Walk 6: Tegg’s Nose and Walker Barn
The walk starts and ends at the Teggs Nose Country Park car park. The last time I used this car park, it was 'Pay and Display', with a charge of £1.50. Leave Macclesfield town centre on the A537 road to Buxton. Eventually there is a sign to Teggs Nose Country Park along Buxton Old Road. The Visitors Centre and car park are on the right hand side after a few miles. The Visitors Centre has many interesting displays, walking guides, and toilets. There is a cafe, which is open at weekends only, from Easter to September.
| Fact File | |
| Distance: | 4.5 miles (7 km) |
| Terrain: | Fairly strenuous, along lanes, bridleways, and other footpaths. Several ascents and descents, but not too steep |
| Maps: | OS Explorer Map 268 |
| Start: | Teggs Nose Country Park. |
Route Guide
Teggs Nose Country Park is a mixed habitat consisting of open heather moorland, meadows and woodlands. Teggs Nose used to be a quarry in Macclesfield of days gone by, and some of the old quarrying machinery is still strewn around the area. Tegg’s Nose Country Park offers splendid views over the patchwork landscape of the Cheshire plain, with distinctive landmarks such as Jodrell Bank and Beeston Castle. The peak of Shuttlingsloe, above the Forest, is seen to the southeast. This picture shows the view over towards Warrilowhead Farm, which is passed during the walk.
The first part of this walk is along the Gritstone Trail, which leads north and crosses the A537 Buxton Road. The Cheshire Gritstone Trail is a long-distance footpath running from Disley in Cheshire to Kidsgrove, just over the border in Staffordshire. The trail is waymarked with yellow discs with a footprint inscribed with a G.
Walker Barn is a small group of houses on the A537 Buxton Road. At one time, one of the buildings was the Setter Dog pub. The buildings now house PEAK Cyclesport.
Note that Walk 7 can be added onto this walk. Walk 7 takes you on to Rainow and past Lamaload Reservoir before returning to Walker Barn.
Directions
Start from the car park at Teggs Nose.
| 1 | Leave the car park and turn right up the road. After a short distance, the Gritstone Trail is signposted to the left, away from the road. |
| 2 | Follow the Gritstone Trail over the brow of the hill, via several stiles and gates. Eventually a cross roads of footpaths is reached. Head straight on down hill to meet the busy A537 Buxton Road. |
| 3 | Cross the A537 carefully, and turn left along the pavement for a short distance, to Bull Hill Lane on your right. |
| 4 | The Gritstone Trail continues from the corner of Bull Hill Lane, down across a field, over two stiles to a stream. Cross the stream, and walk up hill, bearing right to a kissing gate. After the kissing gate, head across the field to a stile. After the stile, follow a wall which is to your left. At the end of the field, cross another stile onto a lane. |
| 5 | Turn right along the lane to Hordern Farm. Pass between buildings at Hordern Farm. |
| 6 | Past the farm, bear left along the footpath. |
| 7 | This footpath now passes along the side of Gulshaw Hollow. Where the path meets the remains of an old dry stone wall, continue in the same direction but cross to the other side of the wall so that it is on your right. Eventually the path bears right downhill and meets and crosses a stream. |
| 8 | The path heads uphill, with a wall to the right. After a short distance it meets a concreted driveway. Walk uphill along this driveway to the main road (the A537 again). The group of houses here is called Walker Barn. |
| 9 | Cross the A537 here. Take care crossing the road, as it is on a bend here. Turn left along the pavement. After a short distance, turn right along a lane (Crooked Yard Road, indicated as being a No Through Road). |
| 10 | After a short distance, cross a ladder stile over the wall on the left, and follow a footpath uphill. Cross another ladder stile. The footpath meets a driveway at the top of the hill. Bear right along the driveway, towards Warrilowhead Farm. Follow the footpath to pass to the right of the farm. |
| 11 | Cross over a stone stile, then follow a grassy path down to a stream in a deep gully. Cross the stream, then follow the footpath uphill and then down into another gully. The footpath then goes uphill again. |
| 12 | Passing to the left of a house (Ashtreetop), the footpath emerges onto a lane (Hacked Way Lane). |
| 13 | Turn right down the lane. After passing a house on the right (Hardingland Farm) the lane becomes a bridleway. Ignore the footpath which bears right across a field. Follow the bridleway down between fields. At the bottom of the hill, the bridleway turns right. |
| 14 | The bridleway (loose-stone path) passes between fields, and eventually crosses a stream tumbling down the hillside. The bridleway passes a house on the left (Lower Crooked Yard Farm), then becomes a narrow lane. When you reach Clough House farm at the bottom of the hill, follow the lane round to the right. |
| 15 | Walk up the lane until you get to Saddler’s Way on the left (signposted as a Concessionary Bridleway). |
| 16 | Walk up Saddler’s Way to return to the Tegg’s Nose car park. |