Walk 9: Alderley Edge to Bradford Lane
The walk starts and ends at Alderley Edge, at a small car park near Beacon Lodge. If travelling by car, take the main road out of Macclesfield to Alderley Edge (B5087). Pass the main National Trust car park on the right and the Wizard restaurant. Shortly after there is a layby on the right, adjacent to a small house (Beacon Lodge) - park here. If there is not enough space here, you'll have to turn around and go back to the National Trust car park.
| Fact File | |
| Distance: | 4 miles (6 km) |
| Terrain: | Mainly footpaths and bridleways, one major incline up steps, can be muddy in places. |
| Maps: | OS Explorer Map 268 |
| Start: | Alderley Edge. |
Route Guide
This is a leisurely two hour walk. The walk passes close to the main National Trust car park at Alderley Edge, and toilets and refreshments are available here.
Alderley Edge is an escarpment of soft red sandstone - the flat Cheshire Plain is disturbed by gently-rising land which suddenly drops away again back to the flat landscape. This is the geological Alderley Edge which reaches to 600 ft (160m) above the surrounding land. The Edge has a long history as a mining area since the Romans, and maybe earlier peoples, first started extracting copper ore; there are numerous mine shafts and tunnels in the area. A caving club gives guided tours.
When Alderley Edge was heathland the Edge provided uninterrupted views of the surrounding countryside. A small monument marks the site where there was once a beacon, constructed in the 16th century on the highest point of the Edge. The Legends of Alderley Edge website details the many other interesting features and folklore of the area.
This walk also explores the less-popular common land that lies the other side of the main road (still owned by the National Trust), around the appropriately-named Artists Lane (pictured here). Alderley Edge’s legendary lady in white, Nell Beck, was last seen drifting across Artists Lane in the 1800s, scaring a group of Alderley boys out of their wits.
Directions
| 1 | From the layby on the main road at Beacon Lodge, cross over the road and walk straight down the wide path through the woods. |
| 2 | Soon a wide clearing in the woods is reached. In the clearing, turn left to head under the trees, away from the clearing. There is no footpath signed here, but head towards the edge of the woods - there is an open field beyond. There is a small marker post when you reach the path at the edge of the woods, indicating a National Trust horse riding trail (a horses hoof). |
| 3 | Upon reaching the marker post, turn left along the path at the edge of the woods. This path skirts the edge of the woods, with an open field to the right. |
| 4 | Follow a few more National Trust horse riding trail marker posts, until a lane is reached. This is Artists Lane. |
| 5 | Cross straight over the lane, to follow a further National Trust horse riding trail sign along a footpath into the woods. |
| 6 | Where this footpath meets the main road, turn right down Bradford Lane. |
| 7 | At a road junction, bear right down Bradford Lane. |
| 8 | Pass the Wizard Caravan Park on your right. Bradford Lane now turns into a bridleway. |
| 9 | Follow the bridleway down past a few houses, until a footpath sign is found on the right. |
| 10 | Turn right down the narrow footpath. This follows the edge of two fields, then down through some trees, until you meet Artists Lane again. |
| 11 | Turn right up Artists Lane. |
| 12 | After a short distance, there is a footpath sign on the left. |
| 13 | Turn left down this wide path. Walk along this path until you reach a crossroads of footpaths. |
| 14 | Turn left at this crossroads. Pass over a stile next to a gate, and follow the driveway beyond. Eventually the driveway emerges onto a quiet road, where several large houses indicate the affluence of Alderley Edge. Follow this road downhill. |
| 15 | Part way down this road, there is a footpath sign on the right. Turn right down the footpath, between the boundary fences of two properties here. The footpath crosses directly over two more quiet roads before reaching the main road. |
| 16 | Upon reaching the main road, cross straight over and walk down Trafford Road. |
| 17 | Upon reaching the crossroads at the end of Trafford Road, turn right to walk along Mottram Road. |
| 18 | Soon a road off to the right, Squirrels Jump, is reached. |
| 19 | Walk up Squirrels Jump. |
| 20 | At the end of Squirrels Jump, a sign indicates that you are entering the National Trust property of Alderley Edge. |
| 21 | Walk up the footpath through the trees, where there are good views off to the left. |
| 22 | The footpath goes downhill for a short distance, before bearing to the right up stone and wooden steps. This is quite a climb, to be taken gradually! |
| 23 | At the top of the hill, the footpath bears to the left and levels out. |
| 24 | Follow this mainly-level path now, which passes just under several rocky outcrops. The first rocky outcrop is the site of the Wizard's Well. |
| 25 | The path is mainly level now as it passes under several rocky outcrops. Where it meets another path, bear left. The path passes a walled area to the right. |
| 26 | Eventually the path goes uphill to emerge from under the trees onto a wide area of bare sandstone, which is a natural viewing point. Where the path emerges from under the trees, take a sharp right turn, almost doubling back on yourself, along a path that goes back into the woods. |
| 27 | Soon, the path takes a sharp left turn. As you turn left, the site of the old beacon is just off to the right, on the top of a small mound. |
| 28 | A few yards further on, bear right, to head back towards a house (Beacon Lodge). |
| 29 | After Beacon Lodge, turn right to return to the starting point of this walk. |