The weather looked good as we started our walk from the Nelson Pit Visitor Centre car park at Higher Poyton.  The name of the visitor centre looked odd in rural Higher Poyton but this area was the centre of the coal mining activity along the Macclesfield Canal with the old Nelson Pit being situated on this very spot.  At 9am with boots on we were off for a 7½ mile walk which would easily be finished at 1pm to be followed by our normal pub lunch.  Leaving the car park we were immediately on the bank of the Macclesfield Canal at a marina filled with narrowboats.  After only a few hundred yards along the towpath we crossed over the canal and passed by Barlow House Farm as we made our way to the 4000 acres of Lyme Park.  In the park we passed Elmerhurst Cottage and then turned right on reaching the main park road to make our way towards Lyme Hall.  At the top of Cage Hill we saw the Cage which was built in 1737 and used watching hunts and banqueting.  Leaving the main road to the hall we joined the footpath running parallel to the road and eventually arrived at the outbuildings and pool close to the Hall itself.  Fencing surrounded most of the pool, as after a leak in the dam, not only had this been repaired but the opportunity had also been taken to deepen the pool by removing as much mud as the budget afforded.  Passing the pool we walked by the main car park and followed the Gritstone Trail which climbed upwards through woods and moor until we reached the cottage at Bowstonegate.  A quick look at the old Saxon Bowstones and then we turned to the south as we followed the Gritstone Trail along the top of the ridge.  The heavens now opened and the rain which we had seen approaching was upon us.  There was no cover anywhere so with heads down we struggled on with the wind driving the rain into us from our right side.  Only when we made a stop after about a mile did we realise that we had missed our footpath to the right and now had a choice of returning to find this path or carrying on.  Seeing a road about a quarter of a mile ahead we decided to press on.  Picking our way through the mud on the outskirts of Brink Farm we joined the road and turning to our right we were now walking to Pott Shrigley.  Now having stopped raining after a brief shower of over an hour (the weather forecast had said possible showers) and with virtually no wind we were starting to feel warm again.  We were surprised at the number of small interesting businesses in Pott Shrigley including a large number of bespoke joinery manufacturers.  This extension to our walk was proving very enjoyable but exactly where were we and how far was it back to our cars.  Our walk leader gave us a confident two miles but he omitted to tell us that we had walked off his map and he had absolutely no idea.  After walking another two miles we asked again how far back to the cars.  He now admitted that we had just walked back on to his map and it was another two miles back.  We wondered if we should stop to eat and finish our walk afterwards and so kept our eyes peeled for possible lunch stops.  The first we came to was Shrigley Hall golf and country club but we felt that this was maybe a little upmarket for a bunch of scruffy hikers.  Only a little further and we reached The Coffee Tavern which advertised lunches.  It was quite full inside and there was probably a long wait to get served so reluctantly we decided to carry on.  By now we were reasonably dry again and the thoughts of comfortable pub seating with food spurred us on.  Passing the Methodist Church on the Shrigley Road we reached the Macclesfield Canal where it crossed over our road and joining the canal bank we now had about 400 yards to walk.  Offset from the canal towpath were some benches and some of our group were definitely tired as on sitting on the benches one member seemed to have fallen asleep.  Another few minutes and we were back at our cars.  From here it was only about  a hundred yards to the Boar’s Head public house and lunch.  £2.75 for sandwiches, side salad, and chips was the lowest price we had seen for a long time so we gave our walk leader an extra 5 points for finding us a good pub (his previous total was nil).  Despite the rain we had had a good day and had completed a 10¼ mile walk in 4½ hours.

INDEX PAGE for the THURSDAY GROUP WALKS