Denice wrote:-
Congleton Walk Sunday 1 November 2015
What a glorious day for a walk! 16 of us plus Chas and Chester the dogs set out from Timbersbrook Car Park just east of Congleton on what turned out to be the warmest 1st November since 1946.
Up through woods and beside sheep pasture, at the top of the hill by Biddulph Common there was a a superb view over the Cheshire Plain.
Morning snap was taken on a low wall facing South by Higher Overton Farm with two shaggy ponies looking on hopefully. This area was evidently not much walked, with one totally overgrown stile by the hedge and no signage at all through the steep wooded valley to the pastures beyond.
We passed an Anglo Saxon Cross on the way down towards Poolfold with two stone troughs opposite, before turning west on to the Staffordshire Moorlands Walk from which we caught a glimpse of the partially ruined Biddulph Old Hall which had been damaged by Cromwell's men in the Civil War.
For lunch we found a quiet sunny spot just beyond the disused railway, now the Whitemoor Linear Nature and Cycle trail. This took us into unrecce'd territory, but to Linda and Sue's disappointment we did not get lost.
A lovely path through oak woods took us up on to the ridge where the Gritstone Trail ran alongside the Staffordshire Moorlands Walk offering magnificent views to East and west.
The descent took us to a convenient pub break at the Castle Inn about a mile and a half short of the car park with paths across meadows looking up to Bosley Cloud. There were 5 peacocks outside the beautifully restored farmhouse nearby, two of them white and some curious fluffy legged hens pottering about. A very varied walk of just over 8 miles.
Denise
