Introduction
I had a free day today, so made my way out into another wonderful walking area, starting from Gradbach car park.
It’s a 40 minute drive from Cheadle Hulme to Gradbach.
The weather was bright, with a layer of very high cloud, intermittent sunshine, and quite cold.
The walk straddles the upper reaches of the River Dane, where it forms the border between Staffordshire and East Cheshire. It is 6.1 miles long, with 1200feet of ascent, and it took about 3 hours. The ground was quite boggy in places, and good waterproof footwear was essential!
This walk isn’t suitable for dogs due to difficult stiles and one locked gate that I had to climb over.
I walked in an anticlockwise direction.
The walk is on OS Explorer Map OL24.
I parked at the car park, postcode SK17 0SU.
Gradbach To Turn Edge
A short walk back along the path by the river reminded me just how pretty it is around here.
My route was taking me straight up the hill to my right. It’s quite steep, and was very soon quite rewarding with views back down over the car park.
And also upstream to the house above the bridge over the river.
The path goes around the first farmhouse, then up a track and to the left of a further, rather dilapidated farm building.
It’s a good climb up here, ending when I reached a gate onto the heather clad moor.
My route doesn’t go through the gate, but turns left, following the wall, and overlooking the wide, marshy area as I traversed towards Sniddles Head Farm.
I crossed the road, and the path now turned really wet as I headed to a nearby gate.
It got easier as I made my way over the fields to Green Gutter Head. There were plenty of sheep around. This spotty one at “The Wash” looked very pregnant!
After The Wash I crossed a stream in a pretty clough.
At the road, there was a lovely retaining wall, with splendid views beyond.
I crossed the road and met the path which traverses the hillside. Another wet one!
This hill clearly feels the full force of the westerly winds. This tree seems almost coastal!
Ay Spring Head I waited for the farmer to come out and control his sheepdog before tackling the farmyard. Over the road it was a quagmire of mud and cow pats, but it was worth tackling for the view down the next valley.
I followed the path by the water, upstream, before rising to the main path that leads around Turn Edge and eventually on to Three Shire Heads.
The River Dane And Cut-Thorn Hill Moors
I didn’t go on to Three Shire Heads, but dropped down to cross the river at the path up to Knar.
There are views back to wards Gradbach and The Roaches rising high beneath a colourful sky.
At the northerly extreme of my walk, I was almost at the A54, where there was good view to Shutlingsloe, where it rises above the hamlet of Wildboarclough.
From here, the path swerves left and crosses the moor, giving further fine views. This one is back over the valley to Turn Edge.
And there was some nice agricultural sculpture to enjoy too.
The route back to the car from here was very much downhill to Hole-edge and Bennettshitch, from where a beautiful gorse lined path topples down the hillside to the valley floor.
At the bottom of the path it’s a short stroll over the bridge and across the riverside field to the car park.
This is a really popular area for walkers. The car park was full when I returned, and this is a weekday in winter!
Mind, it’s easy to see why as the scenery and views are stunning and there is a lot of choice of routes, some of which are a bit more dog-friendly!
And Finally….
If you like Marc Almond, you’ll like his latest band, The Loveless. They do some covers and some originals.
This is “Don’t Bring Me Down”.