Gritstone Trail
Last
year seven members of the group walked part of the Gritstone Trail from
Rushton Spencer to Disley, this year was to complete the trail from
Rushton Spencer to Kidsgrove. The forecast for the walk was not good, in
fact it was so bad that Noah was considering getting the arc out again.
However, when the day arrived it was dull but not raining and so Tracy,
Helen, Pam and I set off on the trail.
The walk was gentle enough to start with going through Raven's
Clough when we were approach by a man from National Grid who informed us
that the path was closed due to work on the overhead electrical cables
and had we not seen the sign regarding the closure of the path. The only
sign we had come across was a metal one that was face down and proved
to be very useful in getting over a very muddy stretch of the path.
This was the National Grid sign, fortunately they were not working that
day so there was no danger of being the first members of SWOG to be
electrocuted on a walk. We then headed for the first climb of the day up
The Cloud after which we descended to the Timbersbrook Picnic Area for
elevenses, and still no rain.
We then walked along part of the Biddulph Valley Way (this section
was a disused railway) after we which we had lunch on the
charmingly named Nick i'th' Hill when our luck ran out and it started to
rain. The rain continued on our ascent of Mow Cop. We passed The Old
Man of Mow a gritstone pillar over 20 metres high, left standing as the
stone around it was quarried away. Stone from here was used to build the
school and church at Sandbach. The folly of Mow Cop is another
distinctive landmark, perched dramatically on an outcrop of millstone
grit. It was built in 1754 by Squire Wilbraham to improve the view from
his home Rode Hall.
As we descended to to the Macclesfield Canal, the weather was more
shower like than torrential rain and just before we got to the towpath
we went in the excellent Rising Sun at Scholar Green, dispensing the
full range of Marston's beers. After a leisurely pint we walked the
last few miles on the Macclesfield and Trent & Mersey canals to
finish the walk at Kidsgrove Station. As the pubs in Kidsgrove did not
look that inviting (According to Paul! said us!) we got the train to
Macclesfield and had our evening meal and more beer in the Society Rooms
the Weatherspoons pub in Macclesfield.
For such a bad weather forecast the conditions were not that bad
and certainly for Tracy, Pam and I, it was good to have completed the
full walk of the Gritstone Trail.
Paul
More Photos HERE
