Tally-Ho! Chinley Trail 8th October 2022

 

Another bright and remarkably warm day, given the weather forecast, saw the fine fellows of the Cheshire Hare & Hounds Tally-Ho! trail running club gather at the very fine Old Hall in Chinley for what promised to be another excellent run.

The hares, Ade and Tony (I’m in the money) Taylor, had plotted the day’s run.

Unusually this trail was marked by clumps of straw as well as the more usual sawdust…..this confused one or two of the hounds. Given the advancing years of one or two of the hounds such confusion is to be expected.

A pack consisting of Eastwood, Wislon, Brown ( not THAT Brown, the new one), Lost Markham, Fast Taylor, Doggy, and me, set off downhill (always an ominous start to a run) to follow the tarmac of a very quiet lane, across the railway by Brierley Green, then on tracks and footpaths to eventually cross Dolly Lane.

The pack soon caught up with some of the crocked club members who had decided to walk the route. They were off-trail, and were searching for the sawdust – although in all fairness the bright sunshine made it difficult to spot.

By this time Markham had been left behind, we warned the walkers to watch out for him and to make sure he didn’t get too lost.

The pack spread out over the next couple of miles of gentle ascent, either searching for trail or just easing off the pace.

At Over (the?) Hill Road we continued eastwards (eastwoods?) to the area marked on the OS map as New Allotments – a strange name for this rather inhospitable bit of the route.

 Burston, not at all very lost.

Turning north and then looping round by the disused quarries, Burston and I came across two runners coming towards us. We planned to stop them to see if they might be interested in the Club, but as the got closer it became clear that it was Jenks and Whitehead – they’d somehow lost the trail early on and ended up doing it in reverse.

A brilliant part of the route followed: over the edges of Chinley Churn and Cracken Edge – stunningly beautiful in the autumn sunshine. 

The descent by Cracken Edge was very steep, it was a shame to leave the lovely tops, but it had to be done.

 

The rather beautiful White Hall

Another ¾ mile or so got us back on to tarmac that soon delivered us back to the pub….where rehydration operations commenced.

 

The Abbeydale IPA being served was very good indeed – just a shame I was driving.

18 sat down to dinner in the dining hall. Those who’s eyes were bigger than their stomachs ordered puddings, whilst those who were, er, watching their figures, stuck to one very filling main course.

Thanks to Ady and Tony for another superb trail – a serious contender for Trail of the Season, almost as good as the New Mills trail ;-)

Thanks also to everyone who kept me company on the way round.

Where we went:

7 miles (ish), 1200’ ascent.

Tally-Ho! New Mills trail 24th Sept 2022

 

The sun (sort of) beat down on two runners as they set out, west, from New Mills Golf Club. Armed only with a map, some sawdust, and some shredded paper, they determined to lay a trail for Club members to follow a little later in the day.

The first few hundred yards were pleasantly flat and on a hard surface. Greetings were exchanged with dog walkers and golfers – who gave us a funny looks as we trundled along, leaving clumps of sawdust in our wake.

Descending to Brook Bottom, the track surface changed, becoming lumpy, stony, and a little damp & slippy in parts.

At Hague Bar our trail headed east, following the north bank of the R Goyt, crossing the Millenium Walkway by Torr Mills. This part of the route coincided with a section of the first Point-to-Point I took part in, which wasn’t a Point-to-Point at all, but a marathon length circular route from Hayfield.

 

The sun continued to warm us as we followed the Goyt Valley Way to the outskirts of Furness Vale. Here we turned NE, and headed uphill to go through a tunnel under the railway line.

We then followed a lovely path along Shedyard Clough, crossing Laneside road, and on to tarmac at Moor Lodge.

Sawdust Trail...they CAN'T miss that!

David in Trail Laying mode:

 

Heading north, and talking too much, we found ourselves in Birch Vale….not the intended route. This was a bit embarrassing – we’d only recced the route the previous week. Ho hum.

Turning back and uphill, obliterating the trail we’d just so carefully laid, we were soon back on the correct route which took us past Over Lea Farm, Birch Vale Cricket Club, and then down to the Sett Valley Trail where we headed west.

The rest of the route was identical to the last couple of miles of the Club’s 2022 Point-to-Point route: into the eastern outskirts of New Mills, north to cross the R Sett, then up by Tanpits Farm, through the lovely hamlet of Whitle and then following the R.o.W. across the New Mills Golf Club course and then finally, our objective, the golf club’s clubhouse.

A low turnout of 14 runners, but that didn’t detract from the fun of the day.

The club’s showers and changing facilities were put to good use, then thirteen sat down to a meal of pie & chips, followed by dessert.

After rigourous interrogation, Hon Pres Park proposed David Brown (aka David Hamilton, aka….well never mind) as a member, and was seconded by Vinny Jones.

My thanks to David for helping with the route recce and for successfully completing his apprenticeship as a trail-layer ;-)

Where we went:

8 miles, 1100’ ascent.

The GPX is (hopefully) HERE.

The Cheshire Tally-Ho! Hare & Hounds Trail Running Club

Five Go Adventuring Again 7th Aug 2022

….An After Eights Production

The sun was beating down, although there was a freshness in the air as five walkers gathered at The Carrs car park, Styal, ready for a 9am (the one in the morning) bimble around the gentle paths and quiet lanes of Cheshire.

When we realised that other After Eights walkers weren’t going to be joining us because they’d stayed in bed or just couldn’t be mithered coming out on such a glorious morning, we hot-footed our way over the footbridge then headed SW through the housing estate (Wilmslow residents will likely object to this part of their town being so described.

Oh dear. How sad. What a shame.

We were soon away from the estate and walking through pleasant countryside, by Morley Green, Morley, and then to follow the River Bollin for a short while, before walking SW along the North Cheshire Way, which at this point runs alongside Manchester Airport’s runway.

 

 

Morley Green

Rounding the SW end of the runway, stopping occasionally to look at the stream of aircraft taking off, we found a nice spot to sit down, have a cuppa, demolish some scones, and watch yet more aircraft depart.

One the western side of the runway walk trundled NE to a nice spot where we could stop for a leisurely lunch consisting of another cuppa, butties, and more scones – I was determined I wouldn’t be taking them all home with me.

Leaving our sunny spot, we descended steeply down a track which took us back down to the River Bollin and soon the that magnificent piece of engineers, the River Bollin ‘Foot Tunnel’ under the runway.

A photo call was, er, called:

Kay and I had recced the route a couple of times with a view to minimising the amount of tarmac we’d have to use. We were quite successful , but it did mean that the we had to retrace our steps on a short section of the outward leg. No matter, it was less than a mile, and doing a route in the other direction is really like, well, another route.

Hennyway, back to Morley, then north to cross the busy A538 which delivered us nicely into the National Trust’s Styal estate.

Posing outside Quarry Bank Mill

 Cunning Mr Heron waiting for his tea

The heat of the day was begining to tell so the bench seat & straw bales outside Quarry Bank Mill offered a welcome rest for tired legs.

On the final leg now, following quiet paths through woodland that offered us welcome shade.

The paths became busier as we approached the car park – where I was hoping to be able to buy myself an ice cream. No such luck, oh well.

So that was it, we Famous Five had enjoyed a nice walk of just under ten miles, not far, but quite enough on such a hot day.

Me? I had a ball! Great fun, great company, lots of laughs, quite a few scones, a nice walk...and it didn't rain!

Thanks to everyone for turning up, not complaining, for eating my scones, and thanks to Kay who’s help was invaluable in planning, plotting, scheming, and for helping make it happen.

Where we went: