Rowarth

 May 31, 2023.

LITTLE MILL INN AT ROWARTH, KNARRS FARM, THE MONK'S ROAD, HOLLINGWORTH BROOK AT CARR MEADOW, MIDDLE MOOR, TWENTY TREES, THE KINDER LODGE AT HAYFIELD, SETT VALLEY TRAIL, BIRCH VALE RESERVOIR, THORNSETT. HIGH WALLS FARM, ASPENSHAW HALL, ROWARTH

Distance: 8.5 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Dry but mostly cloudy with some blue sky.

Walkers: Mickey Barrett, Peter Beal, Andy Blease, Mike Cassini, Tom Cunliffe with Daisy, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, Chris Owen, Dean Taylor with Tommy, Cliff Worthington.

Alternative walkers: Jock and Keiran Rooney.

Non-walking drinker: Mark Enright.

Apologies: Alastair Cairns, Hughie Hardiman, Julian Ross and Pete Johnson (walking the West Highland Way), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Jonathan Hart (w^*king), John Jones (in Arnside), Keith Welsh (in Cornwall), Simon Williams (in Edinburgh)

Leader: Cunliffe. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park of the Little Mill Inn at Rowarth, High Peak (SK22 1EB)

Starting time: 9.50am. Finishing time: 2.30pm.

After two weeks of dry, warm, sunny weather the conditions were disappointing at the start of this walk. It was chilly and there was an unexpected threat of rain as we assembled in Rowarth. On the scale of precipitation, this was at the opposite end of “absolutely pissing down” below even “light drizzle” or “spitting.” It was “trying to rain.”

Happily by the powers of positivity within our group, we faced down the rain clouds and they gradually disappeared during the course of the day.

Tom led us on a familiar route with the occasional tweak to ensure we reached our priority targets at the right time. Our numbers were diminished by the absence of a rival group of Wednesday Wanderers who were taking up the challenges of The West Highland Way, a long-distance walk from the outskirts of Glasgow to Fort William. We wish them every success.

One man who might have been relieved by their absence was Chris, celebrating becoming a grandpa for the seventh time – a third boy to join four girls. He generously bought a round of drinks to mark the occasion, although with Brother Rabbit cask bitter at £4-60 a pint he might have wished for a cheaper venue.

We returned to the entrance to the main car park and turned immediately right at a public footpath sign. This took us along a rocky trail which emerged on a lane where we turned left. After a few yards, we turned right at a path that started by the side of a red phone box (5mins)

Our path led by the side of a stream

We were soon crossing three wooden stiles as the path ran alongside a stream. When it reached a junction we turned right and forded the stream by using stepping stones (13mins). We left the path by the side of a wooden gate and headed left uphill. Where this road swung left we walked straight ahead through a metal gate marked with a green footpath sign (29mins)

As we crossed a wooden stile and a stone steps stile we heard the unmistakable cry of the curlew as another stone step stile brought us out to the left of Knarrs Farm (35mins). We turned left and followed the farm track until it reached a road where we turned right (42mins). This is still known as Monk's Road despite the fact that The Dissolution of the Monasteries took place in 1536. The folk of Derbyshire have long memories.

The monk who gave this road its name belonged to Basingwerk Abbey, which was founded in 1132 by Ranulf de Gernon, the fourth earl of Chester, who had already brought Benedictine monks from Savigny Abbey near his ancestral home in Normandy. Ranulf built the abbey near Holywell in Flintshire for the Order of Cistercians. They maintained significant lands in Derbyshire which the monks visited to collect donations. Since 1536 the ruined abbey near Holywell has been a Grade 1 listed building.

At the end of Monk's Road, we reached the A623 (46mins), crossed it and went over a wooden stile and turned right to head through The Intakes moorland towards Hollingworth Clough. When we reached the Thomas Boulger Memorial Bridge at Carr Meadow (60mins) we stopped for Pietime.

Continuing over the bridge we crossed Middle Moor. After leaving The Snake Path by a metal kissing gate (95mins) and going through another metal kissing gate (106mins) we reached the copse known as Twenty Trees on our right.

The 19 trees known as Twenty Trees

Our descent overlooking Hayfield

After crossing a wooden stile (111mins) we reached Kinder Road on the outskirts of Hayfield and turned right (115mins). As we descended the road Tom directed us down an easily-missed narrow path on our left (117mins) where stone steps led us steeply downhill.

At the road at the path's end, we turned left (118mins) and crossed a wooden footbridge, passing a playground on our right before turning right through a wooden gate (119mins). We walked right across another footbridge (123mins) and crossed a stone step stile on our left to enter Hayfield Cricket Club.

The groundsman was at work cutting grass on the outfield and your diarist had to dart

out of his way to avoid being mown down.

We exited the cricket club grounds via The Royal Hotel car park and turned left at the main road. After passing St Matthew’s Church on our right we turned right (127mins) and crossed the A623 at the pedestrian lights before turning left to pass the bus station on our right. At the end of Station Road we turned left and immediately reached The Kinder Lodge on our left (130mins)

Here we were soon joined by Jock and Keiran, and later by Mark. The Brother Rabbit cask bitter was in good form, although some preferred the Timothy Taylor offering.

We toasted the health of Chris's yet-unnamed grandson.

Retracing our steps to the bus station we turned left to head for the trestle tables and stopped for lunch (131mins). Resuming we joined the start of The Sett Valley Trail heading west along the trackbed of the former Hayfield-New Mills railway line.

En route we passed Birch Vale Reservoir on our right.

Birch Vale Reservoir

The trail crossed a road and we continued along it until we reached a sign for Thornsett at crossroads (162mins). The path took us through Thornsett Trading Estate and right up stone steps (165mins) before crossing a road and following a cobbled path (166mins)

At a T-junction we turned left uphill (167mins) and then turned left, right, left and right in quick succession at High Walls Farm. We went over a stone step stile at a wooden public footpath sign and entered a field through a gap stile, keeping a drystone wall on our right (170mins)

After crossing another stone step stile we entered a field and turned left. We crossed a wooden stile marked with a yellow arrow (178mins) to cross another field and leave it via a wooden stile.

A friendly shire horse watched as we left his field

Our group passed Aspenshaw Hall on our right (183mins) before turning right over a stone step stile marked with a wooden public footpath sign (185mins). We then crossed two similar stiles ((190 and 197mins) to reach a farmyard.

We went through a wooden gate and over a wooden stile to walk through a field. Beyond it we turned left and reached The Little Mill Inn on our left (206mins) where we enjoyed pints of Little Mill cask bitter. By now the sun was shining and we quaffed them in the beer garden outside.

Journey's end

An old mill wheel by the stream

Advert in gents' toilet

Next week's walk will start at 0930 from the free car park next to Poynton Pool off Anglesey Drive, Poynton (Nearest Postcode SK12 1LJ). We will aiming to reach The Boar's Head at Higher Poynton for a bracer around 1215 and finish at about 1415.

Happy wandering !