Middlewood Way & Styperson Pool With A Special Friend

Introduction

Those who follow me regularly will recognise this as a very similar walk to that which I posted on 7 November 2020. 11 month old Rolo has been staying with us for a couple of days. I love this walk, and wanted my first solo outing with him to be in a place I knew well, with few difficult or unexpected challenges.

Walk time – about 2 hours with a lively puppy, it’s just 3.8 miles but many different landscapes to enjoy. I had Rolo on the lead except for the woods and canal section, but for most the Middlewood Way section would also be great for calmer dogs to have a run around.

Weather – pleasant, sunny and not too hot for a dog with a thick, black coat on.

OS Explorer Map 268

Parking – free car park at Holehouse Lane, Whiteley Green SK10 5SR

Middlewood Way

I tackled the walk anti-clockwise, so set out along the Middlewood Way, heading south with my enthusiastic companion leading us out!

I love the signs on the disused railway line here.

There are great views of the Bollington Recreation Ground from the viaduct, but from Rolo’s viewpoint, this is dull!

After the former station I turned off and headed uphill, and up the steps onto the Macclesfield Canal.

Macclesfield Canal

I made my way back north towards the aqueduct and Clarence Mill.

Instead of crossing the aqueduct we turned left and faced the Hole In The Wall Heritage Steps – a tricky route with Rolo pulling hard!

It’s steeper than it looks on the picture!

Beeston Brow and Long Lane

We turned right at the bottom of the steps and, after a couple of hundred yards, left up the cobbled Beeston Brow, which soon offers up a delightful view to White Nancy behind us.

Beeston Brow becomes Long Lane, a very quiet road, and the first bench we came to was unoccupied, so we took a rest,took in the view of the Cheshire plain, and shared a well-earned drink of water.

Styperson Pool

We turned left on reaching the woods, through the trees that now occupy a former quarry, where I was pleased to find five teenage lads messing about on mountain bikes – just like I would have been at their age. Once I was out of their range, I took the plunge and let Rolo off the lead here, which he really enjoyed. The Pool is always a tranquil beauty spot.

Back To The Canal

A short stretch of Sugar Lane soon took us back to this quiet part of the canal and another chance to let Rolo off the lead.

It was great fun walking with him, despite his continuous attempts to eat anything on the verges. However he was very well behaved in the car, and snoozed nicelyon the back seat for the journey home!

And Finally…..

The Killers have a new album titled Pressure Machine. Not too keen on the spoken Intros, but once it gets going I like this track called “In The Car Outside”.