Mellor Church – A Lovely Short & Sunny Stockport Stroll

Introduction

Yesterday was such a beautiful spring day, Cal and I just had to get out and enjoy it.

Mellor is a district of Stockport that is full of interesting places and great views.

The drive to Mellor is almost half an hour from Cheadle Hulme.

This is aneasy 2.3 mile walk, and it took 1 hour 15 minutes.

It’s mainly on fenced and gated tracks with some sheep pasture, but generally it’s good for dog walking.

We parked oat the junction of Clement Road and Townscliffe Lane, postcode SK6 5AP.

The walk is on OS Explorer Map OL1.

Here’s a wider view of the location.

Townscliffe Lane To The Iron Age Archaeological Site

The walk heads up Towncliffe Lane to Townscliffe Farm, and then follows the track around to the left.

There is a lovely cobbled section of road and a garden with a delightful heather border. I hadn’t envisaged a blog when we set off, so you’ll have to visit for yourself if you want to see it!

The path leaves the driveway to the left near the heather.

There is a broad valley to the left which is nestled between Longhurst Lane to the south and Hollins Lane to the north.

We liked this sculptural tree.

A right turn took us up a track where a cottage had a spectacular camellia was in bloom around the front door.

We paused to take in the view down the valley.

We joined the Cown Edge Way across fields, passing a duck pond.

Ahead, Cal was taking the short climb up the slope in her stride!

At the top, I took a breather!

And took in the view to Manchester, on what was such a clear day.

Cal had a rest too!

We’d now reached the reconstructed iron age hut. There’s plenty to read about the excavations and findings of this ancient settlement.

St Thomas’s Church To Townscliffe Lane

To the right of the churchyard entrance are further excavations. A sculpture depicts the heads of an Iron Age settler on one side, and a Roman settler on the other.

Entering the churchyard, this headstone catches the eye.

The church is open during daylight hours, so we had a look around.

Back outside, the views are stunning.

We made our way down to the farm pictured on the right, above. Here we joined a lane which winds down through a pretty wooded clough.

Back at Townscliffe Farm, a handsome white horse was watching us!

Now, we were back on the lane, from where we returned to our starting point.

There are some excellent hostelries in Mellor and in Marple Bridge. so extending this short trip would be very tempting, though we had to give that option a miss ourselves.

Still, what a lovely morning we’d had!

And Finally….

I’ve been catching up with some new music this week.

This is The Bar Stool Preachers with “Love The Love” from the new album “Above The Static”. I love it!