Friday 5 July 2019 - A 10km Styal Circuit

An impromptu Friday morning walk saw five of us assembling at Earlams Community Café in Styal. Run by volunteers, this is an excellent venue from which to start a walk, with easy parking on the road nearby, but no gluten free cake ('bring your own!').

 

We started an evening walk from here on 5 June, and today's outing was simply an extension of that excellent 7km route.

 

 

After a good value top-up of coffee, etc, we set off on familiar paths (there's a selection of routes, but basically you find your way to the River Bollin and follow it downstream), eventually, after a few ups and downs, reaching Giant's Castle Bridge.

 

 

I can't find the reason for the 'Giant's Castle' name, but it's a nice bridge over a fast flowing river followed by a steep set of steps.

 

After crossing the A538 Altrincham Road, lovely paths lead through fields towards Morley and Morley Green. The grass has grown since we passed through this field on 5 June.

 

My 3km extension heads past Mossbrow to the outskirts of Wilmslow, where by-ways lead down to re-join the Bollin near Twinnies Bridge. From there it's an easy stroll by the river to the fleshpots of the National Trust property at Styal Mill, where refreshments of any sort are available.

 

However, as the ice cream had been temporarily relocated to a freezer to maintain its integrity on the hot day, we chose to return to Earlams for drinks and luscious cake, which I was remiss in failing to record by way of a snapshot.

 

Here's the 10km route. There's about 100 metres of ascent. It took us rather less than two and a half hours.

 

I really do commend this route, or the earlier 7km version. It's a lovely place to walk (albeit a bit noisy next to the airport) and Styal is very accessible from Greater Manchester.

 

I'll be planning more Friday morning walks, from 19 July to 16 August. Let me know if you want to be added to the circulation list.