Sunday December 21st

Tegg's Nose, Trentabank and Chapel House- with Ann and Julian

It had been a while since we'd been for a walk with Ann and Julian, and we had been invited for lunch at their home. It made sense to have a shortish walk close to their home and starting at Tegg's Nose made lots of sense. Unfortunately, the coffee shop was closed for a private function, so we couldn't start with a drink so we set off towards Trentabank, where we knew that the coffee waggon would be open.

Rather than walking up past the quarries of Tegg's Nose and making the very steep descent down Ward's Knob, we took the flagged path down to the ford just past Clough House.

Jacinta and Ann on the way down past Clough House

We passed the Teggsnose, Bottoms and Ridgegate Reservoirs and were happy to find that the coffee waggon by Trentabank was indeed open.

The road past the reservoir was closed to traffic so it was quiet and we left it  after a brief spell on the tarmac, climbing up through the Macclesfield Forest to Toot Hill and the road to Chapel House Farm. There was a brief section of bridleway in the open until we met the footpath taking us back down through the forest towards Clough House. However, there were ominous notices about the footpath being closed. A runner emerged from the woods, and deemed the footpath to be "passable". He was right... just about! Several trees were down through storm damage, and the way through was muddy in parts and fallen trees had to be navigated using mild gymnastics. 

However, the damaged section was limited and was primarily coniferous; when we reached the broadleafed section of the forest, the path was clear but definitely atmospheric. 

Ann and Julian walking through Macclesfield Forest

Although we'd thought that this was new ground for us, we recognised a derelict building just off Hacked Way Lane and realised that we'd actually done a walk through the forest in the opposite direction, up to the Cat and Fiddle via the Forest Chapel.

The final section of the walk (before returning via the flagged path) was across a number of muddy fields and stream inlets. We then had a very enjoyable lunch with Ann and Julian at their home.

A walk of 6.3 miles with 400m ascent.



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