Errwood Hall

ERRWOOD HALL CAR PARK, ERRWOOD HALL, SHOOTER’S CLOUGH, CAT AND FIDDLE, DERBYSHIRE BRIDGE,  BURBAGE EDGE, WHITESTONEMOOR BROOK,  GOYTSCLOUGH QUARRY

Distance: Eleven miles. Total ascent/descent: 1896 ft.

Diificulty: Moderate to hard

Weather: Dry at first, very wet later, very warm.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Colin Davison, Jock Rooney

B walkers: Geoff Spurrell, Mike Walton

Non-walking drinkers: Tony Job, John Eckersley, Frank Dudley.

Apologies:  Laurie Fairman (family commitments), Ken Sparrow (Butlin’s) George Dearsley (working) George Waites (holiday).

Leader: Rooney. Drivers: Beal, Davison, Rooney. Diarist: Beal.

Starting Point: Errwood Hall car park, Goyt Valley.

Starting time: 1050. Finishing time 1400.

Lesser souls would have been put off from even venturing out by the weather forecasts for the day, which included flood warnings and worse, but at the top of the Errwood reservoir at the scheduled rendezvous time all was balmy, although this was to drastically change.

Your temporary diarist had a moment of alarm early on when sitting in his car, wondering if he was in the right car park, he saw Jock and Tips career past at a rate of knots in to what is the long one-way system of the Goyt Valley- the only way out of which is a trip into Buxton and back.

Jock thankfully realised the error of his ways and, totally illegally, drove back down the valley to where he was supposed to be.

Anyone watching ITV drama The Accused the night before would have recognized the spot as that where a gruff, craggy Yorkshire transvestite played by Sean Bean decided whether to help his lover dispose of a body.

Anyway, our small party comprising your diarist, Jock and gruff, craggy Yorkshireman Colin (I will resist any cheap Sean Bean jokes here) left the car park in dry, but muggy conditions, and headed up the path towards Errwood Hall, where we met two women who appeared to be part of a party who had erected three tents on the site of this former country pile. Colin complimented them on their improvement efforts.

We followed the stream through the rhododendrons to a bridge, where instead of bearing right towards Pym Chair, we took a path taking us towards Shooter’s Brook and a more direct route to the ridge leading towards the Cat and Fiddle.

We dropped down to a rocky ford over the Clough, bore left and after a short climb came out on the ridge, with quite splendid views all round.

At the point where the path to Shining Tor enters from the west we took shelter behind the wall from the increasingly blustery winds for our 11 o’ clock port and pies stop. Sadly no port and it was only 1040.

With the wind increasing in intensity we ploughed on towards the Cat and Fiddle, arriving at the unfeasibly early time of 1115.

The pub – often the scene of heartbreak in the past, particularly on one occasion where we slogged there in the driving rain only to find it shut due to “unforeseen circumstances” – was open and bustling.

But – and this might be a first – we decided it was far too early in the day for alcohol and we pressed on down the minor road towards Derbyshire Bridge. Had it been an hour later and in the weather that was to descend it could have been a different story.

At the car park and picnic spot at Derbyshire Bridge we headed west along what was the old Buxton road, now a rutted, stony track up the moor. Jock helpfully explained that these routes were fine when the traffic was men and pack horses, but that as more refined carriages came in to fashion lesser inclines were needed.

Hence men like Thomas Telford were called on to design the new routes following the contours where today’s roads now are (well, it sounded quite logical to me anyway).

We were only a short distance up the track when the first spots of rain began to fall, bang on time with the forecast.

Initially shunning waterproofs because of the muggy conditions, the rain got steadily heavier and we were forced to dig out the Goretexs.

As the track crested the hill we bore left on a faint path towards the boundary wall, where we slanted left again to eventually reach the trig point on Burbage Edge – which your diarist for one had certainly never visited – and which has the tidy distinction of being at the round height of 500 metres.

Jock claimed his house could be seen from here, but the worsening rain and cloud was making this increasingly improbable.

We followed the ridge, with the expanse of Goyt’s Moss on our left, until it reached a rather steep descent to the headwaters of Whitestonemoor Brook.

This brought us to the sealed northern portal that carries the highest point of the defunct Cromford and High Peak Railway – more accurately a tramway – that was completed in 1831 to link the East Midlands with Manchester, via the Peak Forest canal at Whaley Bridge.

At 33 miles long, built to carry minerals and other goods, it was one of the most ambitious projects of the time, and covered higher ground than had been attempted anywhere.

We followed the disused track for only a short distance before taking a path to the left signed Goytsclough Quarry and followed the line of Whitestonemoor Brook towards the top of the Errwood reservoir.

Skirting an arm at the top of the reservoir we bore left over Wild Moor. By now the rain was persisent and we decided to forego lunch and press on.

As we dropped down towards Goyt’s Clough the path wound its way through head-high bracken which by now was dripping wet, as were we.

We crossed the River Goyt by the stone bridge and made the short climb to the road just above the Goytsclough Quarry car park, before strolling the mile or so down the road to Errwood Hall car park, arriving exactly at 2 pm – a feat which Jock claimed had been due to meticulous forward planning.

We drove to the Cock Inn at Whaley to enjoy the excellent Unicorn bitter at £2.70 a pint and meet the non-walking drinkers and B-walkers Geoff and Wally, who had walked from Whaley over Ladder Hill to Chapel, returning by bus.

We thought we had had a wet time, but while we were in the pub the heavens really opened in a stupendous downpour which made us think perhaps we had got away with it rather lightly after all.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.30 am at the car park outside Five Ways Travel, and finish at the Sir Wilfred Wood VC pub in Hazel Grove around 2.30, where Laurie has declared his intention to buy beer to celebrate his 77^th birthday.

There will be a refreshment stop at the Ring o’ Bells in Marple around 12.30.

Sadly your temporary diarist offers apologies in advance as he’s walking the Sandstone Trail.

Whaley Bridge

WHALEY BRIDGE, CROMFORD AND HIGH PEAK RAILWAY LINE, SHALLCROSS INCLINE GREENWAY, ELNOR LANE FARM, COOMBS RESERVOIR, RANDAL CARR BROOK, TUNSTEAD MILTON FARM, NORMAN WOODSIDE FARM, BRADSHAW HALL, ECCLES PIKE, THE OLD HALL AT WHITEHOUGH, PEAK FOREST TRAMWAY, BUGSWORTH BASIN, PEAK FOREST CANAL, WHALEY BRIDGE BASIN AND THE COCK AT WHALEY BRIDGE

Distance: Nine miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Dry with cloud and sunshine.

Walkers: Colin Davison with Tips, Lawrie Fairman and Alan Hart.

B walkers: Geoff Spurrell and Mike Walton.

Non-walking drinkers: Frank Dudley, John Eckersley and Tony Job.

Apologies: Peter Beal (covering Olympics from Yorkshire), George Dearsley (working), Jock Rooney (in tax exile), Ken Sparrow (hols at Butlin’s) and George Whaites (visiting friends in south).

Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park of The Cock at Whaley Bridge.

Starting time: 9.35am. Finishing time: 2.11pm.

We enjoyed the best weather of the summer in ideal walking conditions, with a gentle wind and white fluffy clouds giving us regular respite from the bright sunshine.

On the wildlife front we saw a sparrow hawk and a cormorant, heard a woodpecker, braved a herd of Houdini goats, saw a field full of stud rams and were bade a cheery “Good morning, lovely day” by Edwina Currie, the former MP and lover of Prime Minister John Major.

All this plus a visit to two of our favourite pubs ! Life doesn’t get much better.

From the car park we walked past The Cock on our left and after 20 yards turned left to cross a stream and reach the disused Cromford and High Peak railway line, where we turned right. This led us to the Shallcross Incline Greenway (9mins). At the end we turned left (16mins) and left Shallcross Road to turn right into Elnor Lane (17mins).

To the left side of Elnor Lane, with a plinth, which may have once been a sundial, surrounded by a stone wall on our right, we turned left up a steep lane (21mins). We passed Elnor Lane Farm on our left and Elnor Stables on our right before swinging left up a track (28mins).

As we crested the hill, Coombs Reservoir made an appearance to our left ahead and below. We turned left over a stone step stile at a wooden public footpath sign (47mins) which pointed to the left of the reservoir.

Our journey downhill was interrupted by a lady walking uphill with a collie and a labrador. She pulled her dogs to the side of the path, allowing Colin to pass with his temporary charge, Tips. Unfortunately for the woman in question, her dogs were in playful mood. They chased after Tips, wrenching their leads from her hands and pulling her over.

Barbara Woodhouse she was not. As she let go of the leads she was propelled forwards, crashing into the back of your diarist’s legs. Happily I was unharmed.

We continued downhill until we reached a lane (60mins). After some discussion we turned left by the side of a ladder stile marked with a yellow arrow and immediately right to follow a wooden public footpath sign and right over a ladder stile.

This brought us to a gate marked “Houdini goats.” Disappointingly, they had failed to escape from the field. Colin warned us that on a previous walk through this particular field, his lady friend had been butted by one of the goats. We were on full alert not to be goosed by a goat, keeping a wary eye out as we headed diagonally right through their field. We emerged unscathed through a gate and over a stone step stile (65mins).

As we continued downhill through a field we spotted first a sparrowhawk circling to our left and then a cormorant heading on our right towards the reservoir. A little later we were to hear the distinctive rat-a-tat-tat of a woodpecker,

We negotiated a tunnel under the Manchester-Buxton railway line (70mins) and headed straight on through a field. There was no obvious way forward but your diarist headed right with a line of trees to the left guarding a stream until he found a ford across Randal Carr Brook (80mins).  On the far side of the stream we went past a ramshackle set of farm buildings before scaling a wooden gate to reach a main road.

Later we noticed that a footpath some 50 yards to the left of this gate would have brought us legitimately to the same road. Our route led us out at Tunstead Milton Farm, where we stopped for pies and Tia Maria (83mins).

We continued by crossing a stone step stile to the right of the farm. It was marked with a public footpath sign and led through a garden and over a wooden stile past some stables on the right. When we emerged in a field we headed diagonally right and exited via a metal gate (88mins).

We turned left uphill along a gravel track and entered Norman Woodside Farm (92mins). We turned right in front of the farm and went through a gate marked with a yellow arrow (95mins). This route took us to the right of Bradshaw Hall Farm and to the left of Bradshaw Hall itself (105mins).

Just beyond the hall we squeezed through a stone gap stile (106mins) and ignored a wooden stile on our left and headed diagonally right instead through a field. We kept left of a row of trees to pass to the left of a house ahead and crossed a wooden stile (115mins).

We reached a lane and turned right downhill (117mins). This led us to a wooden public footpath sign on our left and a sign for Eccles Pike and Chinley Station via Whitehough. We exited this field by a small gate (124mins), crossed a wooden stile (126mins) and saw South Head, Famine Ridge and Cracken Edge to our right, with Eccles Pike on our left.

After passing through a gate we turned left down a lane (135mins). After 30 yards we turned right at a wooden public footpath sign and followed the road downhill to reach a road 25 yards away. Our group turned left at a sign for Whitehough and Chinley (137mins).

Our route took us across a bridge over the A6 (140mins) and we soon reached The Paper Mill Inn on our right (143mins). The former Oddfellows Arms is now open from 5-11pm on weekdays and from 12-11 on Saturdays and Sundays. We passed the Paper Mill Inn on our right and turned left to reach The Old Mill Inn (144mins). Here the Marstons’ bitter was in fine fettle at £2-60 a pint.

Resuming, we walked downhill past Sheridan House (for sale) and The Old Band Room on our right, where we saw Edwina Currie walking uphill towards us with a brown Labrador. She and her woman friend, also accompanied by a dog, exchanged pleasantries as we walked past them. Apparently the former Conservative Cabinet Minister now lives in Whitehough.

We turned left along the old Peak Forest Tramway (149mins) and reached a bridge on our right over a stream where we stopped for lunch (160mins). Continuing later, we reached the Navigation Inn at Bugsworth Basin (166mins) and walked with the Peak Forest Canal on our left.

We used a footbridge to cross the canal (170mins) and now walked with the canal on our right until we reached Whaley Bridge Basin (178mins). We continued through the Canal Wharf car park and exited over a bridge to rejoin the old disused Cromford and High Peak railway line.

This took us uphill until we levelled off and took a path to our right towards a firm of electrical contractors (185mins). This brought us out on the main A6 road where we turned left for The Cock under the rail bridge and reached our cars (187mins).

After de-booting we joined our B team and non-walking drinker for pints of Robbies’ cask bitter at £2-80. Geoff informed us that he and Wally had caught the bus to Chapel-en-le-Frith and walked some three or four miles through Wash to reach us in Whitehough. Wally announced that the two-mile walk to Whaley Bridge had proved somewhat gruelling, although those were not his precise words.

Next week’s walk will start from the far car park at Errwood Reservoir at 9.40am. It is anticipated that there will be time for refreshment at a so far undesignated pub in Buxton around 12.20pm before reaching journey’s end at The Cock around 2.20pm. 

  

Danebridge

DANEBRIDGE, DANE VALLEY, GRADBACH YOUTH HOSTEL, GRADBACH METHODIST CHAPEL, PLOUGH COTTAGE PEG INN, HIGHER BONGS, BIRCHENOUGH HILL, WILDBOARCLOUGH, LEECH WOOD, LOWER HOUSE COTTAGE, ROSE AND CROWN AT ALLGREAVE, ALLMEADOW FARM,WINCLE AND OLD KING’S HEAD AT GURNETT

Distance: Ten miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Cloudy and mainly dry.

Walkers: Lawrie Fairman, Alan Hart and George Whaites.

B walker: Geoff Spurrell.

Non-walking drinkers: John Eckersley and Tony Job.

Apologies: Peter Beal (reporting Olympic Games), George Dearsley (Turkish hols), Frank Dudley (visiting foot specialist), Colin Davison and Jock Rooney (attending caver’s funeral), Ken Sparrow (Swiss hols), Mike Walton (working).

Leader: Fairman. Driver: Whaites. Diarist: Hart.

Starting Point: Danebridge, Wincle, near Macclesfield.

Starting time: 9.45am. Finishing time: 2.34pm.

By ignoring a pessimistic weather forecast of heavy thundery downpours we were once again rewarded with a mainly dry walk through picturesque countryside on the Cheshire-Staffordshire border. A light shower lasting eight minutes hardly justified the gloomy predictions emanating from the Met Office.

Lawrie led us through some easy gradients along the Dane Valley, gradually building up enough height to admire the landmarks of The Roaches, Shutlingsloe and Croker Hill on the skyline. Our route took us to new pastures and also gave us an opportunity to re-visit two of our once-regular haunts, The Rose and Crown at Allgreave and the Old King’s Head at Gurnett, Macclesfield.

Becauses of absences for a variety of reasons, the least acceptable of which is “work,” we had to rely on quality rather than quantity as our trio set off from parking spots at the side of the road just past The Ship Inn at Wincle near Danebridge.

We walked down to the road bridge over the River Dane, which marks the county border. After crossing from Cheshire into Staffordshire we turned left immediately over a stone step stile to follow a public footpath sign marked Gradbach.

With the Dane on our left, we followed this path for several miles through attractive woodland. A post with a yellow arrow (22mins) led us away from the riverbank for a while and we passed a farm on our left which kept goats in a field on our right (31mins). The well-marked path returned us to the right bank of the river and the scene of last year’s landslide (40mins) which has caused a pretty pool to develop where the rushing waters of the Dane have been slowed down.

At a T-junction in the path we turned left (55mins) which led us to a magnificent beech tree (59mins) where our leader’s map was consulted for the first time. We opted for the lower path and crossed Clough Brook by a footbridge, following a sign for Gradbach (60mins). From the bridge we walked uphill for 50 yards then crossed left over a stone step stile and followed a gravel path downhill.

We squeezed through a gap stile to the right of a campsite and followed a yellow arrow to the left (65mins). This brought us to Gradbach Youth Hostel, where you can stay for £10 a night (67mins). After pausing for pies on a handy picnic table, complete with a sunshade which was unnecessary at that time, we continued by keeping the hostel on our left as we walked up a lane.

Our trio went left over a footbridge (75mins) which crossed a brook and brought us back to the right bank of the Dane. We exited a muddy field through a gate on our right and turned left down a lane (78mins). This crossed the river and we passed first Gradbach Methodist Chapel on our right and then Plough Cottage Peg Inn on our left (82mins).

Lawrie declared the cottage had never been a pub in his memory, so this charming cottage could mark the seismic change which has brought an end to so many of our country inns. The Wednesday Wanderers continue to strive with every sinew to maintain our unique British heritage, but a handful of men can only drink so much.

Continuing in melancholy contemplation, we swung sharp right (85mins) through a metal gate and along a lane. The village of Flash came into view straight ahead. Back to our right we could see The Roaches.

At a wooden public footpath sign we turned left by a gate marked Higher Bongs (93mins). We are indebted to Lawrie for informing us that the word “bongs” was an Anglo-Saxon term for swamps and nothing to do with pipes for smoking wacky baccy. How fortunate we are to have such an ancient leader.

We passed Flasker Moor barn on our left and headed right through a large gate leading to a smaller gate marked with a yellow arrow (97mins). We crossed a stone step stile marked with a yellow arrow (103mins) and through a small wooden gate (109mins) at the summit of Birchenough Hill. Ahead was the distinctive shape of Shutlingsloe, described ironically as Cheshire’s Matterhorn.

We carried on down the hill, crossing the Buxton-Congleton road (123mins) and following the sign for Wildboarclough which led us on a minor road through Leech Wood. We turned left at a public footpath sign (131mins) along a gravel farm track. Shutlingsloe was now to our right with the telecom mast at the top of Croker Hill on the skyline ahead.

After passing through a metal gate (134mins), the first drops of rain of the day started to fall. We had barely time to don waterproofs and pass stables on our right before it stopped. After some confusion over the direction which two alternative yellow arrows suggested, we left a copse of trees on our left and dropped diagonally right towards a byre (147mins).

We climbed over two gates, possibly illegally, and reached the River Dane (157mins). A public footpath sign directed us along the bank with the river on our left. We crossed a wooden stile (159mins) and then a stone step stile to the left of a farmhouse (168mins).

A cattle-grid took us past Underbank Campers’ Barn (170mins) and we exited Lower House Cottage via another cattle-grid (174mins). We reached the winding main road (178mins) and turned right to reach the Rose and Crown at Allgreave on our left (179mins).

Here the cost of two pints of Robinsons’ cask bitter and one of mild came to £9-20, which we guessed to be £3-10 and £3 respectively. My bitter-drinking colleagues later complained that their beer was not good – although it failed to stop them drinking a second pint.

Leaving the pub, we turned left downhill and followed the hairpin turn to the right which brought us to a sign for Wincle to our left (186mins). We turned left at a public footpath sign marked with a yellow arrow which led us past Allmeadow Farm (191mins).

We followed a public footpath sign with a yellow arrow marked Danebridge (194mins) and stopped for lunch on the bough of a fallen tree (198mins). We continued into a field, ignoring a sign warning that a stock bull was in it with a herd of cows. Fortunately the bull looked suitably knackered when we reached it and barely raised an eyebrow at our intrusion.

We left the field and headed down a gravel path marked with a yellow arrow (208mins). We crossed a series of stiles and a footbridge in quick succession to emerge on the road opposite Danebridge Fisheries (221mins). We turned right to reach our cars (222mins) and de-boot.

After a drive to The Old King’s Head at Gurnett, we joined non-walking drinkers John and Tony, and B walker Geoff. He told us he had driven to the pub, and taken a five-mile amble along the Macclesfield Canal, through Macclesfield Golf Club and along Cock Hall Road to Langley Cricket Club, passing Ridge Farm and Sutton on his way back to The Old King’s Head. Pints of Banks’ bitter here cost £2-90.

It was decided next week’s walk would start from The Cock at Whaley Bridge at 9.30am. Our halfway destination would be The Old Hall at Whitehough around 12.30pm and we would expect to be back at The Cock for 2.15pm.

Little Hayfield

LITTLE HAYFIELD, PARK HALL WOOD, MIDDLE MOOR, WILLIAMS CLOUGH, KINDER DOWNFALL, KINDER LOW END, TUNSTEAD HOUSE, BOWDEN BRIDGE, KINDER LODGE AT HAYFIELD, CALICO WAY, SETT VALLEY AND LANTERN PIKE INN

Distance: Nine Miles.

Difficulty: Moderately strenuous.

Weather: Dry with cloud and sunny spells.

Walkers: Alan Hart and George Whaites.

B walker: Lawrie Fairman.

C walker: Tom Cunliffe.

D walkers: Geoff Spurrell and Mike Walton.

Non-walking drinkers: Frank Dudley, John Eckersley and Tony Job.

A leader: Hart. Diarist: Hart. Driver: Hart.

Apologies: Peter Beal (Covering Olympic Games), Colin Davison (romantically involved), George Dearsley (Turkish hols), Jock Rooney (Austrian hols) and Ken Sparrow (domestic duties).

Starting point: Car park of Lantern Pike Inn, Little Hayfield.

Starting time: 9.43am. Finishing time: 2.40pm.

We welcomed a new member to our group in the shape of Mike “Wally” Walton and the return of a lapsed member in the portly form of Lantern Pike landlord Tom Cunliffe. The latter’s lack of fitness created a new genre of C walk, thus demoting our B walkers into an even lower category.

It does not seem that long ago that all the Wednesday Wanderers walked together, but at least we have been able to adapt to our varying strengths and weaknesses as the ravages of time take hold. Significantly, we can all get to a pub.

Lawrie announced at the outset that an infection from which he was not fully recovered would prevent him from going all the way up Kinder. The start was delayed while Tom, doing a passable impersonation of Billy Bunter, stuffed himself with tea and toast.

From the Lantern Pike we turned right towards Hayfield and then crossed the road opposite Slack Lane to enter Park Hall Wood. This brought us to a gate leading to Middle Moor (7mins). We walked uphill through the gorse and bracken until we reached a drystone wall where we turned left (22mins) towards the white shooting lodge.

At a public footpath sign (28mins) we turned right towards Edale and where the path forked soon afterwards we headed left. Tom joined Lawrie for the shorter walk, heading down to Kinder Reservoir while George W and your diarist set off up Williams Clough. We paused for pies and Tia Maria en route (72mins) and reached the summit (91mins).

After admiring the view back down across the reservoir and valley we turned right along the ridge until we reached and crossed Kinder Downfall (122mins). We had now walked into the clouds and used a row of cairns to guide us we continued along the path with the valley on our right. A carpet  of stone flags marked the point where our path joined Jacob’s ladder. The left fork headed for Edale and we turned right towards Hayfield (159mins).

After a steep descent we went through two gates to enter and leave a field which marked the exit from Kinder Low End (181mins). By following the well-trodden path through fields downhill we left the Kinder Estate by crossing our first wooden stile of the walk (195mins).

The path took us round Tunstead House on our right, straight ahead at crossroads and reached Bowden Bridge on our right (209mins). We chose not to cross the bridge and risk the temptations of The Sportsman, passing a campsite on our left and following a wooden public footpath sign marked Hayfield and Sett Valley Trail.

We exited Valley Road into Fishers Bridge (222mins) and crossed the main road diagonally right to enter New Mills Road with Kinder Lodge on the corner (224mins). There we found Geoff and Wally, who had arrived an hour earlier and were fully refreshed. They had caught the bus to New Mills and walked some four miles along the Sett Valley Trail to Hayfield.

Lawrie was also present, explaining that as he had led Tom from Kinder Reservoir towards the Mermaid’s Pool half way up Kinder, the terrain had become progressively more difficult and Tom progressively more knackered. Tom had decided to return and had last been seen passing Kinder Reservoir in the direction of the Lantern Pike, where we found him later.

After quaffing pints of excellent Timothy Taylor Landlord at £2-70, the A walkers were rejoined by Lawrie for the final journey back to Little Hayfield. We walked a few paces up New Mills Road before turning right into Station Road, with the bus terminus on our left. We went into Wood Lane and picked up a sign for the Calico Trail on our right (229mins).

This took us over a footbridge across the River Sett and into a park where we stopped for lunch (235mins).  After leaving the park to the left we turned right up Bank Vale Road (239mins) with Oaklands on our left. At Bank Vale Farm we followed a public footpath sign on our right for Little Hayfield (244mins). This led us via Slack Lane back to The Lantern Pike (255mins), where the Derbyshire county flag was flying from the pole. Here the Timothy Taylor Landlord was also in excellent form, although at £3-22 a pint it was a little harder to swallow.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.40am from Dane Bridge, just beyond The Ship Inn at Wincle, near Macclesfield. We intend to take refreshment around 12.30pm at the Rose and Crown in Algreave and finish around 2.20pm at The Old King’s Head in Gurnett, Macclesfield. Your diarist is awaiting return calls from these pubs to confirm they will be open.

Disley

DISLEY, BOLLINHURST RESERVOIR, DRAKE CARR COTTAGE, MILLENIUM WOOD, BOLDER HALL FARM, BLACK HILL, BLACK ROCK RIDGE, OWLS’ NEST, BYROM HOUSE, PEAK FOREST CANAL, HIGGINS CLOUGH SWING BRIDGE, GOYT VALLEY, HAGUE FOLD FARM, THE FOX AT BROOK BOTTOM, STRINES STATION, STRINES HALL, HAGG BANK FARM, THE DANDY COCK AT DISLEY

Distance: Nine miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Dry with cloud giving way to blue skies and sunshine.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Alan Hart and George Whaites.

Non-walking drinker: Geoff Spurrell.

Leader: Hart. Driver: Whaites. Diarist: Hart.

Apologies for absence: Colin Davison (stranded in Scillies), George Dearsley (Turkish hols), Lawrie Fairman (Campervanning), Tony Job (attending granddaughter’s graduation), Jock Rooney (Austrian hols), Ken Sparrow (household duties).

Apologies for presence: Tony Job (wrongly identified as being a non-walking drinker last week when actually attending his grandson’s graduation).

Starting point: Free car park at Disley rail station.

Starting time: 9.18am. Finishing time: 2.08pm.

Having nearly called off this week’s walk because of forecasts of dreadful wet weather, our reduced ranks decided to sally forth regardless and were rewarded with ideal conditions. Although it has been a woeful summer thus far, the Met Office predictions have been unnecessarily gloomy.

Time and again walkers would have stayed at home and battened down the hatches only to find they had missed out on drier conditions than those predicted. Small wonder that holiday resorts are complaining about this negative information.

The only plus point is that we have been pleasantly surprised by the actuality, and delighted that we chose to ignore the voices of the so-called experts. In the late morning a few spots of rain fell, but Peter B had only to take his waterproof jacket out of his rucksack to scare it away within seconds.

From Disley rail station car park we walked past the front of The Ram’s Head and turned right. Just before The White Horse we turned right up Ring o’ Bells Lane. This led us to the former pub of that name, now a Quaker meeting house, and turned right in front of it (3mins). We headed left through a gate marked with a yellow arrow and walked up wooden steps with a cemetery on either side.

At the end of the cemetery on our left we turned diagonally left through a field, headed left along a lane and immediately right over a wooden stile (8mins). By walking diagonally right across the field we were aiming towards Lyme Cage in the distance. After crossing a wooden stile to exit the field we walked ahead down a lane and then turned left through a gate to the left of Bollinhurst Reservoir (15mins). On reaching the reservoir wall we kept it on our right as we walked towards a wood at the end of the water. We entered it via a wooden stile (25mins) and exited through a metal gate.

Our route took us straight ahead towards Drake Carr Cottage, crossing the Gritstone Trail signs (31mins). Just before the pretty cottage we turned left into Millenium Wood. This led us to a road where we turned right (36mins).

We passed South Hale Farm (which is for sale) and Bolder Hall Farm on our left before turning left over a wooden stile marked with a footpath sign (40mins). By carrying straight on at a footpath crossroads (44mins) and then turning left at the second crossroads (45mins) we were able to take a more gentle, easier and quicker route up Black Hill to reach the ridge at Black Rock (56mins).

Our brisk pace had enabled us to reach the summit in record time. With heavy rain forecast for 11 am, your leader-diarist was anxious to reach the ridge, admire the views and leave, before the heavens opened. In the event we had clear visibility back over Bowstones, Lyme Cage, Bollinhurst Reservoir and far beyond.

Turning left, we gently descended the ridge, crossing a ladder stile and passing through a gate into a field (63mins). To our left we passed Owls’ Nest, the outward bound accommodation used by pupils of Manchester Grammar School during their holidays. We went over a wooden stile into a field occupied by three Shetland ponies, leaving it and them by a wooden stile to the right of a farm.

Crossing a road (70mins) we went to the left of Byron House, through a gate marked with a yellow arrow and turned left downhill down a rocky path often covered in nettles at this time of year. The heavy summer rain had caused the path to become covered in ferns, nettles and other weeds but as there were none in shorts among our trio, it presented no problems.

At the end we turned right passing Pear Tree Cottage (74mins) and watching two rabbits hopping downhill in front of us at a furious pace. We chose the alternative permissive footpath to the left of the rocky road and emerged at the A6 (85mins). We crossed into Lower Greenshall Lane and went under a bridge. When we reached the Peak Forest Canal on our left we turned left and stopped at a bench next to Bridge 27 for pies and tia maria (88mins).

As we resumed with the canal on our left, the forecast of rain appeared to be accurate. With dark clouds massing overhead as the clocks struck 11, a few spots fell and we feared the worst. But by the time Peter B had dug into his rucksack to remove his jacket, the danger had passed and we saw no more rain for the rest of the day.

We walked under Bridge 26 and at the next, Higgins Clough Swing Bridge, we turned right down a track marked Path 45 (100mins). There were two well-trodden blind alleys either side soon after the start, but we discovered by trial and error that the middle path was the right choice. Eventually we spotted a yellow arrow to confirm our decision and crossed a footbridge over a stream (113mins).

After crossing a wooden stile we turned right up a flight of wooden steps, over a wooden stile into a field. We  swung left and reached a car park for Disley Tissues (119mins), exiting to the left and heading right uphill. There was a path to the left marked with a wooden footpath sign and a yellow arrow which could have led us down to the River Goyt and right back to the road and route we wanted. But with two choices of path down, and having chosen the wrong one at the first attempt, we opted for the road and a hairpin bend at the junction with Lower Greenshall Lane at the opposite end to where we had been almost an hour earlier.

With Waterside Cottage on our left (129mins) we carried on over a road bridge across the Goyt (131mins) and the Manchester-Sheffield railway line (136mins). After passing a children’s playground and Mouseley Bottom Wood on our right, we crossed a main road into Hague Fold Road.

This was the start of a steep climb, swinging left before a row of cottages and then right again before we emerged on the road from New Mills to Brook Bottom. On our left was a memorial bench to walker Eric Burdekin (147mins).

After turning left and walking gently downhill for 200 yards, we arrived at The Fox at exactly 12 noon (149mins). The doors remained shut for an agonising four minutes until we were allowed in, purchasing our two pints of Robbies’ bitter and one of mild for £8 just moments before a party of ten women walkers arrived to discuss the various merits of food and drinks they were going to order.

We commented on our good fortune in beating them to the punch after retiring to a side room to escape their inane chatter. Sadly the bitter, at £2-70, was deemed to be not up to its usual high standard by Peter B and George W. It was not so bad, it has to be said, to prevent them having second pints.

Resuming, we left by the back of the car park to take the stony path downhill passing first Strines Station and then Strines Hall (164mins). We crossed the Goyt (166mins) and left Station Road to cross Strines Road (169mins) and head up a gritty path before pausing for lunch on a bench on the right (171mins).

We continued and went left over a wooden stile just before reaching an aqueduct carrying the Peak Forest Canal. The path led to a gap stile which brought us to the bank of the canal. We turned left with the canal on our right (175mins).  After ignoring the Wood Ford Lift Bridge on our right (186mins) we continued to Higgins Clough Swing Bridge (192mins) where we turned right over it.

Turning left immediately along a lane, we passed Hagg Bank Farm on our right (196mins) and walked through a tunnel under the Manchester-Sheffield railway line (198mins) before emerging from Hollinwood Road by the side of The Dandy Cock (201mins).

We crossed the A6, turned right and returned to the car park to de-boot. Back at The Dandy Cock, where Geoff was the sole non-walking drinker, we enjoyed pints of Robbies’ bitter for £2-60 and mild for £2-50. The beer, whose poor form had cost our patronage since 1996, was proclaimed excellent.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.40am from the car park of The Lantern Pike at Little Hayfield. We intend to take a stroll up Kinder, calling at The Kinder Lodge in Hayfield around 1.20pm, and finishing back at The Lantern Pike about 2.15pm.

Rowarth

ROWARTH, ANDERTON HOUSE, COWN EDGE, CHARLESTOWN, GNAT HOLE FARM, WORMSTONES, HARRY HUT, THE GROUSE AT CHUNAL, MATLEY MOOR FARM, THE LITTLE MILL INN AT ROWARTH

Distance: Ten miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Dry with early cloud giving way to sunshine.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Lawrie Fairman, Alan Hart, Jock Rooney with Tips, and George Whaites.

B walker: Geoff Spurrell.

Non-walking drinkers: Frank Dudley, John Eckersley and Tony Job.

Apologies: George Dearsley  and Ken Sparrow (hols).

Leaders: Beal and Fairman. Driver: Whaites. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park of The Little Mill Inn at Rowarth.

Starting time: 9.40am. Finishing time: 2.49pm.

Once again the warning by weather experts of heavy showers proved to be unduly pessimistic, and we were rewarded when light rain stopped as we arrived in the car park of The Little Mill Inn. Later on the cloud dispersed and we were able to glimpse blue skies. Towards the end of the walk we even spotted a yellow ball in the sky which those of us with long memories identified as sunshine.

 Peter Beal made a welcome, if fleeting, return from his narrow boat trip along Britain’s waterways prior to his engagement at the 2012 Olympics. Peter will be leading a group of Press Association hacks in Howden, Yorkshire, who will be providing coverage of the London Games.

He showed his leadership qualities during the walk, occasionally wresting the yellow jersey from Lawrie as we charted familiar territory by different routes.

From the car park we turned right facing the pub and right again after a cottage. A lane led us uphill past scruffy farm buildings and two ancient jalopies parked on the stony path which was our route. As the path swung left so did we past a row of cottages (7mins) which ended with Anderton House, built in 1792.

We turned right and after 50 yards turned left following a footpath sign for Cown Edge. After crossing a wooden stile we reached a footpath sign containing a memorial to Norman Ings, (1910-82), a keen local walker (15mins).

Following the sign for Cown Edge, we crossed a wooden stile and ignored a path on our left near the fence to continue walking slightly uphill. After crossing another wooden stile (35mins) we went through an open gate and turned right uphill (50mins) with a broken drystone wall, then a wood, on our left .

We reached a path by a wooden stile (55mins) and turned left along the ridge of Cown Edge before descending by a path on the right. After crossing a road (65mins) we continued downhill through a gate towards some trees. Just before a stone step stile we paused for pies, port and brandy (67mins).

Resuming, we crossed the stile and headed to the right of the trees before descending again. We reached a lane and turned left downhill (83mins). We reached a road in the village of Charlestown (93mins) and turned right along the road, passing the O Sole Mio Italian restaurant on our left.

After crossing the road we headed down a gravel track towards the delightfully-named Gnat Hole Farm (101mins). We then followed a footpath sign uphill (105mins) until we reached a lane where we turned left and right over a stone step stile (111mins). After the stile we walked left uphill and over a ladder stile leading to moorland (120mins).

A group of rocks on a ridge on our left were identified by Peter B as Wormstones (128mins) beyond where we reached a Trig Point called Harry Hut (141mins).  From here we continued on a path which was slightly to the right and soon saw our immediate target, The Grouse, in the distance.

The path took us to a lay-by (161mins) where we turned left, passing a mobile cafe before reaching The Grouse at Chunal on our left (165mins). Refreshed by pints of Thwaites’ Bomber cask bitter at £3-10, we turned left out of The Grouse and crossed the main road from Glossop to Hayfield. We turned right up a road (169mins).

Having heard the call of peacocks in fields behind The Grouse, we now heard the sound of curlews circling ahead. We took the second left (175mins) at a public footpath sign along a stony track, taking the left fork where the path divided and stopping for lunch on a stone wall (183mins).

Continuing, we went left off the track to a drystone wall and over a wooden stile (190mins). This brought us to a T-junction  at a wooden footpath sign where we turned right (192mins). We passed a farm and turned right along a wide path (195mins). This took us through a gate to a road (205mins) where we turned left.

We passed Matley Moor Farm on our left and went straight ahead through a gate (210mins). After crossing a swollen stream by stepping stones we then took a path on the left (213mins) and crossed two wooden stiles to avoid the stream on our left (222mins). We emerged by a red phone box by the side of the cottages we had passed at the start of our walk.

We turned left and retraced our bootsteps back to the car park (229mins). Waiting for us were the non-walking drinkers and Geoff, who had walked some five miles from the Shiloh Road coming within sight of The Grouse but deciding that it was tantalisingly out of his range.  

While drinking pints of Banks’ cask bitter at £2-70, we decided that next week’s walk would start at 9.25pm from Disley rail station. After reaching the ridge at Black Rock we would be descending to cross the A6 and head uphill for The Fox at Brook Bottom, intending to arrive at 12.15pm. The walk would finish with drinks at The Dandy Cock, Disley, around 2.15pm.

Disley

DISLEY STATION, DISLEY GOLF COURSE, STANLEY HALL, THE ROMPER, PEAK FOREST CANAL, GOYT VALLEY, ROMAN BRIDGE,ROMAN LAKES, BOTTOMS HALL, LINNET CLOUGH, MELLOR AND TOWNSCLIFFE GOLF COURSE, MARPLE CROSS, COBDEN EDGE, NEW MILLS GOLF COURSE, THE FOX AT BROOKBOTTOM, STRINES HALL, PEAK FOREST CANAL RE-VISITED, WHITE HORSE  AT DISLEY

Distance: Ten miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Cloudy, mostly dry with brief light shower of rain.

Walkers: Lawrie Fairman, Alan Hart and George Whaites.

B Walker: Geoff Spurrell.

Non-walking drinkers: John Eckersley and Tony Job.

Apologies: Peter Beal (poorly), Colin Davison (gone Scilly), George Dearsley (working), Frank Dudley (hospital appointment), Jock Rooney (Isle of Man).

Leader: Fairman. Driver: Whaites. Diarist: Hart.

Starting Point: Free car park at Disley rail station.

Starting time: 9.26am. Finishing time: 2.13pm.

Despite the usual pessimistic forecasts of heavy thundery showers, our trio of A walkers enjoyed a largely dry walk and some decent views from the high ground at Cobden Edge. We took in three golf courses, three historic halls and several pints of excellent Robbies’ cask bitter in what continues to be a poor apology for a summer.

There was none of the heavy rain which had been predicted, but that which had fallen in previous days caused us to tiptoe around some unseasonably muddy fields. On the wildlife front we saw a hunting kestrel being chased away by a belligerent magpie. We also saw a veritable menagerie of animals in the names of the pubs we passed and visited.

The route Lawrie had chosen proved to be a rollercoaster of climbs and descents with a happy ending – walking downhill from The Fox to the White Horse for the final three miles.

From Disley station car park we crossed the A6 and walked left uphill at the traffic lights opposite The Ram’s Head, turning right into Stanley Hall Lane (8mins). This led us into the grounds of Disley Golf Course, where we swung left to pass Stanley Hall on our right (13mins). This mock Tudor building seems to be in a state of decay and our leader surmised this could be a ploy by club members to let a listed building collapse and avoid costly renovation.

The hall, a 16^th Century farmhouse with a 19^th Century exterior, was classed as a Grade 11 building by English Heritage in 1983. This seems to have sounded its death knell.

We swung right downhill (16mins), followed a footpath sign across a fairway and exited through a wood. Beyond the trees we walked uphill with a chimney on our right (23mins). This brought us through a gate to a succession of wooden stiles and muddy fields, passing a farmhouse on our right (30mins). A stone step stile led us to a lane where we turned left (33mins).

Emerging from the lane called Turf Lea, we reached a road and turned right (35mins). This brought us to The Romper, a pub restaurant, which is for sale leasehold. We passed the pub on our left and instead of swinging left with the road we carried straight ahead into Hollinwood Lane (39mins). This took us past Clough Bridge Cottage and over a bridge to the far side of the Peak Forest Canal (44mins).

We turned left with the canal on our left until we reached a path on our right (53mins) which left the towpath and came out on the main Marple-New Mills road. We crossed the road and turned right along the road. Just before a left bend, we turned left at an easily-missed public footpath sign hidden by foliage (58mins).

This led us down wooden steps to the River Goyt. The steps were slippery, as George W found to his cost. Happily the rucksack broke his fall and there was no blubbing.

On the bank of the river we turned left and soon crossed right over Roman Bridge (64mins). We turned left with the Goyt now on our left and followed the signs along The Goyt Way for Roman Lakes. The path took us under the viaduct holding the Manchester-Sheffield railway line (69mins) and we turned right into Roman Lakes Leisure Park for Pietime (73mins).

We continued with the main lake behind a screen of shrub on our right until we reached a T junction in the pathway. We turned right towards Bottoms Hall, built by mill-owner Samuel Oldknow in 1800. After passing the hall on our right we took the right fork towards Cobden Edge (79mins).

As we climbed this stony track we swung right and saw Mellor Church on the skyline to our left. As the climb levelled we were momentarily alarmed by the sound of arrows thudding into wood a few yards to our left where a group of toxophilites were practising their archery skills.

We passed Linnet Clough scout campsite on our left (91mins) and entered Mellor and Townscliffe Golf Course, swinging right uphill (97mins). We took a path on the left towards trees (99mins), passing a yellow arrow on a disc affixed to a tree (103mins) before leaving the course through a gap stile (108mins).

We turned left uphill passing a new building on our left called The Barn with spectacular views over the valley below and behind us. At a T-junction we turned right, with Marple Cross on our left (114mins).

As we passed The Three Chimneys Cattery on our right, we were informed by our leader that this was where Edith Nesbit had been inspired to write The Railway Children 100 years ago. This novel was later turned into a 1970 movie in which few of us will easily forget the scene where Jenny Agutter removed her knickers to flag down a train.

Where was I ? Oh yes. As we descended Cobden Edge we saw a kestrel hunting in the manner which once gave it the name “windhover.” A magpie was clearly not as impressed as we were by this aeronautical display and he drove off the intruder.

On the far side of a gap stile we saw a memorial stone to Rachel Jane Lowe (1987-2003) inscribed “Rachel you will always be loved, forever missed and never forgotten.” I was unable to find the circumstances behind her untimely death.

From this stone we headed diagonally right downhill, through a gate into a field (129mins). We continued downhill, over a wooden stile, through an open gate and right over a wooden stile (132mins). Our route continued diagonally right downhill and then leftward uphill to a gate (134mins). We walked to the left of a pond to reach a lane and then turned right downhill.

At a road we turned right (138mins) into Castle Edge Road with New Mills Golf Course on our left. Just before the clubhouse (141mins) on our left we turned right towards Shaw Farm. At a fork we bore left along the minor path (147mins) and emerged at a minor road opposite a bench in memory of Eric Burdekin. We turned right (153mins) and reached The Fox (154mins) at 12.10pm to find Geoff already settled in a window seat with a pint of Robbies’ cask bitter at £2-70.

The beer was in excellent form as usual. On leaving we stopped at a picnic table outside for lunch before descending the stony path behind the car park. This led us to Strines Hall on our left (171mins). To our right was a lake with a dovecote.

We crossed the River Goyt, left Station Road and crossed the Marple-New Mills road again to head along a stony track (178mins). This led toward a canal bridge, but 30 yards before it we turned left over a wooden stile (184mins) and squeezed through a gap stile to reach the bank of the Peak Forest Canal (185mins).

We turned left with the canal on our right until we came to Higgins Clough Swing-bridge (203mins) which we reached seconds before it was opened to allow a narrowboat to pass. A left turn took us to the end of Hagg Bank Lane where we turned right and crossed the road by The Dandy Cock (209mins). We headed uphill with The Ram’s Head on our right and The Mousetrap on our left until we reached The White Horse on our right (211mins). The Robbies’ mild was available for £2-65 with bitter at £2-70.

Next week’s walk will start from The Little Mill Inn at Rowarth at 9.40am, stopping for refreshment around 12.30pm at The Grouse on the Glossop-Hayfield road and finishing back at The Little Mill at about 2.15pm.