Start/Finish: The Poachers Inn,
Ingersley Road, Bollington. Distance: 6.9 miles (11.1 km). Difficulty: Mainly
medium, one short climb. Time: 2½ to 3 hours
1. Turn right up the road (Smithy Brow) from the Poachers Inn. There is a pavement on the left hand side.
2.
A short distance further on, a
crossroads is reached. Turn left along Spuley Lane (signposted to Pott
Shrigley).
3.
Turn right up a lane (Hedge
Row). Continue past several buildings. Do not take the first footpath on the
right.
4.
Take the second footpath on the right.
There are 6 stone steps up to a stile. Follow the footpath, which bears left
and goes slightly uphill (up the side of Billinge Hill). After a short
distance, the footpath follows an old wall (which is on the left).
5.
Cross a stile over a wall and
continue in the same direction.
6.
Cross another stile, and bear
right, slightly uphill, along a bridleway (not the bridleway which bears left
and downhill). Follow the bridleway, which passes under some trees, and then
goes downhill to a metal gate.
7.
Pass through the gate and turn
left along the road (Blaze Hill).
8.
Turn right after a short
distance down a bridleway (signposted as a "Restricted Byway").
9.
Eventually the bridleway forks.
Take the left fork. This is the continuation of the "Restricted
Byway". Follow the bridleway (which becomes Jumper Lane) past houses, down
past Clarke House (on the left) to a fork.
10.
Bear left at the fork to follow
the lane which emerges at the main road (B5470) behind the Robin Hood pub in
Rainow.
11.
Bear right along Stocks Lane. Stocks
Lane soon meets the main road (B5470) again.
12.
Bear right, to walk along the
main road down to the centre of Rainow, passing the Holy Trinity church on the
left, then uphill again. Look out for the sign for the Gritstone Trail to the
right.
13.
Turn right down the Gritstone
Trail, and follow the ‘G’ signs. Ignore a bridleway to the left.
14.
Pass through a gate and bear
left.
15.
Pass through another gate and
bear left uphill. This is a fairly steep, grassy path now. This will eventually
take you up onto the ‘saddle’ of Kerridge Ridge.
16.
At the top of the hill, cross a
stile and turn right. Keep following the ‘G’ signs along the top of Kerridge
Ridge until you come across the White Nancy at the end of the ridge.
17.
After admiring the view across
Bollington, continue straight on to follow the paved path down hill to Kerridge.
There are other paths down hill here, but our path is the only one that is
paved with stone slabs.
18.
When the path reaches a
concreted bridleway, turn left. This descends to meet a road at Redway House
(which used to be the Redway Tavern pub).
19.
Turn right along the road
(Redway).
20.
At the end of Redway, turn left.
21.
Take the bridleway off to the
right. This is signposted as a Private Road (to Beehive Cottage amongst
others). Follow the bridleway downhill.
22.
Bear left at the bottom of the
lane (to the left of Beehive Cottage), crossing the canal over a bridge.
23.
Turn right straight after the
bridge, down some steps and along the canal towpath. Continue along the canal
towpath, passing Adelphi Mill on the left.
24.
Eventually, Clarence Mill is
reached (on the right). Cross the footbridge (26A) over the canal to Clarence
Mill, then turn right down the road.
25.
Turn left along the main road,
to pass under the canal bridge (it is probably best to cross to the pavement
opposite). Keep straight on at the traffic lights.
26.
After a church on the left,
turn left up Beeston Brow. This is a steep, cobbled lane uphill past several
houses. At the end of the houses, Beeston Brow takes a sharp right turn.
27.
A little further on, bear left
up Long Lane.
28.
Eventually, Long Lane becomes
less steep. Look out for a footpath on the right. Take this footpath, which
heads across fields, with fine views to the right across Bollington to the
White Nancy.
29.
At the end of the footpath, and
just past a few buildings on the right, turn right down a lane.
30.
A short distance down the lane,
take the paved footpath downhill to the left. This footpath has a wooden
handrail on the right, which is useful as it is slippery in places.
31.
The footpath descends past some
houses on the left, where it becomes a lane. Continue straight on down past
more houses to the main road (Shrigley Road).
32.
Cross straight over the main
road, into a short cul-de-sac.
33.
At the end of the cul-de-sac,
take the footpath that continues straight on down hill. Follow the footpath
across a field, and then up to a road (Ingersley Road).
34.
Turn left along the road, to
return to the Poachers for a well-deserved drink!