EAST CHESHIRE RAMBLERS
A PARTY of 17 East Cheshire Ramblers recently joined a 9.5 mile walk from Ladybower Reservoir on the Derbyshire/Yorkshire border.
From Fairholmes car park in the Upper Derwent Valley, they skirted the shores of the reservoir, where information boards reminded the group of the drowned villages of Ashopton and Derwent, which were submerged when the reservoir was filled in 1946.
The route used an ancient packhorse trail, now a bridleway, to gradually climb up through the forest, to emerge on the high moorland above Hagg Side. Contrary to the weather forecast, the skies brightened and favoured the walkers with splendid views of the distant hills and the return route in the Ashop Valley far below, thus providing an ideal spot for the morning coffee break.
The ramblers continued over the moorland path, paved with slabs taken from disused factories and cotton mills, to reach the focus of the walk: Alport Castles, the scene of a landslip which has left rock formations, some of which from a distance can resemble mountaintop castles. Extending around half a mile, this is thought to be the longest landslip in the UK.
After lunch, the route descended steeply down to Alport Castles Farm, birthplace in 1872 of Hannah Mitchell (nee Webster) who left the farm aged 14 to find work as a seamstress in Bolton, and later became prominent in the suffragette and trade union movements. She was politically active throughout her life, serving on Manchester city council and eventually working for one of the founders of the Labour Party, Kier Hardy.
The route then followed the course of the River Ashop as it meandered through the valley farmland.
After re-crossing the river and the A57 (Snake Road) the party climbed back onto the high moors towards Lockerbrook Heights before the final descent back to the car park.
For more details of East Cheshire Ramblers’ programme of weekend and midweek walks ranging from four to 15 miles in length, go to ramblerseastcheshire.org. uk.
The group is putting on a series of short ‘stroller walks’ of around four miles in length on Fridays starting at 10.30am at various local places between April and September this year and details can be found on the group’s website. This is an idea way as an introduction for people who are considering taking up rambling but are unsure about tackling longer distances.