High Lane

  

HIGH LANE VILLAGE HALL CAR PARK, MACCLESFIELD CANAL, BRIDGE 13, PLATT WOOD FARM, LYME PARK, WEST PARKGATE, LYME VIEW MARINA, MACCLESFIELD CANAL, BOAR’S HEAD AT HIGHER POYNTON, MACCLESFIELD CANAL

 

Distance: 8.5 miles​Total ascent/descent: 900ft

 

Difficulty: Fairly easy

 

Weather: Dry with some sun

 

Walkers: Micky Barrett, Peter Beal, Andy Blease, Alastair Cairns, Tom Cunliffe with Daisy, Hughie Hardiman, Chris Owen, Jock Rooney with Milly, Julian Ross, Dean Taylor, Dave Willetts, Simon Williams, Cliff Worthington

 

Apologies: Alan Hart (car stolen in night), Mark Enright (w***king), George Dearsley (Turkey)

 

Leader: Beal, assisted by Blease​

Diarist: Beal

 

Starting point: High Lane Village Hall car park, Windlehurst Road

 

Starting time: 9.32am​Finishing time: 2.13pm

 

 

Today’s fairly gentle excursion around the Cheshire countryside did not get off to a smooth start. As we gathered at the start point the news came that our planned leader Alan had had his conservatory broken into during the night and his keys and car stolen.

 

Andy had Alan’s instructions for the start of the walk in his phone and your diarist had a map, but no Whatsapped directions due to his lack of Smartphone. So we decided to combine our resources and attempt to follow the planned route, not successfully as it turned out.

 

We left the car park, passed the scout hut and had just reached a gap in the hedge to access the Macclesfield Canal towpath when a message was received from Jock that he was stuck in traffic on the A6, where the tailbacks were stretching as far back as the Lyme Park entrance. Apparently, this is usual these days.

 

We waited for just over 10 minutes when Jock and Milly appeared and we turned right along the canal under the A6. We went as far as Bridge 13, which is unmissable as the resident of an old pillbox here has decorated his premises with a bizarre but colourful collection of basically old junk.

 

We crossed the bridge and took a track on the left. We ignored a turn-off to the right to Middlecale Farm (1 mile) and carried on to reach Platt Wood Farm, where we bore left still following the track. Our instructions told us to cross a ladder stile here in to Elmerhurst Wood. But there was no sign of one, so we followed a sign to Green Farm, leading us up through a field with a wall and the wood on our left. We climbed gently to reach a gate and another field crossing brought us to a stile, which we crossed to reach a track inside the Lyme Park boundary.

 

A right turn downhill would have seen us reach our objective of the Boar’s Head ridiculously early so we decided to improvise a route that would extend the walk to a respectable length. We had by now abandoned any attempt to follow our instructions.

 

We turned left then right to reach a small car park at the edge of Hase Bank wood (2.5 miles). We went through a gate and turned immediately left up steps leading to Hase Bank. At the top of the hill we bore right and declared pietime in the lee of a prominent but unused tower-like building.

 

We did not know but later research proved this to be Paddock Cottage, owned by the Lyme Park estate, which was in the hands of the Legh family for almost 600 years. It is now run by the National Trust.

 

The plain interior’s only decoration is apparently a panel bearing the coat-of-arms of Sir Piers Legh IX. Ornate decorations on the outside of the building indicated this was probably a way of ‘showing off’ to guests who dined there after hunting on the estate. There is a direct line of sight to The Cage former hunting lodge on a hill at the other side of Lyme Hall. Pottery Cottage was later used as a dwelling for estate workers.

 

From the cottage we dropped downhill on a grassy path to reach a narrower path at the top of a steep ravine where we turned right. This continued downhill to a very steep and tricky final short final section to bring us to a broad track.

 

A left turn here soon brought us to the entrance of the park at West Parkgate (3 miles). The gatehouse West Lodge is now a National Trust holiday let (four people can have three nights here in December for £519).

 

We turned left here down a tarmac track that joined a road near a small Methodist chapel. Another left up the road soon brought us to a track on the right marked Simpson’s Lane. We descended this and just before Redacre Hall Farm took a small stile on the left into fields (4.5 miles). An indistinct path brought us to a stile on the right at some farm buildings. We crossed this and took a lane immediately ahead that emerged at Lyme View Marina on the Macclesfield Canal.

 

From here, where we turned right along the canal, it was a straightforward walk to the Boar’s Head at Higher Poynton. Three of our number decided to take a diversion by dropping to the Middlewood Way through a gap in the hedge part way along. But the rest of us, after a brief foray to try to locate the Way, turned back to the canal to complete the journey.

 

At the Braidbar boatyard, we dropped left downhill past the Nelson’s Pit Visitor Centre to reach the Boar’s Head (7 miles). Hughie decided to carry on along the canal to the cars to see if he could offer assistance or transport to Alan and was joined by Cliff, Simon, Julian and Andy. They missed out on birthday drinks supplied by your diarist, including Wainwright’s and Timothy Taylor’s Landlord.

 

From here it was another simple canal walk to reach Bridge 13 and retrace our steps to the car park (8.5 miles).

 

Next week’s walk will be kindly led by Chris and will start at 9.40am from Dane Bridge near Wincle. There is parking on the road just before the bridge on the Wincle side. It is planned call at the hopefully newly-reopened The Knot in Rushton Spencer or at the nearby Royal Oak. Refreshments afterwards will be at The Ship Inn in Dane Bridge around 2.15pm.

 

Footnote: At the time of writing on Friday Alan tells me there is no sign of his missing car.

 

Happy Wandering!