Tuesday 15 September 2026 - The Steel Cotton Rail Trail Stage 3 - Hope to Edale

Six of us met at Piccadilly for the 9:48 to Hope, with Sue W returning after her successful trip to Anglesey. This relatively short walk with no time constraints was an absolute delight.

Field paths took us away from and then back to the railway. Sue found some very healthy looking field mushrooms and Cary provided a bag in which to transport them.

It took a while to escape the environs of Hope.

Soon we were rewarded with views to Lose Hill and the Edale skyline.

Foliage is currently abundent and bright green, but most of the wild flowers are in decline, with Herb Robert, Ragwort and a variety of thistles hanging on in the verges and the fields.

We passed under the railway at Killhill Bridge.

A secret doorway had us wondering ...

Still in the environs of Hope, a welcoming watering hole, but too close to our start today.

Near Normans Farm, we came across a display of 'Norman's Farm Raw Honey' - delicious looking golden honey - £11 a jar, paid into their bank account, so no cash lying around and plenty of honest hikers on the Steel Cotton Trail. We bought three jars. Granddaughter Isabella will love it.

After going under the railway for the last time today, at Bagshaw Bridge, we continued on a narrow road to reach the National Trust Dark Peak Area Office and the Edale End Welcome Barn.

It rather looked as if Paul had beaten us to it, as his latest acquisition was parked outside the Welcome Barn.

Anyway, we carried on past the buildings and were soon confronted with a stone marker that pointed us decisively left, to Jaggers Clough.

The sky darkened as we followed the excellent path into Backside Wood.

A suitable spot for lunch was found, at which point some large, juicy, raindrops decided to join us. They didn't last long.

Backside Wood was home to numerous fungi, a couple of which are shown below.

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)  - pretty poisonous

Suillus grevillei (a Boletus variety, edible but this one is past that stage)

Once through the delightful wood, we joined the old packhorse track that runs up Jaggers Clough. A 'Jagger' was a leader of packhorses. This route may have been used to transport lead from the Castleton mines in the 16th century.

The Edale skyline and the fertile valley provided a scenic backdrop as we made progress on a contouring path towards Edale Youth Hostel.

Some Parasol Mushrooms (Macrolepiota procera) were added to our goodie bag.

Just outside the hostel - some striking dahlias.

A straightforward walk down the driveway and across some fields saw us eventually emerging at the church in Edale, where we drained our flasks on a convenient bench before heading for the station and a 3:47 train back to Piccadilly. .

Here's our route - just 12 km with 300 metres ascent, taking about four and a half hours.

Later:

The mushrooms survived intact and formed the basis of a very mushroomy meal. Too mushroomy if anything - we should have saved half of the Giant Puffball.

Next:
I've decided to adjust the remaining stages in order to reduce the long Stage 4 to New Mills. That will now finish comfortably at Chinley. Stage 5 will be Chinley to Marple (16 km). Stage 6 will be Marple to Guide Bridge (14 km). There will be an extra Stage 7, from Guide Bridge to Manchester (9 km) on Tuesday 3 November.

The summary programme, for reference, is here. 

Monday 14 September 2026 - WirrOrleans Jazz Band at Eagley Jazz Club

Jazz nights have been on hold for a few weeks whilst the room was refurbished. The stage and the seating have changed since we were last here. The jury's out. These three pictures vaguely show the new decor.

WirrOrleans Jazz Band, led by Andrew McKenzie's trombone, put on a splendid performance and seemed happy with the stage arrangement.

Performances will be weekly for a while to give the bands that were originally booked for the refurbishment period a chance to shine. The audience, some of whom have had 'regular seating positions' for many years, will now have to adjust to the new table layout (and maybe even share tables with strangers!).

The chords of 'Sweet Georgia Brown' reverberated in my head as I drove home...

Monday 14 September 2026 - GM Ringway Trail Stage 13 - Bury to Bromley Cross

This was a repeat visit for me, Sue and Paul, bur it was Jeanette's last stage to give her a full house of all 20 stages of the GM Ringway Trail. My diary entry for the previous visit on 30 September 2025 is here.

We caught an early tram to Bury, so as to start walking soon after 9 am. A familiar stroll took us past the statue of Robert Peel and on towards the footpath beside the River Irwell.

After a short stretch beside the river, with the sickly smell of Himalayan Balsam and the brown mess of spent Rosebay Willowherb, we turned onto Woodhill Road and passed a well maintained house that appears to date from 1710.

Burrs Country Park, with its numerous industrial sculptures, drew us to the river again, and to the Lamppost Café. Much more friendly than on our previous visit.

Though Rufus struggled to release any of his elevenses.

A tall chimney dominates a variety of exhibits.

Our progress beside the Irwell was studied by a heron, high in a tree across the river, near some nest boxes.

A picture of the weir that Paul once paddled over is de rigueur at this point.

Our target for lunch, the Peel Tower, came into view in the distance.

The river is left for a while for us to take good paths around the privacy conscious Bank Top Farm, to re-cross the East Lancashire Railway near Summerseat.

Nice woodland paths took us ever closer to the Peel Tower.

No chance of refreshments at this site of a restaurant.

From here the lane passes some nice little houses.

The others took the same short cut to the tower as last time, but I continued on the more gentle gradient of the GM Ringway route that eventually doubled back towards the tower after dodging a massive lorry that was coming down the track. With the tower behind me, it was a good panoramic view to nearby villages and the Pennines.

Meanwhile, Jeanette recorded Sue and Paul's slog to the high point of the day.

Lunch was taken in the crater resulting from a WW2 attack on a battalion of cardboard tanks. (Maybe.)

The clear air gave us good views across Greater Manchester to the Welsh hills beyond. Sadly, my picture is under exposed and Jeanette's is over exposed.

We bumped into Steve, one of Paul and Jeanette's 'Potato' friends who we spent the day with on 30 May, lounging on a bench with his lunch, admiring the view. He was also walking stage 13. We didn't see him again.

We were soon descending steeply through Redishire Wood, where Sue found a Cep that we enjoyed later with the last portions of a beef stew that we didn't quite manage to get through last week in Scotland. However, a fine addition to the meal we enjoyed on our 24th wedding anniversary.

Delicious Cep

Steeper than it looks!

On we marched, towards Affetside, past some very pretty rare breed sheep.

Lovely views back to Peel Tower.

It's a steep pull past a Land Rover awaiting restoration, to the cross at Affetside, where our flasks were drained and Rufus gave a vivid demonstration of his feelings.

Good paths then reached the Kingfisher Trail and Jumbles Reservoir.

Soon we were on the platform at Bromley Cross station, where some children vied for the privilege of taking our group picture.

Jeanette was joyous on her 'Compleation' of the GM Ringway Trail. "What's next?"

Here's our route - 19 km with 470 metres ascent, taking less than 6 hours.