River Bollin From Hale

Introduction

A cool, windy day greeted me as I set out on today’s short walk.

For the most part, the walk is completed to a background hum of traffic on the M56, and thus may not be to everyone’s taste, but for me the gorgeous valley of the River Bollin more than makes up for that.

The river forms the boundary between Trafford Metropolitan Borough and East Cheshire.

This walk is just under 4 miles long, generally flat, and took 1 hour 45minutes plus a 20 minute lunch break.

The journey is about 20 minutes each way by car.

The river sections are great for dog walkers, and I saw numerous of them! There is about a mile or so on roads in the middle of the walk.

I walked in an anti-clockwise direction.

The walk is on OS Explorer Map 268.

I parked on the road, just before Hale Golf Club entrance, postcode WA15 0NU. What 3 Words /// bandwagon.stem.marinated

Hale Golf Club To M56

I set off on a path crossing the golf course, which is adjacent to The Priory Hospital.

The path crosses the final fairway in front of the green, with the handsome clubhouse behind.

Over the fairway, the path disappears into a pretty wood.

Shortly, I reached the river.

The footbridge allows good views of the watercourse.

The path follows the river, but the water is obscured at this time of year by the invasive himalayan balsam.

Rising from the valley, the path heads south with an interesting arable field to the right, where, I think oats are the crop.

At the road, I turned left, and crossed the M56, between junctions 6 and 7.

M56 To River Bollin At Piggly Stairs Bridge

Moving swiftly on, before long I had made it to Back Lane, a road to nowhere, and thus very quiet. Perhaps ominously, the cows were lying down as a jet rose from the airport behind them.

It’s a lovely lane, filled with parties of finches, sparrows and warblers in the trees and hedgerows.

Returning to the busier road between the back of the airport and Ashley, I took the first of two paths down to Piggly Stairs Bridge. If you follow this walk, I’d recommend the second one as the path I took was very muddy.

On the other hand, my route did take in a lovely stretch of the river.

The bridge gives more nice views along the river too.

River Bollin And Hale Golf Course

One of the dog walkers had found the “beach” on the south bank of the river.

I made my way along the riverside path to the footway beneath the M56 where there was more doggy action!

A little further on, a fallen tree made an ideal bench for lunch.

And it was a lovely spot to rest awhile.

After leaving the river, the path rose up and out of the woods before passing some large mansions and a lovely barn conversion, eventually returning to the edge of the golf course.

From here, a path at the back of more large houses returned me to the car.

This is a lovely walk by a beautiful river, ideal for anyone wanting a bit of fresh air with 2 or 3 hours to fill.

And Finally….

The support act for last week’s Nathaniel Rateliff gig were a Cornish indie band called William The Conqueror. They were excellent. This track is the thoughtful and tuneful “The Bruises”.