A rainy morning led us to revise our plans for the day. Silverdale could wait. So Sue and I waited for the rain to ease after lunch, before setting off to Alderley Edge. As expected it was busy on the Edge, but quiet in the muddy Cheshire fields below. Those green swathes in the view from the Edge above, are full of wetness.
Eventually the sun came out and gave us some pleasureable views towards the skyscrapers of Manchester, sufficiently distant to avoid being an eyesore, with the masts of Winter Hill visible in the distance.
Today we took a shorter version of the walk I enjoyed on 1 April last year, taking the Bollin Valley Way route past Mill Farm. On previous visits this path has been closed due to a landslip into the river, but it’s fine now, and a pleasant walk that skirts the Mottram Hall golf course before rejoining our previous route by a footbridge.
My notes from 1 April record our passing the groundworks for a new residence, which presumably replaces some old barns that meshed well with the landscape. In their place, the O’Connor £millions are constructing a palace that will have great views to the Edge and the Cheshire countryside. It’s a Blot on the Landscape that must be quite upsetting to some of its less ostentatious neighbours.
Our walk proceeded through pleasant, if muddy, countryside towards the Edge, but the last few km towards the Wizard were further blighted by a huge green fence surrounding more extensive building work. How people manage to get permission for this wholesale destruction of the landscape I really don’t know.
Money and influence: 2 – Everyone Else: 0?
Ah well, at least we don’t have to live nearby, and given the number of people and the amount of mud, I think visits to this area might be reserved for dry summer midweek days. Hopefully the construction sites will be sanitised. Anyway, there are plenty of other places to go for a walk…
Having said that, we did have a lovely stroll apart from the eyesores and the mud.
Here’s our route – 12 km with about 200 metres gentle ascent back up to the Edge. Allow 2.5 to 3 hours.
On relection, we made the best of the day – start the year as you mean to carry on…
Have fun.
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