Wednesday 11 September 2013

W/C 31st August 2013 - Tegg's Nose and the Cheshire Matterhorn

I have not been very well recently, so walking has more or less been confined to those with the Sutton-in-Ashfield Rambling Club. This week's destination really fired me up with great enthusiasm, so it was impossible to miss. We did a circular walk just east of Macclesfield in Cheshire. The walk began at the Tegg's Nose Visitor Centre. The highlight was the views from the top of Shuttingsloe Hill - otherwise known as the Cheshire Matterhorn, because it resembles the famous Matterhorn mountain in shape - though by no means in height!.

 Immediately after leaving the car park, we could see Shuttingsloe Hill in the far distance. This shot neatly summarises the whole walk, which more or less went around the edge of the photo in an anti-clockwise direction.
 Shortly, we passed Tegg's Nose Quarry, which has partly been converted into a children's playground.
 Turning a corner, we saw the reservoir below us that we would shortly be descending towards.
 Looking west, this view includes the disk of the Jodrell Bank telescope............
 ....and to the north, looking towards Macclesfield and Manchester.
 Langley reservoir was our first destination down at the bottom of Tegg's Nose....
 followed shortly by Ridgegate Reservoir.
 We then entered into thick forest, heading for the visitor centre at Trentabank Reservoir.
 We began to ascend sharply out of the forest towards Shuttingsloe. This is a view of the wild moorland above the forest.
 Then, we got a closer view of Shuttingsloe Hill ahead.
 This was the view looking back from part way up the hill. There are some very tall steps here - not great for tiny legs!
 The views from the top are well worth the effort of getting up here. This was the view looking east. We walked along the valley and past the large house in the middle distance (Crag Hall) a few walks ago, when we did the Cat & Fiddle circular.
 This was the view looking south, with Tittesworth Reservoir just visible in the distance. This is just north of Leek.
 The triangulation point on top of Shuttingsloe Hill has other uses...
 We then descended to the Crag Inn at Wildboarclough. A jazz trio were performing on the patio.
 We then followed the narrow lane northwards for a while, passing these old cottages on the way.
 The valley was narrow and very pretty........
 Inevitably, we began to ascend sharply once we left the road, heading across the fields towards the tiny hamlet of Macclesfield Forest
 We got a distant view of The Cat & Fiddle Pub (on the skyline on the right of the photo)
 Macclesfield Forest village is very tiny indeed - just a few houses, a church and an old school.
 Swallows were nesting inside the church doorway.
 After Macclesfield Forest, we headed west into some beautiful woodland. The first part looked very natural, with traditional tree species.
 Near the end of the walk, we got a view of the bottom of Tegg's Nose, looking towards the reservoirs we had passed a few hours earlier.
 Turning round, we saw the climb we had to make to get back to the car park.
 Fortunately, everyone made it!

Many thanks again to the Sutton-in-Ashfield Rambling Club for a truly excellent walk.

I also did a walk a few days later through Mansfield via the Maun Valley Trail to Old Clipstone, returning via Vicar Water. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera. This one was around 20-25 miles long.

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