Introduction
A cloudy and breezy morning greeted me as I headed out to Bollington.
This is a delightful 6.5 mile walk over rural lanes, tracks and a few fields, finishing with a canalside and disused railway walk.
It took 2 hours 40 minutes.
It’s just a 20 minute drive from Cheadle Hulme to Bollington Wharf.
It’s a really good walk for dogs, with fenced or walled tracks, the canal and disused railway, and just a few short road sections and open fields.
I parked on the road outside the private car park of Bollington Wharf, postcode SK10 5NB, but Clough Bank car park, postcode SK10 5NY is nearby and is free.
The walk is on OS Explorer Map 268.
Kerridge
When visiting Kerridge, it’s always tempting to head up to White Nancy and along the ridge. So, I deliberately aimed to stay below the ridge in the greener foothill country between Macclesfield / Bollington and the Peak District.
This plan didn’t disappoint.
Bollington Wharf and the cottages beyond are an attractive starting point.
Leaving the canal at the first bridge, a track heads gently up between pasture fields to Oak Lane. Across the road, Higher Lane leads up towards the steepest part of the “Saddle of Kerridge”. It’s a very pretty road with some incredibly steep rear gardens to the cottages!
I presume the chimney belongs to one of the quarries that operate along here.
At the end of the lane is Endon House with its amazing working clock.
Just beyond here, the path splits. I took the right hand, lower path leading along to a gate.
A valley opens out here, and I turned right, downhill, and away from the ridge.
Kerridge To Cliff Hill
At the bottom of the hill, it looked particularly damp.
It turned out to be not as bad as it looked, being only about 15mm deep with a solid base below.
A couple of fields took me to a roofless farm building. Regular readers may have noticed that I like an interesting wall! This colourful one definitely caught my eye!
The path led me to Higher Swanscoe Farm, which I recognised from my walk on 20 October 2022 (linked below).
I must confess, when I recognised the location I thought it was about 2 years ago that I’d been here!
There are fine views to the gorse covered Cliff Hill nearby.
I was soon making my way up the hill, but not before watching this jackdaw stealing nesting twigs from a bonfire!
Cliff Hill is an absolute treat., particularly with the gorse in flower. It was very breezy here, and a seemingly ideal birding spot was in fact rather quiet, but for the whistling wind!
At the end of the gorsey section I came upon this delightful memorial. Not just a bench, but also a little display cabinet containing a pair of binoculars and a book to read. Just lovely!
And here are a couple of glorious views to behold from this spot.
I made my way down to Calrofold Lane, where the drake mallard was maintaining a close watch over his pond.
Macclesfield Canal And Middlewood Way
I crossed a couple of fields to Marsh Farm. Here was a typical farmyard scene.
Cliff Lane is a steep, narrow, dilapidated road. I was pleased to be able to take the path to the left, halfway down.
The Atra Zeneca Macclesfield site loomed ahead of me.
I joined the B5470 opposite The Three Crowns pub, and soon arrived at the canal, joining at bridge 34.
The industrial estate marks this section of canal, but there are plenty of pretty areas to look at too.
It’s a toss of a coin whether to stay on the canal or switch to the Middlewood Way. I took the latter option, searched unsuccessfully for tadpoles in the wayside ponds, but saw much evidence of badger activity on the embankments! I was soon back at the car.
This is a really lovely walk.
If you don’t have time for it, then just do the circuit of Cliff Hill, Calrofold Lane and Cliff Lane from the B5470, a super short stroll, with a trip to The Three Crowns to finish!
And Finally….
We saw The DMA’s a few years ago, supporting The Courteeners at Heaton Park.
Well, the Aussie trio have released a cracking new album, How Many Dreams? It’s very Blossoms-esque.
This is my favourite track, “I Don’t Need To Hide”.