There and back again, twice. (Christmas 2018)
It is Christmas, several gadgies are visiting friends, several gadgies are being visited by family. This gadgie and the gadgette, with daughter Kate, are staying with daughter Lucy and her family for Christmas. They live in Cheadle Hulme, which is in Stockport technically which is in Greater Manchester which is in the northern county of Cheshire, UK, Europe...…….
The Macclesfield Matterhorn.
On Christmas Eve, Mark, Lucy's husband, was very busy helping Santa prepare gifts for children so the rest of us drove off to Macclesfield Forest for a country walk. We parked, being skinflints, on the side of the road at Ridgegate Reservoir although there is a car park close by. I have no idea how to get to the starting point.
Having walked about 100 yards down the road we entered Macclesfield Forest. There are several walks marked out in the forest and also some cycle tracks, both were very popular.
The forest is alive with wild life, deer, badgers, foxes, rabbits, squirrels and bears. We knew there were bears nearby because Alex pointed out the sign which said quite clearly;
"Cyclists! Bear left in 100 yards"
All we saw was a squirrel. We chose a walk that climbed uphill through the wood until it emerged on to Moorland and took us to the trig point on Shutlingsloe. On the moor the footpath had been covered with flagstones from old cotton mills. Some of them were iced over and were slippy, the track alongside though was very muddy. The last few hundred yards were very steep and a bit of a scramble but well worth the effort when we summited. From the trig point It was possible to see for miles on a cold but clear day. Below us in the distance was the radio telescope at Jodrell Bank, looking like a large golf ball waiting to be teed off. Far to the north was the city of Manchester. We could see a plane taking off from Ringway (Manchester Airport). On other sides were the rolling hills of Cheshire and Derbyshire, a steady stream of cars was crossing the old road between the two.
By coincidence an extension of this walk was published as one of Christopher Somerville's 20 country walks in The Times today, Dec 29th. However, we turned back and retraced our steps down the track and through the wood.
Our walk was about four miles and thoroughly enjoyable.
Unfortunately nobody took any pictures apart from the one below taken on a phone. We should have used it more.
Kate, Lucy, Alex me and a shadow
Contains OS data,
It is Christmas, several gadgies are visiting friends, several gadgies are being visited by family. This gadgie and the gadgette, with daughter Kate, are staying with daughter Lucy and her family for Christmas. They live in Cheadle Hulme, which is in Stockport technically which is in Greater Manchester which is in the northern county of Cheshire, UK, Europe...…….
The Macclesfield Matterhorn.
On Christmas Eve, Mark, Lucy's husband, was very busy helping Santa prepare gifts for children so the rest of us drove off to Macclesfield Forest for a country walk. We parked, being skinflints, on the side of the road at Ridgegate Reservoir although there is a car park close by. I have no idea how to get to the starting point.
Having walked about 100 yards down the road we entered Macclesfield Forest. There are several walks marked out in the forest and also some cycle tracks, both were very popular.
The forest is alive with wild life, deer, badgers, foxes, rabbits, squirrels and bears. We knew there were bears nearby because Alex pointed out the sign which said quite clearly;
"Cyclists! Bear left in 100 yards"
All we saw was a squirrel. We chose a walk that climbed uphill through the wood until it emerged on to Moorland and took us to the trig point on Shutlingsloe. On the moor the footpath had been covered with flagstones from old cotton mills. Some of them were iced over and were slippy, the track alongside though was very muddy. The last few hundred yards were very steep and a bit of a scramble but well worth the effort when we summited. From the trig point It was possible to see for miles on a cold but clear day. Below us in the distance was the radio telescope at Jodrell Bank, looking like a large golf ball waiting to be teed off. Far to the north was the city of Manchester. We could see a plane taking off from Ringway (Manchester Airport). On other sides were the rolling hills of Cheshire and Derbyshire, a steady stream of cars was crossing the old road between the two.
By coincidence an extension of this walk was published as one of Christopher Somerville's 20 country walks in The Times today, Dec 29th. However, we turned back and retraced our steps down the track and through the wood.
Our walk was about four miles and thoroughly enjoyable.
Unfortunately nobody took any pictures apart from the one below taken on a phone. We should have used it more.
Contains OS data copyright. Crown copyright and database right 2018.
Quarry Bank and the airport.
On Boxing Day the family went for another country walk to work off some of the excesses of the previous day.
We drove to Quarry Bank Mill, a working mill and National Trust property close to Styal which has a museum of industry and a prison!
We chose not to visit the mill but took one of several marked walks in the area. We followed the river, having to make one detour for a small boy (the squiggle on the map). In several places steps had been built in to the steepish hillsides, especially as we approached Giant's Castle. The paths were also extremely muddy, causing one or two complaints. Beyond the castle the path levelled out, crossed a couple of fields and finished up alongside the runway at Manchester Airport. It was agreed that this was an ideal place for boys to watch the comings and goings of aeroplanes large and small so three of us remained at our observation post as the others bravely retraced their steps to bring the cars to the end of the road near our position.
For those who walked there and back the distance was about five miles.
Contains OS data copyright. Crown copyright and database right 2018
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