Introduction
On a beautiful sunny, but chilly morning today, I made my way to familiar territory in the hills to the east of Macclesfield.
Walker Barn is on the A537 Macclesfield to Buxton (Cat And Fiddle) Road
It’s a 30 minute drive from Cheadle Hulme.
The walk was just over 6 miles, and took 3hours 15 minutes plus 15 minutes for lunch. It’s a real up and down route, with a total 1200 feet of ascent.
This walk is unsuitable for dogs, other than small breeds due to numerous stone step stiles, though none on the first section to Forest Chapel.
I walked in an anticlockwise direction.
The walk is on OS Explorer Map OL21.
I parked in the A537 layby just after Walker Barn, postcode SK11 0AN, What 3 Words ///thrashing.posed.cages
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Walker Barn To Forest Chapel
I knew it was cold, but I didn’t expect to see this as I stepped out of the car! This time last week it was almost 20 degrees C.
It was a cloudless sky looking over the Cheshire plain.
Charity Lane is a steep road, so I had plenty of stops to admire the view back down the hill and along the Kerridge ridge.
At the top of the lane I continued alongside the woodland edge, and was briefly surprised as 3 motorbikes rode past along the stony bridleway.
A little further on, and more evidence of the cold weather yesterday and overnight, with pockets of snow lying on the pathside.
In the adjacent fields, birds, such as this chaffinch, were looking for insects in the disturbed soil of fresh molehills.
After the wood, I was soon heading quickly down towards Forest Chapel.
The chapel sits on the edge of Macclesfield Forest, and was a picture with its daffodils in bloom.
Forest Chapel To Lamaload Reservoir
I made my way past the front of the chapel and down the steep, rubbly track to the road at the bottom. Just beyond the road, the path passes over a smart wooden bridge.
Soon, I was rising up the opposite bank of the brook, where there are amazing views of the unique hill that is Shutlingsloe.
I was about to photograph my first two spring lambs, when a skylark landed on a wire above my head.
The lambs were patient, and still posed for their moment!
My route then crossed fields and farmland, undulating down and back up again, before a minor road led over the A537 and into the lane heading towards Lamaload Reservoir. The verge here was resplendent in hundreds more daffodils. They continued for two or three hundred yards.
I turned off to the left before reaching the water, and was keeping my eyes peeled for the curlews that were calling regularly from the marshy surrounding fields. I only captured one, unfortunately not against the sky!
Lamaload is a pretty reservoir, and an essential resource for drinking water in Macclesfield.
Return To Walkers Barn
Following my short lunch break, I clambered up the very steep bank and back onto the open sheep pasture where the sheep and curlews were joined by pied wagtails.
The last footpath sign on the walk was embellished by a lovely, rusty old cart frame.
And the sun was still shining as I wondered how long it would be until the lattice of branches on the trees would be lost behind the leaf canopy.
And so, I returned to Walker Barn, so evidently on the border of the Peak District National Park.
A very familiar area, but one I’m drawn to regularly because it’s so lovely and interesting!
And Finally….
Last Friday we went to see the brilliant Skinny Lister. This is one of my favourite songs of theirs, and one they roused the crowd with at this gig. And it points us happily towards summer!
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