In my absence overseas, young Notchy took it upon himself to organise a couple of ‘Deepest Cheshire’ evening strolls, the second of which took place last night.
Notchy’s marketing agent ensured a good turnout, albeit JJ’s failure to attend due to ‘Dad Duty’.
The Egerton Arms, just outside Chelford, is a good place to start such jaunts, with a friendly landlord and good beer. It dates back to the 16th century, and the current owners do have a vaguely local connection, in that Jeremy’s granddad was Glynne Jones from North Wales who produced the first ever hay bale machine called ‘The Jones Baler’, the bright red icon of farming equipment that every farmer grew up with after the war, presumably attached to one of Alan R’s smart grey tractors.
I like the bit of history in which the old coach house was sold off in the late 1890’s by the Egerton family to a private buyer who urgently needed to replace the old candle and gas lamps with electricity and thus he took down the fifteen or so black chandeliers. On doing so he found that they were made of solid gold, which made him an overnight millionaire, so he sold the pub on to a brewery.
Notchy did find quite a few paths, as well as these quiet lanes where I took the chance to collect a few snaps. He’s shown below, explaining the ups and downs of high level backpacking to an itinerant gardener. Lagging behind, Bridget and Sue were preparing to sort out Richard, who seemed to have got tangled up in his own legs.
The motley group welcomed a newcomer tonight, Sandra, a Dunham Massey volunteer gardener like Bridget, who chose a good evening to come along – it was warm and summery, ideal for a chatty amble. We’ll yearn for evenings like this in the months to come.
Anyway, Sue, Jenny, Richard, Bridget, Andrew, Sandra, Mary, and out of shot Graham managed to survive Notchy’s 8 km course, despite 50 metres of ascent and the occasional nettle – not to mention a severe deterioration of visibility, and refreshment from above, towards the end of the walk, and by around 9.30 pm we were all back at the pub and tucking into much needed rehydration fluid.
A very nice route, and a good turnout – well done to the organisers.
There’s another evening walk next Thursday (29 August), starting at The Harp (SJ 290 760) at 7.30 pm for a 7-10 km wander around the Wirral. All are welcome. There’s also a day walk in the Peak District on Sunday 6 October, starting in or near Buxton. More details can or will be found on our web site here.
Some readers would certainly also enjoy some of Stockport Walking and Outdoors Group’s upcoming Wednesday evening talks – details are here.
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