Wednesday Wandering: Bosley

April 7 and 14, 2021.
BOSLEY, HILLSIDE FARM, BOSLEY CLOUD, TANNERS BARN, IVY COTTAGE, TIMBERSBROOK PICNIC AREA, WEATHERCOCK FARM, POOL BANK MILL, HOOFRIDGE FARM, MACCLESFIELD CANAL, LAMBERTS LANE, CONGLETON TOWN CENTRE, CONGLETON PARK, DANE VALLEY, BUGLAWTON AND MACCLESFIELD CANAL
Distance: 12 miles.
Difficulty: Moderate.
Weather: Cold start but dry with warm sunshine later.
Walkers: Andy Blease, Tom Cunliffe with Daisy, Hughie Hardiman, Alan Hart, John Jones, Chris Owen, Jock Rooney, Julian Ross, Dean Taylor and Keith Welsh.
Leader: Owen. Diarist: Hart.
Starting point: Lay-by opposite the Harrington Arms at Bosley, near Macclesfield.
Starting time: 9.35am. Finishing time: 2.30pm.

On any walk led by Chris there is a fair chance you will encounter a canal, a steep hill, a town centre and a brisk pace. He did not disappoint. This longer than usual hike took us to the summit of one of Cheshire's highest hills before Pietime. En route we had the unexpected bonus of passing a menagerie of exotic creatures not normally associated with the northern hemisphere.
We also crossed the site of a recent disaster area where four people were killed in an explosion. All this took place in crisp early spring sunshine.
There was a welcome return to the fold of Hughie and Julian after a prolonged absence and our large turnout had to be split into two groups of five for social distancing purposes
From the lay-by on the A523 we headed south towards Leek, soon crossing the road when we reached The Queens Arms on our left and following a footpath to the left of St Mary The Virgin Church, Bosley. This took us through two metal kissing gates and a series of fields before we emerged at the crossroads on Tunstall Road, Bosley, where Wood Flour Mills once stood.
Fifty workers were employed here and in July, 2015, 35 of them were on duty when there was an explosion followed by a fierce fire which destroyed a four-storey building. Four workers died and four more were injured as the highly flammable wood flour used to make laminate flooring created an inferno.
Opposite the remains of the mills, where workmen were hosing down pallets, we crossed a bridge over the River Dane and began a steady walk uphill along a lane. At the first junction we turned left (27mins) and crossed a wooden stile marked with a yellow arrow on our right (29mins)
This took us through fields and across stiles until we reached a lane where we turned left uphill (39mins). After passing Hillside Farm and Eastview on our right we turned right at a wooden public footpath sing bearing the emblem of the Gritstone Trail – a bootprint (45mins).
The path turned first right then left until we reached another wooden footpath sign on our right (47mins) pointing the way to Bosley Cloud, a National Trust estate.
On our left was an enclosure which contained either a large wallaby or a small kangaroo. Beyond it was another pen in which there were emus or ostriches, and llamas or alpacas, possibly both. There was also a clutch of three huge eggs which would have made ample omelettes for all ten of us.
We followed the path uphill to the Trig Point on the summit (343 metres). After pausing for breath and photos we began our descent passing the GT logo (60mins)
The GT symbol directed us past the NT Bosley Cloud exit via a wooden kissing gate (76mins). The path continued downhill until the GT emblem appeared on a wooden public footpath sign on our left indicating a flight of wooden steps down to a road (83mins). Descending the long steep flight we reached a road opposite Tanners Barn (87mins) and turned left. We turned right after Ivy Cottage at a footpath sign and entered Timbersbrook Picnic Area for Pietime (90mins)
Here we were advised by a plaque to look out for buff-tailed bumblebees and elephant hawkmoths. We remained vigilant throughout our meal break but there was no sign of them.
Continuing our journey we exited the picnic zone via a car park and turned right along a road, passing the exquisite Weathercock Farm on our right before crossing a stream and turning left at a wooden public footpath sign with the GT marker. We followed a sign for Pool Bank Mill (95mins) which took us left of a house, through a metal kissing gate and slightly right as we crossed a field (97mins)
We went through two more kissing gates (101 and 102mins) before crossing a path to head through a wooden gate marked with a yellow arrow and the GT marker (106mins). We turned right uphill along a lane then left at a footpath sign through the yard of Hoofridge Farm House.
Two wooden stiles enabled us to cross a field, where we turned right with trees on our left. We crossed another wooden stile (114mins) and reached the Macclesfield Canal (118mins), turning right with the waterway on our left. At Bridge 72 we crossed to turn left and walk on its right bank. After walking along the towpath under bridges 73-76 we turned right to cross to the left bank.
A temporary closure of the towpath forced us to make a minor diversion left through a housing estate (130mins) to reach Bridge 77 where we planned to leave the canal. We crossed the bridge (133mins) and headed down Lamberts Lane. Where the lanes crossed (140mins) we turned right, crossed a lane (141mins) and followed a path with new houses on our left.
At the end of the path was a sign for Congleton Tow Centre (145mins) which we followed down Howey Lane. We reached the main shopping street on our left and turned into it, passing WH Smith on our right. When we reached a T-junction (151mins) opposite The Counting House (Wetherspoons) we turned right and headed for a large roundabout. Here we crossed to the far side and turned right into Mountbatten Way (156mins)
We kept the River Dane on our left until we crossed a bridge over it to enter Congleton's beautiful Memorial Park. Keeping left we reached the bandstand (161mins) and stopped for lunch.
Resuming we turned left at a sign for Macclesfield and Buglawton with the Dane now on our right and an industrial estate on our left. Turning right to cross the Dane, we turned left and entered a housing estate. Just before we reached shops on our right (172mins) we headed left for a path between blue railings.
The path led us into a field (174mins). At the far side was a children's playground. We exited beyond it to the right and were now in a Buglawton housing estate. We turned right at Malhamdale Road (181mins), following it to the right and then turning left into Harvey Road (182mins). Ignoring Wharfedale Road on our right we turned left on to a public bridleway (185mins)
At the end was a flight of steps which led us back to the Macclesfield Canal (188mins). We turned left along the towpath with the waterway on our right and continued under Bridge 64 before leaving at Bridge 57 (227mins)
The path over the bridge led us over a footbridge and through a metal kissing gate to reach a road (239mins). We turned left to cross the bridge over the Dane, and we were now retracing our earlier footsteps as we passed the tragic wood flour mill and took the return route to the lay-by and our cars (256mins)
Next week's walk will start at 9.30am from the Navigation Inn at Bugsworth Basin. Park on the road leading to the pub – but not the pub car park – and meet next to the pub alongside The Peak Forest Canal. We are looking forward to our first pints of the year during the course of our ramble.
Happy wandering !

map by Tom

pictures by Alan Hart

a large wallaby or a small kangaroo; a large emu or a small ostrich; a clutch of three eggs laid by the aforementioned; a dark alpaca and white llamas.