May 25, 2022.
BROADBOTTOM RAIL STATION, HODGEFOLD, BACK WOOD, WERNETH LOW WAR MEMORIAL, RADCLIFFE FOLD, ANDREWS ARMS AT COMPSTALL, ETHEROW COUNTRY PARK, ERNOCROFT FARM LODGE, FOLD BARN, HUNTERS INN AT CHISWORTH, BOARFIELD CAMPSITE, HODGE LANE AND HAREWOOD ARMS AT BROADBOTTOM
Distance: 11.5 miles.
Difficulty: Strenuous.
Weather: Wet cloudy start and dry, sunny finish.
Walkers: Mark Enright, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, Chris Owen, Julian Ross, Dean Taylor, Dave Willetts, Cliff Worthington.
Apologies: Mickey Barrett and George Dearsley (in Turkey), Peter Beal (otherwise engaged), Andy Blease (sore feet), Alastair Cairns (prior commitments), Tom Cunliffe (recovering from prostate operation), Hughie Hardiman (Italian hols), Jock Rooney (puppy-raising duties)
Leader: Hart. Diarist: Hart.
Starting point: Broadbottom Rail Station car park, Tameside.
Starting time: 10am. Finishing time: 3.19pm.
This was a bold new venture which relied on the memory of a rambler who will be 77 years old in less than five months. The opportunities for disaster were endless. But thanks to the forbearance of my followers we were able to complete our maiden voyage along this route with surprisingly few detours.
There were casualties however. Julian sustained scratches which caused bleeding to his arm. It is a tribute to his fortitude that he never noticed where or when he had sustained his wounds.
The injuries to Dave were far more spectacular when he tripped over his bootlaces and plunged headlong into a throng of nettles which lined our route. We held our collective breath to see if he had survived and were mightily relieved when Dave uttered a series of expletives to indicate he was OK.
The comedy continued when Mark, in trying to pull Dave back to his feet, slipped and fell base over apex into the undergrowth. Happily he was unscathed and Dave escaped with scratches to an arm and leg – although the stinging to his face continued even after we reached the haven of the pub an hour later.
These episodes apart we enjoyed (endured might be a better word) some spectacular scenery on a long, tough roller-coaster of a walk which was not for the faint-hearted. Sadly the weather at the outset was unkind and the early panoramic views were shrouded in mist and drizzle. Nonetheless the consensus seemed to be that this was a route worthy of repeating and recording on George's Blogspot for posterity.
From the car park at Broadbottom railway station we walked past the ticket office to the platform on the Manchester to Glossop line and used the footbridge to cross to the far side. We followed the exit sign and turned left along a rough path downhill. This emerged on a lane by the left side of a row of cottages and we turned right (5mins)
View from Werneth Low
This path took us across three wooden footbridges and over a wooden stile (26mins) before we swung right beyond an electrified fence (31mins). We crossed a wooden stile (33mins) a lane followed by a wooden stile with a yellow arrow (35mins) and a wooden public footpath sign for Werneth Low Road (42mins)
Our route went past a large tarmac area which was once the site of a steakhouse restaurant and nightclub. Beyond it we turned right to follow a grass track to the right of a lane and walked towards the distinctive Hyde war memorial in the distance.
The memorial, an obelisk made from the same Cornish granite used for the cenotaph in London, stand on the summit of a hill on Werneth Low called Hacking Knife, which is 800 feet above sea level. Apart from the memorial, which was originally in memory of the 710 servicemen from Hyde killed in the 1st World War, public subscriptions raised enough money to buy 154 acres of land for the recreation of the local inhabitants.
The memorial was unveiled in 1921 at which the Kingston Mills Band played patriotic songs for a crowd of 15,000. A plaque on the obelisk to commemorate the deaths of 162 servicemen and women and 12 civilians killed in the 2nd World War was displayed in 1963.
We reached the memorial at precisely 11am where it had been intended to have Pietime (60mins). However, despite the availability of benches around the memorial, it was deemed too wet and windy for our liking.
Instead we opted to head for lower ground to escape the wind and headed to the right of a copse of trees near the path which we had earlier ascended and climbed three wooden steps to reach a path with fences on both sides. We followed this path downhill. At a junction of paths next to a golf course we stopped (74mins) for pies, port and damson gin kindly provided by Chris.
Resuming we turned right with the course on our left and crossed a road before swinging left past Uplands Farm (84mins) and then turning right before we reached Radcliffe Fold (86mins). We turned left over a wooden stile (90mins) towards pylons in a field. We crossed a wooden stile and turned diagonally right downhill (92mins)
After crossing a wooden stile (94mins) and going through a wooden gate (95mins) we turned right passing Hydes Farm on our right (103mins). After passing Bardsley Knoll Cottage on our right (110mins) we reached the end of John St and turned right into George Street. The Andrew Arms was on our right (115mins)
Here the Robbies' Unicorn bitter at $3-90 was in excellent condition and we were given a warm welcome by the landlady and the young barmaid who was pulling her very first pint. By the time we left the rain had ceased for the day and we were able to remove our soggy waterproofs.
Turning right downhill from the pub we soon reached Etherow Country Park on our left with its large lake full of ducks, gulls and other water fowl (118mins). We turned left to follow the path to the left of the lake, which soon became a tributary. Here we spotted a number of mandarin ducks.
We kept to the left of the water until we saw picnic tables on our right and stopped for lunch (131mins). As we continued our journey we passed an impressive weir on our left (132mins)
We now began a long, arduous climb up the main path through a wood for the best part of a mile until we reached a main road (152mins). Here we turned right for 150 yards until we crossed the road to go over a stile next to a bus stop (155mins). The path continued uphill but then swung left (156mins) and led us through the farmyard of Ernocroft Farm Lodge (159mins). We turned right uphill then left at a stony track beyond a metal gate (162mins)
Turning right at a ladder stile (164mins) we went diagonally left through a field, crossing a double stile to go diagonally left through three more fields. At the far side of these we crossed a rickety stile and went right through an open gate before heading downhill and crossing a wooden stile next to Fold Barn (183mins)
Crossing a lane we passed Fold Cottage on our right (184mins) and went though a metal gate marked with a yellow arrow. We kept to the right of a field and crossed a wooden stile (188mins) before descending stone steps .
Passing trestle tables on our right we continued along a lane which emerged at a main road with The Hunters Inn at Chisworth on our left (191mins). Crossing the road we turned left and then after 50 yards turned right by the side of a red letter box (192mins)
The path, which went over a wooden stile, became bumpy and overgrown with nettles and brambles. It was during our descent that Dave had his dramatic confrontation with the flora and came out a sore loser.
Bloodied but unbowed he continued as we went though a wooden gate, turning first right and then left. As we reached some new apartments on our right we turned left at a well-hidden path marked with a yellow arrow (199mins). We crossed a wooden stile marked with a yellow arrow (200mins) and reached a stream.
After crossing the stream via stepping stones to the left we headed uphill and turned left until we reached a main road (206mins) and turned right. At the sign for Boarfield Scouts Campsite we turned right (209mins) and passed The Owd House on our right (216mins). Through a metal gate marked with a yellow arrow we followed a path along the left bank of the Etherow.
We crossed right over a footbridge (224mins) and then followed a path on the far side with the river now on our left. We reached a stony track through a metal gate and turned right (226mins). We were now retracing our earlier footsteps back to Broadbottom railway station.
Where the paths crossed we turned right along Hodge Lane (232mins), passed the bleaching beds now on our right and turned left just before the row of cottages on our left (238mins). After 50 yards we turned left at a path marked with a yellow arrow and returned to the station. After crossing platforms via the footbridge we reached the car park (245mins)
After de-booting we walked 100 yards to The Harewood Arms on our right to enjoy a variety of cask bitters for a modern day bargain of £2-80 a pint.
Next week's walk will start at 9.35am from the car park at Sutton Hall, Sutton, Macclesfield SK11 OHE. This is a predominantly flat walk during which we anticipate reathing the Harrington Arms at Gawsworth around 12.30pm for a bracer and returning to Sutton Hall for a final drink around 2.30pm.
Happy wandering !
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