Macclesfield Forest
Macclesfield Forest is a scenic blend of coniferous forest, lakes and moorland with extensive variety of wildlife, including a heronry. The main forest car park, adjacent to the Trentabank reservoir, may be reached by driving through the village of Langley and following the signs. This photo was taken by Wayne Molyneux, a local photographer - see some more of his work by following the links on the Links page.
Toilets and information are available at the visitor's centre at Trentabank Reservoir. Also available at the visitor's centre is the Nice Nosh refreshment stall, serving excellent hot and cold snacks - this is well worth a visit, as John serves food with the Peak Cuisine mark, most of which supports Fair Trade.
Walks in the forest follow public footpaths, or concessionary paths and bridlepaths. Any of the way-marked trails through the forest may be followed on foot, all of which start from the visitor centre. There are 3 way-marked trails, of 1km, 5km or 9km distance - details are available on a leaflet available at the visitor centre. The paths designated as concessionary paths and bridlepaths may be used for horse-riding or cycling.
Macclesfield Forest was once the centre of a Royal Forest created by the Norman conquerors for the purpose of hunting game such as deer, wild boar and wolves. This particular forest stretched from the modern Disley down to the River Dane, and was the preserve of the Earls of Chester. This has always been an isolated and sparsely populated area, and it still is.
Both the Ridgegate and Trentabank reservoirs in the Forest are used for drinking water. Both reservoirs are home to many wildfowl. At different seasons you may see tufted duck, goldeneye, pochard, teal, little grebe, great crested grebe, and coot. Trentabank is also home to a large heronry – the larch trees at the eastern shore are the nesting sites.