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!