Walk 5: Trentabank and Higher Sutton
The walk starts and ends at the Leather’s Smithy pub, which may be found a short distance beyond the village of Langley. By car, take the A523 Leek road south out of Macclesfield. Turn left at traffic lights and follow the signs to Langley, bearing left after going under the canal. Bear left again at the church, following Main Road then Clarke Lane. After a short distance uphill past Bottoms reservoir, the Leather’s Smithy is on the left. There is car parking available at the side of the road adjacent to Ridgegate reservoir just beyond the Leather’s Smithy.
| Fact File | |
| Distance: | 3 miles (5 km) |
| Terrain: | Lanes, footpaths and bridleways. Only one short climb up a field to Higher Sutton, otherwise fairly easy. |
| Maps: | OS Explorer Map 268 |
| Start: | Leathers Smithy pub, Langley. |
Route Guide
This short circular walk involves an easy climb up to Higher Sutton, and then back via an easy set of paths and lanes to the Trentabank reservoir, then returning to the Leathers Smithy by road.
The first part of this walk makes use of the Gritstone Trail. The trail is waymarked with yellow discs with a footprint inscribed with a 'G'.
Refreshments and toilets are available at the Hanging Gate pub in Higher Sutton, the Trentabank Visitors Centre, and at the Leathers Smithy pub where the walk starts and ends. Strong shoes or walking boots are essential. One and a half hours should be allowed.
The Leather’s Smithy is situated next to Ridgegate Reservoir. 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.
The ‘top’ of this route reaches the Hanging Gate pub at Higher Sutton. From here, the views across the Cheshire Plain make the last climb well worth while.
The Visitors Centre at Trentabank reservoir is worth a visit. Also, at the back of the Visitors Centre, is the Nice Nosh refreshment stall, where John sells some wonderful food and drinks (hot and cold), including home-made cakes and locally-sourced bacon, sausages, burgers etc. There are seats and tables here, right next to the forest, where birds come and go all the time to visit the bird table.
Directions
| 1 | From the Leathers Smithy pub, cross directly over the road and follow the footpath which is adjacent to the dam at the end of the Ridgegate reservoir. |
| 2 | Bear left at the end of the reservoir and then immediately turn right along the footpath where a sign indicates “To Gritstone Trail”. |
| 3 | This path descends via a series of stone steps, across a wooden foot bridge, and up to a lane. |
| 4 | Turn left along the lane. Now follow the Gritstone Trail signs (a footprint inscribed with a 'G' on a yellow arrow), which lead you to the right of the house at the end of the lane. |
| 5 | The Gritstone Trail is clearly marked, and crosses several fields, past farm houses, over stiles and through several ‘kissing’ gates. At one point it crosses a narrow lane. There is no need to describe all of the directions here, as the Gritstone Trail is clearly marked. Just keep following the yellow ‘G’ signs! |
| 6 | Eventually the Gritstone Trail leads you up a footpath through the middle of a field, across a stream, and up to a stone wall and onto a road. This is Meg Lane. |
| 7 | Turn left along Meg Lane, for a short distance. Just before some houses on the right, there is a footpath sign at a bridleway – ignore this. |
| 8 | About 30 yards further on, just after the houses on the right, there is a footpath sign to the right, follow this. |
| 9 | The footpath leads through two kissing gates, and up to the back garden of the Hanging Gate pub. There are outside toilets at the pub. |
| 10 | Leaving the pub, turn left along the road, where there are views across the Cheshire plain to the left. |
| 11 | Where the road bends sharply to the left, bear right instead, along a lane which eventually leads to Trentabank. |
| 12 | At the next road junction, ignore the even-narrower lane to the left and carry straight on. |
| 13 | At a right-hand bend in the road there is a footpath to the left. The walk can be made even shorter by following this footpath, which eventually meets the footpath adjacent to the dam at the end of the Ridgegate reservoir (the one followed at step 1). Follow this path back to the Leathers Smithy. |
| 14 | Otherwise, follow the road around the right hand bend, until you reach a clearing on the right, where a bridleway and a footpath leave the road. |
| 15 | The bridleway goes straight uphill away from the road, ignore this. The footpath, signed as walk 3 (one of the signed walks around Macc Forest) and to Shutlingsloe and Trentabank, actually begins parallel to the road. Take the footpath. |
| 16 | Follow the walk 3 signs through the forest, down to a wide path. Cross straight over the wide path. Upon reaching the next wide path, turn right up hill. Upon reaching another wide path, turn left to follow the sign to Trentabank. Just before reaching the road, turn left to the Trentabank Visitors Centre. |
| 17 | Turn left out of the Visitors Centre car park, and follow the road down to and along the side of Ridgegate Reservoir, back to the Leathers Smithy. |