Introduction
A stunning early spring day, today was my opportunity to complete the walk that I aborted on the 29th January 2026.
It’s a 65 minute drive from Cheadle Hulme, but it can take longer. I took the beautiful A57 Snake Pass today, a road from which 7.5 tonne vehicles are banned. It’s a great drive!
The walk was a touch over 8 miles, and took 3hours 15 minutes plus 30 minutes for lunch. It’s a long haul up to the moors, but the climbing’s all done in the first 45 minutes! There’s a total 1100 feet of ascent.
This walk is great for dogs on leads, but there’s not too much opportunity for free running.
I walked in a clockwise direction.
The walk is on OS Explorer Map OL1.
I parked at the Fairholmes car park, there are toilets and refreshments. The nearest postcode is S33 0AQ, but on Google Maps just use Fairholmes Car Park for directions; What 3 Words ///forest.baths.moons. Beware though, it did cost me £7.
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Ascent To The Moors
After leaving the car park and access road, it’s straight up through the lovely woods.
There’s plenty of conifers here too. And the tracks are pretty muddy from recent rainfall.
Then, before long, I found myself above the tree line, with the slopes less steep and the moors beckoning. The views are soon just spectacular.
The Moors
The moors here are called Rowlee Pasture and Birchinlee Pasture. The highlight is the edge and rock formations known as Alport Castles.
The moorland birds are all returning from their wintering grounds. My first spot was this meadow pipit on a post.
Then another posed prominently on the skyline.
There were plenty of skylarks moving around too.
As I approached Alport Castles, the views down the valley were spectacular.
Then, ina gap between the near ridge, “The Tower” is a magnificent landmark.
As I approached the next cliff edge, a brown female blackbird -like bird flew past me, and I realised this was a classic place to see the blackbird’s cousin, the ring ouzel. If there’s a female, I thought there would also be a male, and suddenly there he was, about 20 yards away in front of me, on the cliff edge (near the bottom right corner of the first picture below).
What a bird!
Thrilled, I sat for half an hour, and enjoyed my lunch in the warm sunshine.
The Descent
It’s a long straight path downhill from Alport Castles to Howden Reservoir. These are grouse moors, and this is a (sort of) camouflaged shooting shelter.
Halfway down, Howden Reservoir peeps into view.
As with the ascent, there are lovely woods leading to the bottom of the hill.
And at the bottom, some big boys toys have been artistically arranged by the brook leading to the reservoir!
It’s a 3.5 mile stroll alongside the reservoirs from here. The cover of the reeds at the head of this inlet was home to a pair of teal.
From here the sunny views were similar to those I enjoyed in the mist back in January!
This was a great day out, and worth every penny of the £7 parking charge! Highly recommended but choose a good weather day if you venture up here.
And Finally….
I heard someone on TV talking about great album cover this week, and his favourite artwork was the great Gerry Rafferty’s Night Owl.
The title track is none too shabby either.
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