St Paul's Rambling Group Heaton Moor

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 back...

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...

On a cold and frosty morning eleven of our members assembled on the car park at the Golden Pheasant in Plumley for a four mile circular ramble around the area. The route took us through Halford Moss, along past the old lime kilns and finally Halford Hall before returning to our start point at the Golden Pheasant. Here, seventeen of our members assembled for the real purpose of the day - Christmas Lunch and we enjoyed some excellent food in the true spirit of Christmas. Our thanks go to the landlord and his staff for their kind hospitality and to Judith and Mike for leading the walk and organising the lunch. Start Point - The Golden Pheasant Morning frost Holford Moss More of Holford Moss Crossing fields on route to Holford Hall Holford Hall Christmas lunch at the Golden Pheasant More pictures of Christmas Ramble

Due to other church commitments we only had four walkers last week end but undeterred we set out from Bollington for a 5 mile circular walk around the local area. We joined the Middlewood Way in fine weather but very shortly the drizzle came, followed by rain, followed by heavy rain. By this time we were thoroughly drenched and to add to our problems we had missed a turning and had gone too far along the trail. Fortunately a bridge provided shelter while we regrouped and enjoyed morning coffee. After studying the map and the rain clouds we decided to return direct to Bollington via the Macclesfield canal. The Bollington circular had now become the Bollington Rectangle but we had an enjoyable ramble and by the time we reached our start point the rain had stopped and we finished the trail in fine weather. Afterwards we adjourned to the Vale Inn where we had an excellent lunch in company with other members of our group who had been unable to come on the walk. Morning coffee on the Mi...