Wednesday 12 June 2019 - An Evening Stroll Around Marple Bridge

 

This week's SWOG evening walk was attended by over twenty folk who arrived well equipped to withstand the forecast deluge that Sue had avoided by choosing bell ringing as her activity for tonight. However, as usual, the rain ceased at Jack's command. Setting off on an unfamiliar path from behind the Midland, we soon passed the equipment used to rescue folk who fall off the narrow path into the River Goyt.

 

A little further on, 'The Garden House' appears to be a playground for small children.

 

"They spit", I was told.

 

Near the above plaque is an information board with a picture of the old house that stood here, and the plans for a new building.

 

Down the road, the remains of Mellor Mill, that I presume was owned by Samuel Oldknow, have been further restored since our previous visits (see here). Previously only the huge wheelhouse had been excavated.

 

We then climbed around the back of Roman Lakes, up Linnet Clough, past some rather muddy mountain bikers (it's a great descent), to the golf club and scout camp. Here, Baden Powell looks across the camp, bewildered, to a 'Cube' that today's scouts use for their Adventure Training. (My photo of the Cube wasn't good enough to reproduce here, but it does look a rather daunting piece of equipment. It wasn't in use, tonight's scouts preferring a game of football.)

 

On another path that I'd not been on before, Jack led us through the camp along some narrow paths and stiles that both old and young codgers found time consuming to negotiate, culminating with a climb through a field to Mellor Church.

 

There were good views back to the Cheshire countryside, with the tall buildings of Greater Manchester just visible in the background.

 

"I could do with a good long sleep here", commented Howard.

 

We thought his choice of bed wasn't really appropriate, so he was offered the twelfth century vicarage at the back of the church.

 

The rest of us marched back down the hill on a different path.

 

The pace increased, and as usual it was the fittest rather than the thirstiest who were first to the bar, where nearly all those on the walk squeezed into a cosy alcove with their rehydration fluid of choice.

 

 

Here's the route - 6.5km with about 200 metres ascent. It took us two hours, including breaks at the Garden House and the Mill, and slow going over the stiles.

 

Readers can click on the images for a higher resolution version and slideshow, but hopefully these images are a little better than those of late, thanks to the 'processing' changes referred to in the last posting.