November
18, 2020.
ALLGREAVE,
BURNTCLIFF TOP, GRADBACH, BACK FOREST WOOD, LUD'S CHURCH,
HANGINGSTONE, DANEBRIDGE, WINCLE, ALLMEADOWS, CLOUGH BROOK, THE ROSE
AND CROWN AT ALLGREAVE
Distance:
8
miles.
Difficulty:
Easy.
Weather:
Mainly
dry but cloudy: drizzle for last 15 minutes.
Leader:
Cunliffe
(with Daisy). Diarist:
Hart.
Starting
point: Top
car park of The Rose and Crown at Allgreave, near Macclesfield.
Starting
time: 9.50am.
Finishing
time: 1.45pm.
Once
again the current lockdown rules reduced us to one trailblazer and
one diarist for this route which has been neglected in recent times.
Apart from the start and finish, which involved road-walking, we
enjoyed following trails through moorland, meadows and woods as well
as paying a visit to a unique church which is steeped in folklore.
During
the journey we noticed four individuals, Chris
Owen, Jock Rooney, Keith Welsh and Dave Willetts, were
following us at a safe distance throughout.
Heavy
rain and strong winds had been forecast for later in the day and as
we finished the light drizzle which had fallen for the last half mile
transformed itself into serious precipitation. We were relieved that
a planned loop which would have taken us to The Roaches and added
three miles to the hike had been shelved because of the predictions.
From the
pub car park we walked down to a minor road and turned left towards
Quarnock, passing Midgley Farm on our right and a cottage on our left
which was once a pub called The Eagle and Child at Helmesley
(24mins). The childlike sketch illustrating the hostelry's former
name is still above the door.
After
passing Burn't Cliff Top we reached Midgeley Gate Barn where we
turned right at a green public footpath sign (31mins). This led us
through a farmyard which we exited by a stone step stile marked with
a yellow arrow (33mins). With a drystone wall on our right we carried
on briefly before crossing it by another stone step stile marked with
a yellow arrow.
The path
headed diagonally right downhill through ferns before we crossed a
footbridge (42mins) over the River Dane and emerged by a former silk
mill, later Gradbach Youth Hostel, and more recently an outdoor
education centre. Opposite the front of the building was a wooden
signpost pointing to Lud's Church, Danebridge and The Roaches.
Following
this to the left of a cafe area we reached a stone step stile which
we crossed and headed right towards a a footbridge.
We
crossed this and headed uphill into Back Forest Wood where we saw and
followed a wooden sign for Lud's Church. Reaching a rock formation on
our right, and after pausing for photographs and views across the
valley, we turned left (74mins) and reached the entrance to Lud's
Church on our right (80mins)
The
“church” is in fact a deep chasm penetrating the gritstone
bedrock created by a massive landslip on the hillside. It is believed
that Christians known as Lollards, who followed the teachings of the
Oxford philosopher John Wycliffe (1320-84) held secret services here.
Wycliffe
was an early dissident who opposed papal authority and corruption in
monasteries. His views ultimately led to the Protestant Reformation.
After he translated the Latin Bible into vernacular English his
followers were called Lollards, a pejorative term for those without
academic backgrounds. It came to mean heretic.
Among
many legends surrounding Lud's Church are that Robin Hood and his
Merry Men and centuries later Bonnie Prince Charlie hid in the chasm
to escape the authorities.
Another
piece of folklore claims that a horse called Lud shied and threw its
rider to his death in the cleft. Subsequently the huntsman's ghost,
covered from head to toe in moss, still roams the woods where he is
known as The Green Man.
Around
1862 a wooden figurehead from the ship Swythamley was installed in a
high niche above the chasm by landowner Philip Brocklehurst. It was
called Lady Lud and supposed to commemorate the death of the daughter
of a Lollard preacher.
At the
far end of the chasm we stopped for Pietime before swinging left
along a path which brought us back to our original entry point from
where we retraced our footsteps back to the rock formation (87mins)
and followed the sign straight ahead for Swythamley.
Just
beyond a side path on the right leading to a gate, which we ignored,
we crossed a stone step stile on our right and entered a field
(99mins). The well-trodden path led us to the back of Hangingstone, a
distinctive landmark overlooking Swythamley Hall, home of the
Brocklehurst family who owned The Roaches estate until the death of
the last in line in 1978. On the far side of the rock are two
memorial plaques. The first reads:
Beneath
this rock on August 1, 1874, was buried
BURKE
A
noble mastiff black and tan.
Faithful
as woman, braver than man.
A
gun and a ramble his heart's desire
With
the friend of his life
The
Swythamley squire.
Beyond
it is a memorial to Lt-Col Henry Courtney Brocklehurst of the 10th
Royal Hussars, a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps from 1916-18 and
Game Warden of The Sudan. Born in 1888 in Swythamley and killed on
active service in Burma on commando in June, 1942.
From
beneath Hangingstone we ignored the direct route downhill, which
would have been treacherous in the muddy conditions,
opting
for a gentler descent diagonally left to a track, adding 200 yards to
our journey as the price of our safety. We turned right across a
cattle-grid (115mins) after Tom had spent a considerable time
studying first his map and then a phone app.
Alas and
alack ! When we eventually set off and reached a wooden stile to turn
left, our leader realised he had left behind his poles, necessitating
a 600-yards round trip to retrieve them. We now crossed the stile
(130mins) and followed a wooden public footpath sign for Danebridge.
Another wooden stile took us further downhill through a wood
(134mins). We reached a path and turned left (139mins)
This
path soon brought us out on a road where we turned right to cross the
Dane. Ascending a hill along the road we passed The Ship Inn at
Wincle on our right and after passing its car park we turned right up
a flight of steps marked with a green public footpath post. This led
us into a field where we paused for a beer break (150mins)
Continuing
we crossed the field towards a copse where we located a wooden stile
and a footbridge (155mins) before exiting the trees by another wooden
stile. In the next field we kept to the left before crossing a stone
step stile on our left to enter a farmyard (161mins) and leave it by
turning right along a lane.
After
passing through a gate we turned left and left again at another
wooden gate (162mins). After going through a kissing gate we passed
Clough Brook Cottage on our right (172mins), reached the main A54
road (173mins) and turned right. We crossed Clough Brook and headed
uphill passing a whitewashed cottage built in 1746 and the Allgreave
Methodist Church.
The
steep climb ended when the road turned sharply left with The Rose and
Crown and its car park on our right (183mins).
"Meanwhile the alternative walkers enjoyed a dry seven-mile hike starting from the Whaley Bridge - Macclesfield road and heading up Windgather Rocks and back via Taxal.
Next
week's walk will start at 9.50am from the free car park at Crowden
next to Torside Reservoir on the A628
towards
Barnsey three miles east of Tintwistle (Postcode SK13 1HZ). Tom will
be attempting to lead me along The Pennine Way through Oaken Clough
and Laddow Rocks to Black Hill, returning via Tooleyshaw Moss,
Westend Moss, Hey Moss and Hey Edge.
Happy
wandering !
map by Tom Cunliffe
photos by Alan Hart
Your diarist peeping from behind a rock formation near Lud’s Church.
The surviving pub sign at the former Eagle and Child
Looking down on Hangingstone and the Dane Valley below
The view from beneath Hangingstone
