St Paul's Rambling Group Heaton Moor

We began this walk at the Greyhound Public House in Ashley and the first part of the route was through the village. After passing the church of St Elizabeth we joined a farm track heading north which took us up to Ashley Hall and farm and eventually onto the Ashley/Hale Road. From  here we joined another farm track and crossed open countryside to Jenkins farm. It was along this path we found a picnic bench under an old oak tree where we stopped for our coffee break. The next part of the walk was across open fields towards the M56 Motorway. We had been warned that it would be muddy along this stretch but it was far worse than anticipated. After crossing the motorway the path was so muddy to make it impassable and we consulted the map to seek an alternative route.Fortunately there was one available which took us down to Bollin Brook and then back to Ashley which made the walk slightly longer than expected but we were still back at the Pub in good time to enjoy an excellent lunch. Dir