Styal

 August 16, 2023.

 

THE SHIP INN AT STYAL, STYAL CROSS, BOLLIN VALLEY, CHAPEL WOODS, KINGFISHER BRIDGE, OXBOW BRIDGE, GIANT'S CASTLE BRIDGE, AIRPORT INN, MORLEY GREEN, NEWGATE NATURE RESERVE, LINDOW MOSS, LINDOW COMMON, THE KING WILLIAM AT WILMSLOW, BODDINGTON PLAYING FIELDS, THE CARRS, TWINNIES BRIDGE, HERON'S POOL BRIDGE, QUARRY BANK MILL, STYAL COUNTRY PARK

 

Distance: 10 miles.

Difficulty: Moderately easy.

Weather: Dry and unseasonably warm with some sunshine..

Walkers: Andy Blease, Mike Cassini, Tom Cunliffe with Daisy, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, Chris Owen, Dean Taylor

Alternative walker: Rooney,

Apologies: Micky Barrett, Alastair Cairns, Mark Enright.

Leader: Hart. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Road outside The Ship at Styal (SK9 4JE).

Starting time: 9.45am. Finishing time: 2.10pm.

 

 

Influenced by forecasts of wet weather our original plan to walk 12 miles from Monyash to Youlgreave in memory of one of Laurie Fairman's favourite routes was postponed. It was thought the predictions of rain would put many wanderers off travelling on a long journey to the starting point followed by a long walk in the rain.

As it transpired this rain which had also been forecast for the Wilmslow area never really materialised apart from a few spots which fell for 10 minutes on the final leg.

As mentioned previously three quarters of this route goes through picturesque countryside but the other quarter trudges through suburbia. We are considering the possibility of taking in Mobberley instead of Wilmslow next time after enjoying the first two miles in the Bollin valley.

 

From the road outside The Ship Inn we headed uphill and turned left at a sign for the Methodist Church, passing a thatched cottage on our left before dog-legging left and right to continue (1min). At the first path on our right marked with a red arrow we turned right and reached Styal Cross on our right (3mins)

 

Styal Cross was originally located at Cross Farm, Styal. Around 1860 it was moved to Holly Lane where it stood until 1980 when it was demolished by a runaway lorry.

The base, thought to be medieval, was rebuilt. The upper column remained a truncated stump until 2010 when the cross was restored to its original state.

 

   Styal Cross 

 

We turned left toward Chapel Woods taking the right fork marked with a red arrow and then turned left to walk down and cross a metal bridge (6mins). After heading up steps on the far side we turned right and crossed Kingfisher Bridge (10mins) and then Oxbow Bridge (17mins) before turning left and heading first up and then down steep flights of steps before walking along                  

duckboards.

River Bollin 

 

 

At a T-junction (26mins) we turned right and crossed Giant's Castle Bridge (28mins) before turning left up a flight of steps. No sooner had we stopped climbing than we went down another flight of steps to cross a footbridge (32mins), then passed a wooden bridge on our left to follow a red arrow with the Bollin on our left (40mins)

 

 The Bollin Valley 

 

Ignoring a path on our right with a red arrow (47mins) we continued to keep the Bollin on our left as we left the woods and turned left across a bridge. On the left was The Airport Inn, formerly The Valley Lodge Hotel where Thursday night discos were once popular with ladies of a certain age.

Crossing the main road we turned left and proceeded until we reached Morley Green Road (61mins) where we turned right. When we reached a pair of benches on the village green at the end of the road (71mins) we stopped for Pietime.

Resuming we crossed the T junction to follow a green public footpath sign by the side of a lane marked “Except for Access.” Where it forked we went left (77mins) and entered Newgate Nature Reserve (82mins). We forked right (84mins) and reached a lane where we turned right (86mins)

This brought us to a junction where we carried straight on ahead with Sylvia Cottage on our right (89mins). After swinging left (92mins) we turned left before a farm (96mins), crossed a footbridge and then turned right (98mins). We crossed another footbridge and turned left (102mins)

On reaching a T-junction Tom attempted to plot an alternative route which would reduce the amount of time spent walking through Wilmslow's housing estates. We turned right (110mins) and then turned left at a path after 50 yards.

 

 

 

 

After another 150 yards we turned right, passing Maple Farm Nurseries and Beech House on our left (120mins) before reaching the outskirts of Wilmslow. We emerged at a major junction which we crossed. Just before we reached The Farmers Arms on our right we turned left into Buckingham Road (128mins)

At its end we turned right (135mins) then headed left just before Water Lane Clinic to enter Hale Road (141mins). Turning right into Hawthorn Park (142mins) we then turned left just before Wilmslow Conservative Club into Kennerley Road. At its end we turned right (145mins)

We were now in the heart of Wilmslow's shopping centre. At a pedestrian crossing we turned left, passing Waitrose on our right and then turned right uphill to reach the rear entrance of The King William (149mins) for pints of Dizzy Blonde cask bitter. 

Suitably refreshed we turned left out of the pub, turning left again to pass a sunken garden on our right and headed left passing a church on our left before turning left into Boddington Playing Fields (154mins). Beyond the playground we turned right with the Bollin on our right and walked through an area known as The Carrs.

 

This comprises 70 acres of a picturesque linear walk linking Styal Country Park and Dean Valley. It was bought in 1935 by Wilmslow Urban District Council to mark the jubilee of George V.

 The Carrs 

 

We crossed a footbridge and turned right following a sign for Lindow Common (161mins). After ignoring one bridge on our right we carried on until we reached Twinnies Bridge (176mins) which we crossed to enter a car park on the left.

 

Following a sign for Styal with the Bollin now on our left we went through a metal kissing gate (178mins) and crossed Heron's Pool Bridge (184mins) before turning left and reaching Quarry Bank Mill on our left (193mins)

 

This was a former cotton mill built in 1784 by Samuel Greg, where adults and children worked 72 hour weeks until 1847 when a new law made such long working weeks illegal. The National Trust now uses the mill as a museum.

 

Beyond the mill we turned left (197mins) towards Styal, then turned right (200 mins) to reach the road from where we had started (202mins). A short walk right brought us to The Ship Inn on our left (203mins). Four of us had our final drinks in this traditional pub.

Next week will be the postponed Laurie Fairman Memorial Walk. It will start at 9.50am from Monyash going through Lathkilldale to Youlgreave for a livener in The George on Alport Lane (DE45 1WN) at about 12.20pm and returning to the Bull's Head on Church St, Monyash (DE45 1JH) around 2.50pm.

To reach the start take the A515 out of Buxton towards Ashbourne and Monyash is signposted after six miles on the left. Pass the Bull's Head on your left and continue for 400 yards to a layby on the left opposite public toilets on the right. We will assemble there.

 

Happy wandering !