Friday 9 December 2011 – White Nancy

“I’ve never been up to White Nancy” remarked Andrew as we strolled along the Saddle of Kerridge last night.  This was as good an opportunity as any for his first visit, though the views weren’t as good as we’d expected.

We had met as arranged in the Vale Inn, which has transformed itself in recent times to a most acceptable establishment with fine ale that has travelled all of a few feet from the in-house brewery.

Our journey from Manchester had been under a full moon, as the day’s showery weather had moved to the north, or so we thought.  We were expecting a chilly but fine outing – after strolling a couple of kilometres down the Macclesfield Canal, we were to ascend Kerridge Hill for a potter along the Saddle to White Nancy, before descending steep steps to what used to be the Redway Tavern (now a private house) and back to the Vale through the streets of Bollington.

As we supped our fine ale we noticed a change in the colour of the clothing of new customers to the pub.  Everyone was dressed in white!  On closer inspection, everything outside had turned white, and they were just bringing it in with them.

Unperturbed, even though one of our party had failed to bring  weatherproof clothing, we embarked on our stroll.  We didn’t see the full moon as we spent the entire duration of this 8 km, 2 hour walk, in a blizzard.  It was surprisingly enjoyable.  Our first taste of winter.

Eventually we turned up at White Nancy, next to which Sue and Andrew are pictured above.  I could refer you to Wikipedia, but I’ll save you the ‘click’ and tell you about White Nancy here.

The structure was built in 1817 by John Gaskell junior of North End Farm to commemorate the victory at the Battle of Waterloo.  It originally had an entrance to a single room which was furnished with stone benches and a central round stone table, but the entrance is now blocked. It has been described as a summer house or a folly.

In the mid-1940s, the Royal Signal Corps Trials Unit based at Catterick would apparently drive a truck-mounted dish-shaped transmitter/receiver up to White Nancy, where they tested cathode-ray tube transmission and reception (data-based, not images), to a mobile receiving station on another truck. The receiver would be driven further and further south over time, until eventually the lads at White Nancy were sending a signal to the south coast of the country. Locals told the signalers that the landmark was named after the lead horse that had transported all the materials for the building of the folly.

White Nancy is circular in plan with its shape described as that of a sugar loaf, and is surmounted with a ball finial. It is built in sandstone rubble which has been rendered and painted.  It is about 18 feet (5 m) high. Stone paving has been laid around its base which is inscribed with the points of the compass.

According to the Wikipedia entry, White Nancy was unpainted until at least 1925, since when it has been painted in a number of different colours over the years, most commonly in white. In 2005 vandals painted it partly in pink. In March 2009 it was repainted in white with the ball finial in black.  As you can see from the picture, it now sports a large poppy – that was certainly not there when we visited the spot on 10 November 2010.

Just in case you are interested, here’s our approximate route – we (I) cocked up at the end, by taking two sides of a triangle:

Never mind, we were pretty wet by then anyway…

Thursday 21 February 2019 – A Bollington Circuit

On a day of warm weather (plus 15C as opposed to minus 15C in Ottawa), I was joined by Rick, Graeme and Paul for this pleasant saunter from the Adlington Road car park in Bollington.

 

The path to White Nancy is steep. Paul habitually zooms ahead, but here he gave the distinct impression that he had forgotten to install his ‘winter tyres’.

The dog walker knew the route that offered friction. Nevertheless we were soon assembled at White Nancy, having knocked off virtually all the climbing on today’s walk in the first few minutes.

There’s a good view from here to Billinge Hill and beyond – Gritstone Trail country.

 

By way of a reminder, not least to myself, here’s what I’ve written about White Nancy in the past:

‘The structure was built in 1817 by John Gaskell junior of North End Farm to commemorate the victory at the Battle of Waterloo.  It originally had an entrance to a single room which was furnished with stone benches and a central round stone table, but the entrance is now blocked. It has been described as a summer house or a folly.

In the mid-1940s, the Royal Signal Corps Trials Unit based at Catterick would apparently drive a truck-mounted dish-shaped transmitter/receiver up to White Nancy, where they tested cathode-ray tube transmission and reception (data-based, not images), to a mobile receiving station on another truck. The receiver would be driven further and further south over time, until eventually the lads at White Nancy were sending a signal to the south coast of the country. Locals told the signallers that the landmark was named after the lead horse that had transported all the materials for the building of the folly.

White Nancy is circular in plan with its shape described as that of a sugar loaf, and is surmounted with a ball finial. It is built in sandstone rubble which has been rendered and painted.  It is about 18 feet (5 m) high. Stone paving has been laid around its base which is inscribed with the points of the compass.

According to its Wikipedia entry, White Nancy was unpainted until at least 1925, since when it has been painted in a number of different colours over the years, most commonly in white. In 2005 vandals painted it partly in pink. In March 2009 it was repainted in white with the ball finial in black.’

We continued along the Saddle of Kerridge to Kerridge Hill, from where there’s a good view down to the village of Rainow.

Whilst there are excellent walks to be had by continuing to the end of the ridge before turning to head through Rainow, we chose to pause at the summit of Kerridge Hill – there were good panoramic views on the clear day – before heading down the western slopes to some footpaths across muddy fields leading to the Macclesfield Canal. A tea and banana break was taken en route.

The canal towpath between Macclesfield and Bollington provides very pleasant walking. A fleet of Canada Geese was encountered.

The outskirts of Bollington bring sights of all manner of garden decorations on the east side of the canal. Stone herons jostle for position with plastic pandas. And that’s just the start of it.

There were numerous patches of gaudy crocuses beside the path.

We continued through Bollington to a footbridge that led to an excellent café, shown below with an appropriate icon. Superb carrot cake.

The ‘8 km’ walk turned out to be 9.5 km, with about 200 metres ascent. It took us about two and a half hours.

Next week, it’s the Bollin Valley, all welcome:
The Bollin Valley and Ashley. Meet at Bankhall Lane in Hale, near the junction with Ashley Road (SJ 773 858), at 10.15 am (to allow time for a 9.30 tram from Timperley!), for a 13 km outing in pleasant countryside.

Don’t worry, Dot, Sue will take you to your eye appointment.

To view the images at a reasonable resolution, you may have to click on one of them and scroll through the slideshow that appears at the bottom of the screen.

Sunday 21 July 2024 - Around Bollington

I've agreed to try to update some walk descriptions in Tony Bowerman's guidebook entitled 'Walks in Mysterious Cheshire and Wirral', originally published in 1990.

I'm in separate correspondence with Tony, but I hope the pictures in this posting may supplement my observations on the text.

This walk, number 14 in the book, starts from the Bulls Head in Kerridge. A suitable 'what3words' starting point is: filed.rank.votes

A sign is passed near where the Redway Tavern used to be a starting point for mid-week evening walks that provided a break to our working week. After one post walk visit with a number of friends I recall being accosted at work the following day with the words "You hijacked our quiz!" After encouraging us to take part, regulars were upset when we deprived them of their weekly free drinks vouchers.

The former tavern has been converted to private housing, beyond which a braided concrete track leads steeply to a cattle grid.

Beyond the cattle grid the Gritstone Trail is joined. Our route ascends steeply to the right, all the way up to the 'White Nancy' monument, erected early in C19 to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo. I've written about White Nancy many times before, and references can be found here, as well as on page 146 of Tony's book.

Beyond the monument, it's a short walk along the ridge to a kissing gate.

Looking back to White Nancy

Looking forward to the kissing gate from the same spot

The path follows the ridge for some way, with quarries to the right, until the Saddle of Kerridge is reached. Where the path veers steeply down to the right, we go through the gate pictured below, after which we leave the Gritstone Trail in favour of ascending to the highest point of the ridge, some 313 metres above sea level.

There's a trig point at the summit, from where some of the highest points in Shropshire such as The Wrekin, can be admired in the distance.

Looking back from the trig point in the direction of White Nancy

Our path along the ridge now descends, with a good view of Rainow to the left.

The bright yellow coconut-scented gorse that welcomes visitors in springtime has by the end of July been replaced by ragwort and brambles, not to mention swathes of rosebay willowherb.

Sticking to the main path heading downhill through gates and wall gaps, we eventually reach a red and white post that warns of a nearby gas pipeline. Just before this post, our past turns left at an acute angle. This will take us back along the base of Kerridge Hill.

Looking back from the red and white post

The path contours, passing through gates and rejoining the Gritstone Trail. A series of gates and stiles follow an ancient paved route.

Where the paved path angles right, and into the woods, our path takes a higher line, across a field in which mushrooms can sometimes be found. It eventually arrives at a gate and stile by North End Farm.

The marked path skirts the farm and emerges by a sign for White Nancy onto the Independence Way track.

We return via another cattle grid to the grid from which we climbed to White Nancy earlier. Situated between the two grids is a stone bench that affords views towards Bollington.

After that, we simply rejoin our outward route and descend to the fleshpots of the Bulls Head on Oak Lane.

This is a lovely 5km outing, with not much more than 100 metres ascent, taking 1.5 to 2 hours.

Wednesday 10 November 2010 – Darwen Tower and White Nancy

Last Wednesday JJ’s finely honed team of runners dragged me up Darwen Tower on a 14km recce for a fell running trip over Darwen Moor for which they are laying the trail next Saturday.

It was a lovely day.  We climbed to the top of the tower.
 
I don’t think they’ll be doing that on the fell run, not least because the top of the tower blew away on Thursday!

We had a bit of trouble with rickety stiles and barbed wire fences – great care was needed, Steve and JJ will bring wire cutters, hammer and nails when they lay the trail for the runners.

It was wonderfully clear, with the peaks of Snowdonia standing clear some 80 miles to the south west, and the snow laden summits of the Lake District looking much closer than 50 miles distant to the north.

There’s a slide show (31 images) here.

And the route (roughly) is shown below:

It took us over four and a half hours for the 14km.  Perhaps the runners will go faster!

As for White Nancy – Sue and I were joined by JJ and another John at the Vale Inn in Bollington.  Richard E also turned up – it was good to see him after a long hiatus.  He’s been working hard – with one press of a button his new car’s boot flew open and the door handles all lit up – amazing…

It was dark by the time we set off, on a lovely clear evening, to negotiate a 7km circuit with fine views over Greater Manchester.

Oh, and we found White Nancy, pictured here in the background.

Friday 1 March 2013 – A Stroll from Bollington

A bit of grit and part of a Cheshire Ring, were today’s diet.

Andrew and I started in Bollington, on the western edge of the Peak District, where under a grey sky and with a cold following wind, we hauled ourselves up steep slopes to White Nancy, the folly that’s prominent at the northern end of Kerridge Hill, overlooking the town.  It was built in 1817 to commemorate victory at Waterloo, but it currently celebrates the Queen’s diamond jubilee (see above), and the London Olympics on the reverse.

We were heading along the Gritstone Trail on this ‘easy to navigate’ stroll, but we missed the signs and found ourselves unexpectedly at the 313 metre pinnacle of Kerridge Hill.  From here there's a good view down to Rainow, with Shining Tor in the distance.  This photo cleverly utilises a trig point to block out the hovels of Rainow*, and places Shining Tor directly above said protuberance.

After regaining the Gritstone Trail, we again failed to observe the signposts and found an alternative route  past Hordern Farm.  Then, as we rose to nearly 400 metres we encountered lingering snow, which certainly wasn't in a mood to melt in today's icy northerly breeze.  It must have fallen some time ago, but despite the lovely weather we’ve had for the last couple of weeks, low temperatures have encouraged the white stuff to hold tight in shady spots.

Our path led us down to Tegg’s Nose visitor centre, where we sat inside and enjoyed a cuppa and the last of my cake supplies before heading over the quarried (millstone grit) remains of Tegg's Nose and down to the fleshpots of Langley.

Shutlingsloe was unmistakable through the gloom, beyond Ridgegate Reservoir.

A couple of Goosanders were busy in Teggsnose Reservoir.

Saint Dunstans Inn, in Langley, is one of those rare establishments that welcomes you in to eat your own butties.

Sadly, on a Friday in March, you have to arrive after 5pm to do this!

The last hill, en route from Langley to the Macclesfield Canal, was on a pleasant path that was new to us both.  Dropping down to the Macclesfield Canal, where we were to join the Cheshire Ring for the walk back to Bollington, we were unable to access the waterway from our chosen route, eventually reaching it after a little road walking.

A convenient bench, opposite the marina in Macclesfield, offered a good luncheon spot, in the company of a lone and mildly hungry Mallard.

This section of canal has some pleasingly designed bridges.

There are boatyards, marinas, mills, etc, as well as stretches of farmland adjacent to the towpath on the easy walk from Macclesfield to Bollington.

Before we knew it we had reached our destination - before 3 o'clock.

This was a short but pleasant amble of some 18 km (11 miles) with 500 metres ascent, taking around 5 hours.  The route is shown below, and there’s a short slideshow here.

* Just joking!

Friday 17 February 2023 - Around Bollington

Last Friday's walk found us accepting a lift to Bollington with Paul, Jeanette and Rufus. We've done a similar, slightly shorter, walk before, and after a few minutes we could be found slipping and sliding up the steep path to White Nancy.

The views back over Bollington warranted a pause to admire.

White Nancy, built in 1817 to commemorate victory at the Battle of Waterloo, was resplendent in the sunshine.

A strong wind kept us cool, but for most of the way along the Saddle of Kerridge a sturdy wall protected us from the worst of the blast.

The signwriter at Swanscoe has been busy...

Between Swanscoe and the Macclesfield Canal was a pond that must be a haven for wildlife.

There followed a pleasant stroll along the towpath, albeit by now the sun had disappeared. However, we were thankful for the dry conditions and lack of precipitation. It's often quite muddy hereabouts at this time of year, but not today - appreciated by all of us, especially Rufus.

Eight miles to Marple from here, just south of Bollington..

The mill with the tall chimney is Clarence Mill - a five-storey former cotton spinning mill built between 1834 and 1877 for the Swindells family of Bollington. It was built alongside the Macclesfield Canal, which opened in 1831.

The mill appears to be humming with a plethora of uses.

We soon doubled back to the Adlington Road car park, after the 10.5km stroll with less than 200 metres ascent.

Adjourning for coffees and tea cakes at a friendly cafe in Hale sealed a most enjoyable morning. Thanks for coming along, P+J+R.

More can be found out about White Nancy, etc, by going to this entry from four years ago.

Next Friday:
Sue's Birthday Walk - Coniston Old Man and Dow Crag from the Walna Scar Road (SD 288 970). A 9km circuit starting at 10:30 and adjourning to somewhere in Coniston.
Postponed to a warmer day. let Martin know if you would like to be informed of a short notice visit on a warmer day.

More walks in the programme shortly...

Later, here they are:

Friday 24 February 2023 (to replace the postponed OMC walk)
Hurst Green and Ribchester - a 9km circuit from Hurst Green. Meet at 10am outside the Aighton, Bailey & Chaigley Memorial Hall up Avenue Road (SD 684 382).
This is Walk 22 in Mark Sutcliffe's Cicerone guide - Walking in Lancashire.

Friday 31 March 2023
Barrowford and Foulridge - a 15km circuit from Pendle Heritage Centre, Barrowford (SD 862 397). Meet at 10am. There's a car park next to the Heritage Centre.
This is Walk 27 in Mark Sutcliffe's Cicerone guide - Walking in Lancashire 

Friday 7 April 2023 (Good Friday)
Around Shocklach. 11km from The Bull in Shocklach (SJ 439 492).
Meet at 10am outside the pub. (Take the B5130 south from Chester. Cross the A534 at Farndon and continue south to Shocklach.)

Friday 14 April 2023
Around Appleton. 10km of lovely paths on Warrington's outskirts.
Meet at 10am outside the London Bridge Inn, London Road (via M56 Jnc 10) 

Friday 2 June 2023 (May is 'full', with the TGO Challenge and other commitments)
Y Garn and the Glyders. 13km on the route described here.
Meet at 10am at the Ogwen Cottage Visitor Centre.