Bollington
November 20 2024
BOLLINGTON REC CAR PARK, PALMERSTON STREET, CHURCH STREET, INGERSLEY VALE, WHITE NANCY, KERRIDGE HILL, KERRIDGE END, BULL HILL LANE, BRINK FARM, WALKER BARN, HORDERN FARM, LAMALOAD ROAD, TOWER HILL RAINOW, ROBIN HOOD INN, SUGAR LANE, FLAGG COTTAGE, VIRGINS' PATH, INGERSLEY VALE, CHURCH STREET, VALE PUB IN ADLINGTON ROAD
Distance: 9 miles Ascent/descent: 1,600 ft
Difficulty: Moderate with one sharp climb
Weather: Very cold but sunny. Snow and ice underfoot in many places
Walkers: Peter Beal, Andy Blease, Alastair Cairns, Hughie Hardiman, Alan Hart, Chris Owen, Keith Welsh, Julian Ross, Clive Rothel, Cliff Worthington
Alternate walkers: Jock and Keiran Rooney with Milly
Apologies: Mark Enright (w'**ing from home), Tom Cunliffe (domestic duties), Mike Cassini (not yet fully fit), Dean Taylor (chauffeuring duties), Simon Williams (unspecified)
Leader: Beal Diarist: Beal
Starting point: Free car park opposite Bollington rec, Adlington Road
Starting time: 9.53am Finishing time: 2.21pm
The ten walkers who joined today's outing were rewarded with brilliant sunshine and marvellous views, tempered only by some tricky underfoot conditions from the recent wintry weather. The snow however only contributed to the impressive scenery.
The day was also notable for the return to Wednesday action of our comrade Chris Owen, around ten weeks after his hip replacement at the start of September. Any thoughts that a new right hip might have slowed him down significantly were soon dispelled by him being the first to arrive at the top of the stiff climb to the top of White Nancy.
Chris did admit however at the end of the day that the climbs in tough conditions had taken their toll. He will soon be back on top form on this showing.
We left the Bollington Rec car park and took the familiar route under the canal aqueduct to follow the town's main street past Smith's renowned pie shop, although strangely today there were no takers. Are our walkers turning into diet-conscious,pie-free, health fanatics?
Looking down from Kerridge
We turned right into Church Street and at the bottom swung left into Ingersley Vale. Shortly before the track reached the derelict Ingersley Vale mill, also known as Clough Mill, we took a signed path on the right which took us up a flight of wooden steps. We went through a gate into a field and stuck out up the snow-covered grass slope to reach a bridleway that runs below the prominent monument of White Nancy, erected to mark victory at the Battle of Waterloo. It stands at 918 feet above sea level (1 mile).
We followed the bridlepath to reach the foot of rough stone steps on the left, thankfully free of ice, that took us steeply up the hill to reach the monument, which appears to recently have been given a fresh coat of white paint that makes it visible from miles around (1.6m).
After Alan successfully asked a very obliging and pleasant lady who had been enjoying a flask of tea at the foot of the obelisk to take a team picture of us, we continued along the ridge of Kerridge Hill, with magnificent views below us. On our left were the village of Rainow and the Cheshire hills, while to the right we could see as far as North Wales and the Clwydian hills.
View from White Nancy
At the foot of a snowy climb that would have taken us up to the 1,026-foot trig point marking the high point of Kerridge Hill (2m), Chris decided the descent at the other side might place unfair demands on his new hip, so led us down to join a bridleway running along the foot of the hill to emerge on Lidgetts Lane just above Kerridge End cottages at the junction with the main Rainow Road, where pie time was declared at 11.06am.
Resuming we turned right for a short distance before crossing the road to well-concealed stone steps and a stile that led us up through a path along the side of two fields to emerge on the minor road of Bull Hill Lane (3m).
We turned right uphill here for a little over a quarter of a mile before reaching the main A537 Buxton New Road. Chris, joined by Alan, decided to follow the pavement alongside the road here to our next objective of Walker Barn, while the rest of the party crossed a stile a short distance along the road on the left.
This led to a stile which we crossed and turned left through two fields covered in snow, with a stone stile in between, before reaching Brinks Farm (4m). We passed the farm buildings and continued along a track to soon reach the main road again just short of Walker Barn on our right. This was the former site of the Setter Dog pub, which before its closure in 2007, was said to be the last pub in England also functioning as a post office.
After passing the building, now a house, on our left we turned left down a track and at the foot bore left down a path, crossing a stream and continuing left to join another track near the converted farm buildings at Hordern Farm. An icy track at the other side climbed slightly before we turned left over a stile to descend through snow-covered fields over a series of stiles to emerge on Lamaload Road, the road serving the Lamaload reservoir and its water treatment works (5m).
It had been the leader and diarist-for-the-day's plan here to go right on a route through fields to reach our objective of the Robin Hood Inn. But the leading six of our party were now some way ahead and took a stile down a path immediately opposite that led down to the River Dean.
The remaining four – me, Chris, Clive and Cliff – decided instead to turn left down Lamaload Road to reach Tower Hill in Rainow, where we turned right, up the hill past the church, to arrive at the Robin Hood Inn (6.5m) a few minutes after our companions at 12.43pm. We were met here by Jock, Keiran and Milly who had walked from Bollington and were to join us on the return journey.
We have been disappointed in the past with this pub's erratic opening – or not opening – times. But we were treated to a warm welcome despite only one cask beer being on offer – two others not having been replaced. On the plus side, the one still available was the Wincle Brewery's excellent Hen Cloud pale ale at £4.50 a pint.
Resuming at 1.30pm, we took the back road of Stocks Lane from the pub car park, turning right past houses into Chapel Lane and again to Sugar Lane before reaching Flagg Cottage on the right, where we took the familiar path on the right, climbing down steps across a stream and up the other side to reach the flagged Virgins' Path through the fields to the derelict Ingersley Vale mill (8m).
Many development plans have been discussed for this extensive site in recent years, but except for one modest block of 24 apartments, none have yet come to fruition.
From the mill we rejoined our outward route through the town to reach the Vale Inn near the car park, where Alan and I were joined by Alastair, Jock, Keiran and Milly for final refreshments.
This fine pub has an excellent initiative of serving beer on a Wednesday at £3 a pint and we took advantage of enjoying the Vale's own Bollington Brewery's fine Long Hop pale ale.
Next week's walk will start outside the currently-closed Soldier Dick pub on Buxton Road in Furness Vale (SK23 7PH) at 9.40am. Parking is available on the main road or on Yeardsley Lane nearby, opposite Station Road. Alan will lead us over Whaley Moor and through Lyme Park to the White Horse in Disley, returning along the Peak Forest canal.
Happy Wandering!
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