After parking by the village shop at ‘Lakeside’ and after spending the normal 15 minutes donning our walking gear and having a cup of coffee we entered the reservoir land and turned right to follow the path alongside the reservoir.  Only five of us this day with one member still enjoying the African heat.  Our weather was decidedly dull and misty but being optimists we knew it could only get better. On the signboard it appears that the reservoir is owned by British Waterways but is this still the case?

We passed the reservoir outflow at the south end  where the path turned north east until it met Bennets Lane.  We were supposed to walk along the lane for a few hundred yards and then re-enter the reservoir land again to walk through the woods alongside the reservoir until we met the A54 road.  However being deeply engrossed in one of our favourite activities (talking) we missed the entry point and reached the A54 at the wrong point. To make things worse we now turned right and walked uphill for a few hundred yards before realising our mistake. Our walk today of 7 miles had now increased by another half mile.

Back down the A54 road we finally came to the correct track which leads up to Upton Fold Farm.  This track was a real quagmire and to make things worse it was an uphill quagmire.  For most of the time our eyes were focussed on where to put our feet but somehow we managed to spot four red deer on the hillside. The few minutes watching the deer before they went out of sight made a nice break but then it was eyes down again as we resumed the climb.  Finally we reached Upton Fold Farm and a nice dry track to lead us up to the BT radio mast at the top of the hill.  The last time we were at the mast we could not see it until we were only 30 yards away from it.  Today was dull but definitely not that bad and the sun was trying to break through.

We now descended down the track on the east side of the hill until we reached  Lingerds farm where we turned left to follow a path down across the fields to meet the A54 road again.  On the far side of the A54 a good track signposted to Barleighford led us uphill to reach the ridge of Bosley Minn.  After a good level walk along the ridge we turned right to leave the track and descend through the fields towards Stilesmeadow farm.  Large numbers of Fieldfare were on the telegraph wires and in the trees with a smaller number of Redwing among them and in the sky was a solitary buzzard.  We now skirted the outside of a wood until we reached Stilesmeadow farm where the footpath went right through the middle of a large farm shed and at the far end of the shed was the Stilesmeadow Dog Rescue centre.

It was not far now until we met Bennets lane again and then back along the reservoir footpath until the car was reached.  After driving along the A523 towards Leek we came to the Queens Arms, our lunchtime stop.  The organiser of today’s walk had definitely lost points with all the met muddy tracks we had encountered but now he made it up.  Steak and Ale pie with chips and carrots for only £3.95.  Washed down with a pint of beer, what a good way to finish the walk.

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