and at the same time learn something that you didn’t know that you didn’t know or perhaps learn something you thought you knew but didn’t really know then we’ll see you at said statue
Happy wandering!
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