Marple Bridge

February 26, 2020

MARPLE BRIDGE

BRABYN’S PARK IN MARPLE BRIDGE, ETHEROW COUNTRY PARK, ERNOCROFT WOOD, ERNOCROFT FARM, BROWN LOW, SMITHY LANE, MELLOR HALL, MELLOR CHURCH, DEVONSHIRE ARMS, TARDEN, BOTTOMS HALL, ROMAN LAKES, OLDKNOW'S MILL, MARPLE BRIDGE 

Distance: 8.5 miles​​​Ascent/descent: 1,250 ft

Difficulty: Easy

Weather: Some sleet showers but dry and bright later

Walkers: Peter Beal, Mickey Barrett, Andy Blease, Alastair Cairns, Tom Cunliffe,  Chris Owen, Jock Rooney and Tip, Dean Taylor 

Non-walking drinker: Alan Hart

Apologies: Hughie Hardiman, Mark Gibby, Julian Ross (Antipodes)

Leader: Beal​​​Diarist: Beal

Starting point: Brabyn’s Park public car park, Marple Bridge

Starting time: 9.40am​Finishing time: 1.57pm

Today’s planned route should have seen us starting at Danebridge near Wincle in the Cheshire hills but dire warnings of heavy snowfalls caused us to change the venue in advance and go for the safer option of Marple Bridge.

It proved a wise move as Chris, who was manfully shovelling snow at 6.30am to keep the playground at Wincle Primary School open in his role as part-time factotum there,  reported there was four inches of the stuff overnight. We will return there shortly in better weather.

As we did this route only on November 13 today’s report will remain fairly brief.

Chris’s heroic shovelling meant he was running some 20 minutes late so only seven of us left the Brabyn’s Park car park in cold rain that was on the verge of sleet.

We took a metalled track at the far end of the car park, running parallel to the Peak Forest canal. This split at some houses and we took the right fork, skirting a barrier, which took us across playing fields, some of which were under water after the recent heavy rains.

We bore left before a small bridge and then immediately crossed a larger, more modern one spanning the River Goyt just to the east of its confluence with the Etherow. 

We left the park here and joined a track that soon brought us to the Marple to Romiley road. We turned left here past the site of the former George pub, once a regular starting point for the Wanderers.

We continued alongside the high brick wall of a former mill before turning right in to the car park of the Etherow Country Park (20 minutes). 

We should have here continued with the small lake on our left but a sign declaring tree-cutting operations diverted us to the left-hand side. We soon joined a canal at the top of the lake, where the splendid Mandarin ducks spotted on our last visit seemed to have increased in number to six, crossed it and arrived at the large weir (41 min), where the swollen River Etherow was plunging over to much noise and sending clouds of spray in to the air.

We turned sharp right here on a track leading uphill in to the woods signed to Glossop Road. Soon afterwards Alastair received a call from a confused Chris, who in his pursuit of us had clearly overshot the entrance to the country park. We did our best to put him back on the right track and continued upwards. After the initial climb we saw a five-barred gate and stile in front of us and just before it bore left on a narrower path uphill.

This climbed steadily through the delightful Ernocroft Wood for some time, before emerging on the Marple to Glossop Road (55 min). Here we decided that rather than have another lengthy phone conversation with Chris, we would wait for him and awarded ourselves a rest that proved to last 17 minutes before he emerged from the trees.

Our reunited band turned right along the road for a short distance before crossing a rickety stile on the left in to a field. The path climbed for a short distance before slanting left on a boggy grassy incline towards a house. We went through a rusty gate here and reached a minor road, where we turned right past Ernocroft Farm and two tethered dogs that were just as noisy as on our previous visit.

Soon after this we took a stile on the left and climbed steadily up a track through a wet field. We bore right through a collapsed wall and took another stile to descend downhill through a field ankle-deep in water, with the Bronze Age barrow of Brown Low in the trees on our left. 

Wet of foot we mercifully reached a lane (92 min). We turned left here and soon after took a right turn down Smithy Lane. Pietime had been postponed because of the wind and sleet breaking out again on the higher ground, so we called a halt here at a woefully late 11.45am.

The track continued down past several converted farms, before becoming rough and climbing to join a road. Just before the road we came to a dip filled with water that we had successfully forded on our last trip here. But now it appeared at least two-feet deep and we were forced to scramble over a low wall on our right and fight through vegetation to regain the track.

We reached a minor road and turned right here (119 min) and continued to a track on our left, passing Horsepool Cottage and climbing to Mellor Hall. The way took usthrough the buildings converted in to homes and then bore left along a metalled track. At the end of this we turned right and soon reached Mellor Church (131 min), enjoying a commanding view over the surrounding countryside. 

We took the minor road downhill, using a footpath at the side, and emerged in Mellor next to the Devonshire Arms (129 min), the recently refurbished Robinson's pub which again was doing a good trade in lunches and serving excellent Unicorn and Dizzy Blonde at £3-60 and £3-80 respectively.

Here we found Alan awaiting us, having surprised no-one by deciding not to walk in the earlier wet conditions.

Resuming, we crossed the road and took the minor road of Gibb Lane opposite the pub. At a fork we bore right on a lane taking us down through the Mellor and Townscliffe golf course. We passed the clubhouse away on our right and reached the extensive Linnet Clough scout camp.

Here the stony track became rougher and descended gradually before it passed the buildings of Bottom's Hall and reached a broader track between the two large ponds known as the Roman Lakes. 

We arrived at Oldknow's Mellor Mill site, which is being excavated by a local history society and turned right here uphill. The track descended and soon emerged near the centre of busy little Marple Bridge (170 min).

We turned left down the main street to the Norfolk Arms, a quirky establishment that seemed to arouse mixed feelings among the Wanderers. They do however have an interesting range of unusual beers, including an excellent Magnum pale ale at £3-70 a pint. From here it was a few minutes’ stroll back to Brabyn’s Park and our cars.

Next week’s walk, again with the prospect of wintry weather in mind, will start at the Miners Arms at Four Lane Ends in Adlington at 9.40am. We shall aim for refreshments at the Vale in Bollington around 12.30pm before returning along the Macclesfield Canal to the Miners at around 2.15pm

Happy wandering! 

Buxworth

Buxworth

February 19, 2020

NAVIGATION INN AT BUGSWORTH BASIN, STATION ROAD, KNOWLTOP FARM, DOLLY LANE, SHEDYARD PIECE, OVEN HILL ROAD, OLLERSETT MOOR, COTE BANK, THE OLD HALL INN AT WHITEHOUGH, PEAK FOREST TRAMWAY TRAIL, BUGSWORTH BASIN

Distance: 6.5 miles

Difiiculty: Easy but very muddy underfoot

Weather: Dank and overcast, rain in later stages

Walkers: Micky Barrett, Peter Beal, Andy Blease, Tom Cunliffe and Daisy, Jock Rooney and Tip, Alan Hart, John Jones, Chris Owen, Dean Taylor, John Wigley

Non-walking drinker and cyclist (electrically aided): Colin Davison

Apologies: Laurie Fairman (lecturing on Artic cruise), Alastair Cairns (flooding worries at home), George Whaites (medical appointment), Julian Ross (Antipodes), Hughie Hardiman (Texas), Mark Gibby (familial duties in Ripon)

Leader: Jones Diarist: Beal

Starting point: Navigation Inn, Bugsworth Basin

Starting time: 9.39am Finishing time: 1.32pm

Given the recent rainfalls of Biblical proportions, it was no surprise that today's route through the countryside above the Goyt Valley was extremely wet underfoot – so much so that it slowed our progress.

Nevertheless, we were cheered by a visit to one of the Wanderers' favourite pubs – the Old Hall – and were spared the worst of the weather until some rain in the later stages.

The walk involved a rare start for the Wanderers from Buxworth, a small village in the valley of the Black Brook, with an interesting history. Until 1930 it was called Bugsworth – formerly Buggesworth - a name disliked by its residents, who were referred to by those in surrounding villages as 'Buggies'.

A campaign led by the local headmaster and the vicar resulted in the name change – although the beautifully restored canal basin still carries the old name. And those living there are still called 'Buggies'. A ballot in 1999 on whether to revert to the traditional name resulted in a vote against by 233 votes to 139.

Our ten-strong group turned right from the car park of the Navigation Inn – once owned by the late Coronation Street actress Pat Phoenix – in to Brookside and climbed the road to join Station Road.

We turned right again, passed under a railway bridge and soon after turned left up a track marked by a footpath fingerpost which brought us in to the yard of Knowltop Farm (14 minutes). A footpath sign on a gate led us out in to a series of open and extremely muddy fields, some with awkward stiles to negotiate.

After four such fields, with the path mostly well-marked, we descended slightly as the path ran alongside the Manchester to Sheffield rail line, with its embankment on our left. Here we attracted the attentions of an inquisitive young Gloucester Old Spot pig (see Alan's picture).

We came to a track which passed under the railway but continued on the path, soon climbing another tricky stile on the right to head uphill through a field. This brought us to Dolly Lane (34 min), where we turned left and immediately right over a another stile to make a steep and muddy climb up another field.

At the top we followed a broken wall in to a copse of trees and bore right again steadily uphill to reach a well-defined track (71 min). This is known locally – and correctly – as Oven Hill Road, although marked on OS maps as Over Hill Road. Interestingly, the Ordnance Survey recently admitted to putting deliberate, but inconsequential, mistakes,

in to their mapping as a way of checking whether their copyright was being breached. Could this be an instance?

We turned left along the track, down a dip, and climbed shortly to a crossroads, where we turned right at a bridleway sign. Shortly afterwards pie time was declared (86 min). After a welcome infusion of port supplied by Alan, we followed the wet path, fed by a spring, to a gate, where the way ahead climbed sharply to bring us to another five-barred gate and another bridleway (101 min).

A path ahead would have taken us on our intended route to Big Stone and Cracken Edge, but our leader for the day John, with an eye on the clock, decided instead to turn right along the bridleway, which descended to bring us again to Oven Hill Road, now a metalled surface, near the farmstead of Throstle Bank (128 min).

We turned left along the road and soon reached a stile on our right, which took us down through fields and included a stretch where it ran straight through the garden of the house at Cote Bank. We bore left here, past the farmhouse at Tithe Barn, and turned right to drop down to the Chinley Road. We turned left here and shortly after took a road on the right signed to the Stephanie Works plastics factory. We crossed a dip on the road and climbed to soon reached The Old Hall Inn at Whitehough (151 min).

Here we found Colin waiting for us, having travelled from home on his e-bike, joining the Peak Foest Canal in Disley. Wainwright Golden Ale was on offer at a very reasonable £3-20.

The Old Hall, run by landlord Dan Capper with his parents' help for several years, has always proved most welcoming to the Wanderers and today, although young Dan was not in evidence, was no exception.

Refreshed, we resumed our brief walk back to Buxworth. We turned right out of the pub and retraced our steps down the road until reaching a sign on the left signalling the Peak Forest Tramway Trail.

Original plans for the Peak Forest Canal had been to extend it as far as Doveholes to give access to the many quarries in the area. However, this idea was abandoned, the terminus built at Bugsworth and a six-mile tramway constructed to move the stone. The rails can still be seen on sections of the trail.

The completion of the canal in 1798 transformed sleepy Bugsworth in to the largest inland port in the country, with moorings for 100 barges. It was restored by volunteers to reopen in 2005 for leisure boaters and is now a Grade 1 Industrial Archeological site.

We turned on to the Trail which initially runs through the plastics factory site, where on its former mill pond we saw a lone black swan. There used to be two here for many years. The fate of the other is unknown but the couple obviously never produced cygnets.

Alan span me the unlikely tale that this could be because large numbers of the breed (cygnus atratus if you want to know) are in fact gay. But sure enough brief research revealed the fact that a quarter of black swan couplings are in fact of a homosexual nature.

Male pairs have been known to 'adopt' cygnets from a flock or to form temporary relationships with female swans to gain access to their offspring. It is amazing what you can learn on a Wednesday walk.

We continued along the trail with Black Brook on our right, swollen by the rains which by now had started to fall again, causing us to igmore lunch and press on, reaching the Navigation only 22 minutes after leaving the Old Hall (173 minutes), at an earlier hour than usual at 1.32pm.

Pints of Timothy Taylor Landlord at this traditional and pleasant canal pub were a rather steep £4-20.

Next week's walk will start from Dane Bridge,near Wincle, at 9.40am. Parking is on the road just before the bridge. We will walk over Minn End and Croker Hill, calling at the Ryles Arms around 12.30pm before returning for refreshment at the Ship Inn around 2.15pm.

Happy wandering!

Pictures by Alan Hart

Higher Poynton

February 12, 2010.

THE BOAR'S HEAD CAR PARK AT HIGHER POYNTON, MACCLESFIELD CANAL, LOCKGATE FARM, SKELLORN STUD, BIRCHENCLIFFE, KEEPER'S COTTAGE, SPONDS HILL, BOWSTONES, MONKHOUSE MEMORIAL, LYME PARK, EAST LODGE, GRITSTONE TRAIL, THE WHITE HORSE AT DISLEY, RED LANE, LYME PARK, THE LADYBROOK TRAIL, MACCLESFIELD CANAL, THE BOAR'S HEAD

Distance: 10+ miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Dry with early cloud giving way to blue skies and sunshine.

Walkers: Micky Barrett, Peter Beal, Andy Blease, Alastair Cairns, Tom Cunliffe with Daisy, Mark Gibby, Hughie Hardiman, Alan Hart, John Jones, .Chris Owen, Dean Taylor, George Whaites, John Wigley.

Alternative walkers: Colin Davison and Lawrie Fairman.

Apologies: George Dearsley (in Turkey), Jock Rooney and Tip (with B team), Julian Ross (Antipodean hols)

Leader: Hart. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park of The Boar's Head at Higher Poynton.

Starting time: 9.42am. Finishing time: 2.57pm.

Fortune favoured the brave once again as the stormy weather which has buffeted much of the British Isles during the past four days subsided. Cold winds were minimal in strength and we even enjoyed some unexpected sunshine.

This was a new route covering familiar territory. As a result some of our fitter members tended to race ahead, sometimes in the wrong direction, whilst others were left in their slipstream. Leading such a disparate group has always been a challenge and so it proved. In the end chasing after the leading pack while keeping in touch with the back markers proved impossible. It is therefore a relief to report that the resourcefulness of the Wednesday Wanderers once again prevailed and we all reached our prime destinations – The White Horse at Disley and The Boar's Head at Higher Poynton (albeit a few minutes later than planned)

What debutant John Wigley made of it all remains to be seen although he is welcome to join us again on future adventures. We were also rejoined by Peter after a three-week absence because of his holiday in warmer climes. He played a key role, much appreciated, in shepherding the flock.

From outside The Boar's Head we crossed the road diagonally left, passing the Nelson Pit Museum on our left before swinging right uphill to reach the Macclesfield Canal at Lord Vernon's Wharf (4mins). We turned right with the canal on our left and walked in the direction of Bollington until we reached Lyme Marina (26-28mins)

Here we left the canal by turning right and then left over Bridge 18 (30mins) to head towards Lockgate Farm. When we reached Skellorn Stud (38mins) we crossed a wooden stile to its left, then one to the right and a third to the left. It was at this stage that your diarist and leader caught his right foot in brambles and fell sprawling in the mud to the amusement of all concerned.

We crossed a field diagonally right and exited it on the left to follow a path to a road where we turned right toward Pott Shrigley (46mins)

We soon passed the Coffee Tavern on our left and turned left at a footpath towards Birchenclough (49mins). After passing through a wooden gate to reach a crossing in the footpaths we turned left along a lane (65mins). Just short of Keepers Cottage on our right (69mins) we stopped for pies, port and home-brewed damson gin provided once again by Chris.

Continuing we turned right uphill along a footpath leading to both Sponds Hill and Bowstones. On reaching a gate (85mins) we paused for a team photo (12 wanderers and one photographer) with the snow-capped hills of the Kinder Range just visible in the background.

When we reached Spond Hill (90mins) we turned left short of the Trig Point on our right and went through a metal gate (104mins) to reach the whitewashed landmark of Bowstones Farm (108mins).

Here to the right of the farm we examined the two shafts of Saxon crosses which give the farm its name. At one time they would have been objects of devotion later used as boundary markers.

After crossing a stile and a ladder stile we turned right (113mins) with a drystone wall on our right, passing the radio receiving masts and an air raid shelter in the farm garden. We then reached the memorial to Allan Monkhouse, playwright, novelist and literary editor of the Manchester Guardian (119mins). He and his distinguished family were born in Disley and loved these hills.

Beyond the memorial we climbed a ladder stile to enter Lyme Park (125mins) and a wood which we walked through and exited by another ladder stile (129mins)

Turning left we headed downhill in the direction of Lyme Cage but after crossing a wooden stile and reaching a lane we turned right (142mins)

The lane took us to East Lodge (154mins) where we exited the park and followed a diversion round a broken bridge (159mins). We turned left at a metal gate to follow the Gritstone Trail sign (161mins) and passed a kennels on our left.

In the garden was a red phone box where Clark Kent had recently morphed into Superman. A sign on a tree warned “ No Trespassing. Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.” (Such signs are common in Texas and should be taken very seriously)

Where the Gritstone Trail swung left we turned sharp right for St Mary's Church car park (181mins) following a public footpath behind the church and between two graveyards. It led to a footbridge which we crossed, passing an old pub sign to indicate the building was once The Ring O' Bells, but is now a Society of Friends Meeting House - informally known as Quakers (186mins)

We turned left down Ring o' Bells Lane and at the bottom on the right we reached The White Horse (190mins) where your diarist washed and changed his muddy paramos. The first three pints of Robbies did not pass muster but were gladly exchanged after the barrel had been changed.

While we were drinking the replacement cask bitters Lawrie and Colin appeared having failed to gain entry half an hour earlier. The barmaid suggested they might not have pulled the door-handle hard enough but one suspects she might have put the bolts across when she saw them approaching.

Suitably refreshed one group of hikers sallied forth while their diarist and leader was donning his now-dry paramos in the gents' toilet. What follows is the route to and along The Ladybrook Trail which some others by-passed.

After turning left out of the front door for 50 yards we turned left again into Red Lane and walked to the end to enter Lyme Park (203mins). After passing the entrance hut on our left we swung to the right of a cottage and crossed a ladder stile to exit Lyme Park (207mins). We turned left and crossed a footbridge over the brook.

This was the start of the Ladybrook Trail back to the Macclesfield Canal. The Ladybrook Valley stretches for 9.3 miles and falls 902 feet from its source above Bollinhurst Reservoir. At various points it is called Bollinhurst Brook, Norbury Brook, Bramhall Brook, the Ladybrook and the Mickerbrook. It is a tributary of the River Mersey and its confluence is below the weir at Cheadle. South of Hazel Grove it marks the boundary between Greater Manchester and Cheshire.

With Ladybrook on our right we followed the well-trodden path as it swung right through a tunnel under the Manchester-Buxton railway line (210mins). Turning left we crossed a wooden stile and went across the railway to reach a road where we turned right and crossed a ladder stile on our left (220mins). After passing a derelict summer cottage on our left we crossed a wooden stile and a footbridge before climbing uphill to reach the Macclesfield Canal while the Ladybrook flowed under it (229mins)

On reaching Bridge 13 and a gaily decorated World War 2 pillbox we turned right across the bridge and swung back to the right bank of the canal heading towards Bollington (232mins). When we reached the Nelson Pit car park on our right (247mins) we turned right and walked down to the Boar's Head (249mins) for pints of excellent Wainwrights' cask bitter at £3-80.

Meanwhile Colin and Lawrie, having called at The Dandy Cock in Disley, returned to The Soldier Dick at Furness Vale. This used to be known as The Phallic Walk but following a suggestion by Lawrie it will now forever be known as The Two Pricks Walk.

Next week's walk will start at 9.40am outside The Navigation at Bugsworth Basin. It is planned to arrive at around 12.15pm for a livener at The Old Hall at Whitehough before returning to The Navigation for any further refreshment required about 2pm. There are free car parking spaces available on the road leading to the pub.

Happy wandering !

Picture by Alan Hart

group photo half way up Spond Hill

the kennels has a sign about trespassers

 phone box containing Superman 

 John Jones between The Bowstones

wall of the former Ring o Bells

Pictures by John Jones

 Alan clothes washing

Waiting at Keeper's Cottage

Ladder stile at Lantern Wood.

St Mary's Church in Disley.

Hartington

February 5, 2020.

HARTINGTON, HARRIS CLOSE, SHEEN, THE PACK HORSE INN AT CROWDECOTE, THE DOVE VALLEY, PILSBURY CASTLE, SPRINK HOLIDAY COTTAGES AND THE DEVONSHIRE ARMS AT HARTINGTON

Distance: 8 miles.

Difficulty: Easy but outward mud made progress slow.

Weather: Mild and sunny with good visibility.

Walkers: Micky Barrett, Andy Blease, Alastair Cairns, Tom Cunliffe with Daisy, Mark Gibby, Hughie Hardiman, Alan Hart, John Jones, Chris Owen, Jock Rooney with Tip, Dean Taylor and George Whaites.

Alternative walkers: Colin Davison and Lawrie Fairman.

Apologies: Peter Beal (returning from La Palma hols), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Julian Ross (Antipodean hols), Graham Stone (away for month)

Leader: Rooney. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Main square at Hartington, Derbyshire.

Starting time: 10.04am. Finishing time: 2.26pm.

Another sunny winter's morning greeted us as 12 walkers assembled in various parking spaces between the Devonshire Arms and the Charles Cotton pubs in Hartington. This time the sunshine stayed with us throughout our walk, burning off the misty conditions we had experienced on our way to the start.

Jock shepherded his flock expertly, often from the rear, clearly copying the technique of his collie Tip as he guided us impeccably on our return journey from Hartington to Crowdecote. On the outward leg the recent months of heavy rain had created muddy conditions and we had to take great care on the downhill sections. Even so we became The Dirty Dozen. As luck would have it, Jock was the only faller and he quickly rose unscathed. He explained that he had been having plenty of falling practice during the last three walks.

When we reached our first watering hole, The Pack Horse Inn at Crowdecote, we discovered that it had been taken over by a new landlord from Latvia. He gave us a warm welcome and endeared himself further when John Jones, celebrating his recent 72^nd birthday with a round of drinks, was informed that his own pint was on the house. We wish John many happy returns and hope the Latvian landlord can make a success of this excellent traditional British country pub.

On the return leg of our journey along the picturesque Dove Valley we passed Pilsbury Castle – a somewhat glorified title for what is little more than a mound of earth on a limestone outcrop. It does however have an interesting history, of which more later.

From the Charles Cotton side of the main road we turned left into a lane and soon turned right through a wooden gate into a field to head towards Sheen (3mins). This was the start of a muddy route which took us through a gap stile, two wooden gates and across a wooden footbridge (13mins). Another wooden gate brought us to a farm track where we turned right (17mins) and went over a wooden stile following a sign for Harris Close (18mins)

We crossed a stone step stile to enter a wood (22mins), went through a wooden gate (35mins) and over a stone step stile (37mins). This took us through a farmyard to a lane where we turned right (46mins). After passing a sign pointing left to Ridge End (67mins) we turned right over the next stone step stile (68mins) into a field, turning diagonally left to reach a wooden gate (71mins). Turning left along a track we soon stopped for pies and port (72mins)

Continuing downhill through slippery conditions we crossed a wooden stile (81mins) to reach a farm track. At a yellow arrow we turned left uphill and crossed a wooden stile (88mins). We then crossed a series of wooden stiles and footbridges to emerge on a track to the left of a farmhouse (106mins)

A left turn brought us to a main road with a nearby bridge over the River Dove which separated us in Derbyshire from the adjoining county of Staffordshire. We turned right and immediately came to The Pack Horse Inn on our right (109mins). There was a choice of lagers plus a cask bitter called Away With Fairies, a mild called Grave Digger's ale and an excellent winter ale named Three Star Jumper, all of which were enjoyed at the birthday boy's expense.

Suitably refreshed we retraced out footsteps by turning left and heading back to the farmhouse, this time going through the farmyard (114mins) and following the footpath on the left bank of The Dove. After pausing for lunch (126mins) we proceeded with the river on our right, passing Pilsbury Castle on our right with the river beyond it.

Archaeologists inform us this was once an Iron Age fortification before being used by the Normans. They built a motte-and-bailey castle on the site, occupying an area of high ground 175 yards by 150 yards overlooking the river. The land around it was given to Henry de Ferrers by William The Conqueror and was part of his brutal campaign of “harrying the north” to crush their resistance.

Henry built two similar castles at Tutbury and Duffield with timber defences, ditches and extra flanking earthworks. Pilsbury Castle may have been abandoned when Hartington grew in importance as the village of Pilsbury became depopulated.

We continued along the footpath, following a sign for Hartington (146mins), through a metal gate (165mins) and Sprink Holiday Cottages (169mins) before reaching a sign announcing Hartington (193mins) as we entered the village outskirts.

On reaching our cars and de-booting (198mins) we called in The Devonshire Arms where the Pedigree cask bitter was an eye-watering £4 a pint.

Meanwhile the alternative walkers, Colin and Lawrie, had set off from Charlesworth to climb Cown Edge before returning to The George and Dragon for the second week running to consume pints of Landlord bitter. They are now regarded as regulars.

Next week's walk will start at 9.40am from the car park of The Boar's Head Hotel at Higher Poynton, which we have the permission of Simon the landlord to use. Our plans is to walk alongside the Macclesfield Canal in the direction of Bollington before crossing it and heading for Sponds Hill, turning left to Bowstones, through Lyme Park and inspecting the refurbishment of The White Horse at Disley around 12.15pm

After knocking the froth off a couple we will return to Lyme Park then leave it and follow The Ladybrook Trail to return to the Macclesfield Canal for final refreshment at The Boar's Head at about 2.15pm.

Happy wandering !

Pictures by Alan Hart

Pictures by John Jones

Muddy path up.

Packhorse inn  at Crowdicote

The reason why!

Brotherly Love

Ludwell Lead Mine trial level..