Cheshire Hare & Hounds Tally-Ho!
Point-to-Point Hartley Folly 2022, main route: 14 miles / 2500’ ascent
New Mills Golf Club > New Mills Central > train to Edale > New Mills Golf Club
Route description:
MAP 1
Left (S), leaving New Mills Golf Club Car Park, downhill passing church on LHS, to New Mills and New Mills Central station.
Train to Edale, Departs New Mills Central: 9:17, 10:16, 11:16, 12:16, 13:16 etc.
Leave Edale station and turn Left to pass the Rambler Inn and the church, both on the LHS.
1) At the Old Nags Head, turn Left following the footpath signs: Pennine Way, Upper Booth, 1¼ miles
Pass through a gate (SK119859) to continue following the Pennine Way along a paved path.
Pass through another gate, the paving finishes, the path is now a well defined track, continue in the same direction, ie West.
At a clump of trees on the RHS, go through a gate continue ahead for about 50 yards where the path splits, take the path on the Left.
2) At some buildings (Upper Booth), follow the path, paasing through the buildings, to a T junction, Turn Right onto tarmac to cross a bridge over the River Noe – still following the Pennine Way.
3) Pass Lee Farm buildings on RHS, ignoring the ‘Residents only beyond this point’ sign,
4) Cross the packhorse bridge, take the R path indicating Jacobs Ladder….uphill.
Bear right and uphill, passing a cairn, keeping the valley bottom on RHS.
The path splits @ SK081862, leave the paved path, bearing L and uphill on a slightly stony path.
5) Do not turn up the Pennine Way, carry straight on along the well defined path., passing Edale Cross.
Cross a stream, stay on the well defined stony path, ignore path off to RHS to Hayfield via Tunstead Clough.
6) Downhill on stony path, through a gate, continue down the very stony track onto tarmac. Continue straight ahead, ignoring field track on RHS, and the tarmac road to the LHS.
MAP 2
Still descending, pass some buildings, to a split in the road, go Left along the bridleway which bears Left and starts to climb.
7) SP (Horseshoe) on LHS to follow bridlepath uphill. Mount Famine visible ahead.
Though a gate at the top of the hill, straight on, descending to go through another gate – continue straight on.
8) SK050854, go through a farm gate, turn Right then immediately Left. Note the sign ahead indicated left to South Head, 1 mile. Don’t go this way!
Go downhill, passing the small but still working quarry, then Left along the main Hayfield road.
9) Cross the road to Peep o’ Day…and, at 7 miles in, the Tea Stop for tea, cake, coffee, water, cake, crisps, and cake. And maybe a 5 minute sit-down.
Uphill to pass Peep o’ Day, then through a gate / cross a stile, then through a gate on the RHS to follow the path indicated by the PNFP Sign No5, to Birch Vale & Hayfield via Phoside.
Follow the path, faintly visible on the ground, under the power cables, to go through a gate. The path now has a drystone wall on the RHS, a fence on the LHS.
Go through another gate into open fields (hill on the LHS), continue, descending to follow a sunken path to go through a gate into Far Phoside, a house with a frog problem.
Continue downhill on a good track, at the point where the track bends to the Right, Turn Left over the stile in the wall.
Ahead and slightly downhill to the Right to cross a footbridge over a stream.
10) Continue ahead, slightly Right and uphill, following the direction arrows to go through a gate with a FP sign, continue uphill to another FP sign by a gate at the busy Hayfield to Chapel-en-le-Frith road.
Cross the road then follow a grassy footpath, uphill, to go through a garden (Public Right of Way), follow the footpath sign directing you to the right of a brick built shed.
Go through a gate on the LHS and go around the buildings, to exit at a lane at SK042864.
Cross over onto a track indicated as a Right of Way, continue ahead to climb slightly uphill to a farm track junction, Turn Left and uphill onto the concreted track – farm buildings visible ahead.
The track deteriorates to a stony track, pass the Public Bridleway sign, continue uphill to pass through a gate with an adjacent stile.
11) Take the track to the Left, ignoring the field track off to the right, keeping the fence to your Left, passing the redundant gate posts. At the end of the fence continue uphill to through a gate at the RHS of the trees visible ahead, noting the bench seat close to the gate.
Follow the path downhill, indicated by the rough bridleway sign, stay on the path as it bends L, then R, and becomes quite stony as it descends steeply.
Follow the path signed ‘PBW’ (Pennine Bridleway) round an acute bend Left, ignoring the gate at the crown of the bend, continue downhill.
Note the Hayfield Camping & Caravan Site on your RHS as descend further, down to the river.
Keeping the river on your RHS continue ahead into the centre of Hayfield.
12) Turn Right and downhill at a junction, and towards the church.
Turn Left at the church to cross the main road to follow the Sett Valley Trail, noting (maybe calling into) 13) the wonderful Sett Valley Café.
14) Cross the next road that crosses the Sett Valley Trail at an angle, note the proposed new housing development on the LHS.
A mile after the Sett valley Café, cross over Watford Bridge with industrial units on RHS.
15) Turn R up the far side of the first industrial unit (FLOWGUARD), keeping a blue fence on LHS.
At the end of the unit turn R down to the road, then turn L onto Watford Bridge Road @ S.F. Boxing & Fitness on LHS.
Cross bridge over the river, turn R.
Uphill slightly, turn L up Watford Road, which soon bends L.
Continue up the road, Turn first R @ FP sign ‘Watford Lane’.
16) Just before pylons, where the track widens slightly, opposite a large house (WILL HEY FARM) on RHS, Turn L, through a gate (not very easy to see, but it’s definitely there) and uphill, keeping closely to the drystone wall on your LHS.
Note the building over on your LHS that has a large solar panel array on the roof.
Turn L at the trees ahead, crossing the wall using a wall stile, continue, keeping the drystone wall on your RHS.
In about 15 yards, on RHS, at the end of the drystone wall, by a power pole, cross a stile, turn left, uphill on a track.
Continue uphill, cross a farm road, cross a stile immediately ahead, then uphill to go through a gate in the top RH corner of the field.
Follow the wall up to go through the farm gate, cross the road to a well-surfaced farm road that climbs up and soon deteriorates into a rougher, stony track. Note the hamlet of Whitle visible ahead.
At the point where the the track bends to the R, go through a gate on your LHS, to follow a fenced path for approx 100 metres to go through a gate, then ahead on the R, follow the path indicated ‘Bower House Farm, Walkers’.
Through the farm yard, through another gate, then follow the drystone walled path, indicated by a footpath sign.
Golfers may now be visible ahead….watch out for errant flying golf balls!
Enter the golf course by a stile next to a gate, continue ahead, keeping the wall to your RHS.
17) Follow the yellow topped posts, indicating the footpath, to New Mills Golf Club which is clearly visible ahead.