Monday 28 September 2026 - The Steel Cotton Rail Trail Stage 4 - Edale to Chinley

We had chosen a lovely late summer's day for this brilliant walk in the Peak District. Trains were on time, and as it was a fairly short day's walk, we reckoned we could afford a bit of time in the café at Edale Station.

There were seven of us today (for a while, anyway!). Sue took this picture to record the event. Cary didn't like their hot chocolate but apart from that we were all happy.

L-R: Sue W, Rick, Cary, John (a friend of Rick's), Andy and me.

On leaving the café we passed the church and reached the centre of the village at The Old Nags Head after posing yet again.

The Pennine Way starts here. There was no sign of anyone starting today, though a good number of folk were enjoying shorter walks in the sunny weather.

The path starts up a gentle gradient through an avenue of mature trees.

Soon the route opens out to cross fields on the firm stone surface that has replaced the bog that the over-used paths used to generate.

There were good views back to Mam Tor and the Edale skyline.

On the steep descent to Upper Booth, Cary's attempt at a forward roll turned into a sideways roll that finished in a cluster of arms and legs and a very loud 'Ouch' He recovered sufficiently to hobble back to Edale, but a trip to A&E the following day revealed a broken ankle. So if you see an old man stumbling around Sale in a orthopaedic boot, say 'Hello' - it might be Cary. Get well soon, Cary.*

And then there were six.

An elevenses break was taken at the foot of Jacob's Ladder, a packhorse route dating from the 18th century. Jacob Marshall cut steps in the rock to make his passage with packhorses laden with wool easier as they headed this way to Stockport market.

 

There continued to be good views back towards Edale as the path rose.

The path turned a corner and offered a sight of some of the rock formations at Edale Head.

 

The rocks shown above are the pimple towards the right in the next picture.

At the top of the Ladder we left the Pennine Way in favour of a lovely flagged path to South Head. Before reaching that landmark, lunch was taken on the flagstones as they provide an easy march through a somewhat boggy area. We only encountered one other person on the path - a chap who works in Didsbury and was keen to learn about both the Steel Cotton and the GM Ringway trails.

In the distance, the skyscrapers of Manchester.

Sue B and John decided to go over South Head. The rest of us took the nice contouring path, with a rest while we waited for the other two. Sue B was particularly energetic today, having already run back towards our lunch spot to recover the hat that Rick had carelessly left behind.

The sharp descent towards Chinley reminded Sue and me of a TGO Challengers' reunion walk some 18 months ago, after some of the walkers had encountered extreme weather on South Head. What a contrast this was.

The iconic Peak & Northern footpath signs are quite prolific around here.

Soon we were down to five of us, as John wanted to visit Chinley Churn - somewhat off the Steel Cotton Trail's route. Meanwhile we continued past several farms, one of which sported an impressive insect house.

Most of the railway between Edale and Chinley is in a tunnel. Passing under this bridge we realised we were nearly at the end of this stage.

An empty platform and a few minutes wait that passed quickly, and we were on the train to Piccadilly, and home in time to cook tea and proceed to our various evening engagements.

Here's our route - 12 km with 400 metres ascent (an extra 50 metres for Sue and John), taking a shade over 4 hours.

I have failed to integrate some of Sue's pictures into this rather hasty diary entry, so here are some of her images - very nice they are too. As usual, click on any image for a slideshow.

At the start of the Pennine Way

Marching towards Upper Booth before 'The Incident'

Jacob's Ladder

Looking back towards Edale

Flagstones leading to South Head

South Head - John hijacked a dog for a ride up the hill

On the descent to Chinley

What a lovely day out, for most of us. We all hope Cary recovers quickly.

* Cary's is only the second 'breakage' in my 60 years of organising walks, the first breakage being Julia's in 1999, when she fell off a horse that I'd hired and broke her shoulder.

September 5 to 12 2026 - Corpach 2026 - Index of Postings

Saturday 5 September 2026 - Penrith parkrun and a trip to Corpach

Sunday 6 September 2026 - Fassfern and the pony track

Monday 7 September 2026 - Beaches between Arisaig and Camusdarach

Tuesday 8 September 2026 - Neptune's Staircase on a rainy day

Wednesday 9 September 2026 A bike ride to Gairlochy and a couple of Munros

Thursday 10 September 2026 - Newtonmore's Wildcat Trail

Friday 11 September 2026 - Another bike ride to Gairlochy and two more Munros

Saturday 12 September 2026 - Ganavan Sands parkrun

Thursday 24 September 2026 - Spunch Northenden

Sue and I were pleased to be joined by Jenny and Fechin for this exploration of our local area. The Spunch HQ was set up outside 'Northenden Untapped', a lovely little bar on Church Lane. I once nearly bought a house on nearby Royle Green Road. (I settled for 10 Adria Road, Didsbury in the end.) Anyway, we are very familiar with the paths in Wythenshawe Park, including a thorough exploration when I did a 'virtual' London Marathon here.

After the usual pre-Spunch faffing (I always seem to forget to change the display settings from 1 minute to a more comfortable 10 minutes), the four of us congregated on the banks of the River Mersey at point 10. We then wound our way through the housing estates that border Royle Green Road on one side and Didsbury Golf Course on the other side. The housing was linked by various ginnels and bits of woodland such as that shown above.

On reaching Alpha Point on Bradnor Road, we paused to admire a sculpture that none of us had seen before. This is the 'Spire' artwork, classified as a 'localised architectural sculpture'.

Apparently, while the spire has been an established landmark on Bradnor Road since at least the mid-2000s, there is a surprising lack of public registry documentation regarding its exact commissioning date or the specific independent sculptor behind it. It stands as a classic piece of corporate/industrial estate placemaking art from Manchester's late-20th or early-21st-century regeneration era.

The route I'd plotted went through the Industrial Estate to a ginnel that emerges into a housing estate on Roundwood Road. An easy route then led us to Palatine Road and under Princess Parkway. Then into Wythenshawe Park and paths around the eastern perimeter to reach and cross Altrincham Road at Gib Lane. Sue got a bit behind due to encountering a bog and a fence after pausing for a call of nature and failing to secure a short cut.

We passed Jan's house (according to Sue), passed a few more Spunch points, and crossed the main road again by a pharmacy. A familiar gap in the hedge gave access to point 36, after which we romped along paths through the park like the one shown below. You can see that Jenny and Sue, who both have a fast walking pace, have again got ahead of me and Fechin on the lovely sunlit evening. 

After a successful stumble through the park to the Lodge, we again found ourselves in unfamiliar territory as we hastened down Rackhouse Road to a right turn along Yewtree Lane. At one point I thought I was far enough ahead of the others to nip 'off plan' to bag point 27 down Dane Avenue. It took me until the bridge that extends Yewtree Lane over the Parkway to catch up. I was still a bit behind the ladies...

... but I was ahead of Fechin as the sun set behind his right shoulder.

We made our way back to Northenden Untapped pretty quickly from here, picking up an unplanned Spunch point and arriving at the HQ with time in hand that could have permitted another point to be ticked off.. Anyway, we were happy to have visited 38 (39 for me) of the 83 points available, at Sue and Jenny's walking pace. Though Fechin and I would be the first to admit that we had to deploy our jog/shuffle techniques in order to keep up with the comparatively youthful ladies. Fechin and I are both 77 and in his day Fechin was a sub 2½ hour marathon runner. Old age takes its toll! Fechin was further disabled by the end, having blistered both feet. (Should he not know better?!

Here's the route that I took to bag just 39 out of the 83 Spunch points available.

Afterwards it was great to see Andy T ('Spunch Man') and Michelle, with good beer and even better pizzas to round things off, as well as bumping into old acquaintances (Paul Muldoon) and missing others (Alistair Pooler - lost in the dark?)

Here are the official results for the 120 minute participants (there were another 56 people in the 60 and 90 minute categories).