St Paul's Rambling Group Heaton Moor

Eleven stalwarts from the Rambling Group set out on a very wet Saturday morning from the Pack Horse Inn, New Mills for a 4 mile walk across. the Moor, Although the rain continued throughout the morning we all enjoyed the trek in the fresh air and it gave us all an appetite for the Christmas Lunch which was to follow. Back at the start point we were joined by five other members of our group and we all sat down to enjoy an excellent festive lunch at the Pack Horse Inn. Many thanks to Judith and Mike for organising both the walk and lunch. http://www.packhorseinn.co.uk/ Already wet but raring to go! Kinder Scout is out there somewhere Paddling along the road Bronze Age Barrow on Mellor Moor Cross erected by the Marple Churches in 1970. Dried out and ready for festive fare. Can you remember what you ordered!

On a wet Saturday morning with more rain in the forecast eight of us assembled at Beeston Castle for a ramble through the Peckforton Hills and to the top of Bulkeley Hill. Fortunately the weather stayed fine for much of the morning and we all appreciated a good healthy walk with fine views across Cheshire.Lunch time found us in the Pheasant Inn in Burwardsley where we enjoyed a good lunch before returning to Beeston Castle. Thanks to Mike and Judith for organising the day. Ready for the off Muddy going on path to Peckforton Hills Beeston Castle View across Cheshire Plain towards Ellesmere Port Coffee time Shall we go that way? Cheshire Plain through the trees on Bulkeley Hill Made it to the top! Peckforton Hills from Bulkeley Hill

Saturday 10th October 2015 The Gawsworth Circular - a 7 mile walk through the Cheshire countryside. At the start of the walk in Gawsworth Friendly heron on the village lake Lunch break at Bosley Lock Countryside around Gawsworth North Rode Manor House Our friendly heron again A ramble around Bakewell - Saturday 11th July 2015 Now where do we go from here! Close study of the Burdock plant Cutting across a field Countryside and industry

Pictures from our last walk around Dovestone Reservoir. Dovestone Reservoir Birds eye view of reservoir On the road around reservoir Lunch break Outlet pipe

Nine hardy souls met up at St Paul's Road and drove over into the Peak District via Sparrowpit, Stoney Middleton, Baslow and on into the Chatsworth Estate at Calton Lees Car Park. I say 'hardy souls' as the weather was not promising and your author was wearing over trousers and at least one walker admitted to thermals! We began by walking steadily up a hill until the road ended. A further upward slope brought us to the top of the ridge that runs roughly south from Baslow and provides the backdrop to Chatsworth House itself. The views at this point made the trudge up the hill worth the huffing and puffing of some of us. Behind each rolling hill there was another, more distant hill--and then another. We walked through the the woods on forest tracks, while enjoying the new greenery and the bluebells. Above the Hall on this ridge are two lakes that feed the estate. These are the Swiss and Emperor Lakes. The Emperor lake is very pretty with benches to sit on and ducks an

Nine of our group met on the Rangers Car Park in Bollington to tackle the walk up to White Nancy. We set off across the Recreation Ground and then along the Macclesfield Canal before we turned off to begin the climb up to ridge above Bollington. The first part of the ascent is through paths and lanes which wind gently towards the summit. However, you eventually reach the final leg which is very steep and quite testing after too many hot cross buns at Easter! Ultimately we all made the summit, some more quickly than others, where we stopped to admire the views over three counties and enjoy a cup of coffee.   From here we continued along Kerridge Ridge before turning to begin the descent down the old quarry roads to join the Middlewood Way.  A short walk along the old railway returned us to Bollington whe re we enjoyed an excellent lunch at the Vale Inn. Thanks to Bill & Maureen for leading and organising this walk. The path to White Nancy - Bollington in background

A ‘Flash’ is a lake formed by the land subsiding into old abandoned coal mines Pennington is the largest flash but there are numerous smaller lakes dotted around the region. 10 of our group assembled in the car park for a circular walk of 5.5 miles around the area which has now become a natural habitat for birds and other wild life as well as a playground for walkers, cyclists and yachtsmen. The first part of the walk took us along the banks of the flash, via a stop at a bird hide, to join the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. From here we followed the canal past the site of the former Bickershaw Colliery, now a marina, for about one mile before leaving the canal to join a path along a disused mineral railway. The next section of the walk crossed Lightshaw Meadows, a Nature Reserve, and then we detoured down to Lightshaw Flash to watch the birds and take a short break. From here we returned to Pennington Flash to walk along the banks of the lake and back to the car park. Afte

On a fine Saturday morning, with sun promised later, 17 walkers assembled at the Egerton Arms in Chelford for the village walk. The first part of the route took us down the main road into the village where we then turned right to pass the livestock market, under the railway and into open fields. After crossing the Knutsford Road we continued through more fields to reach the sand quarry. Here the path crosses directly across the old sandpits and the landscape becomes more of a moonscape with barren wasteland and pools of water left from excavations. Leaving the sandpits we then walked through George Wood until we reached the Sand Pit Lake, an enormous lake created by previous workings of an old quarry. From here we crossed the Macclesfield Road and headed for the village of Astle. After crossing Bag Brook, we then traversed more fields to head for St John’s Church, the spire of which on the horizon made an excellent marker. From here we returned to the village and the Egerton Ar