Cown Edge Way part 2

To reach the start, walk along the Macclesfield Canal from High Lane or walk along the Macclesfield  Canal from Marple.

Alternatively, take bus or car to Windlehurst Road, Hawk Green. Bus service 394 goes along this road. The bus stop is near to canal bridge number 6.

There are hourly buses between Mellor and Stockport passing Longhurst Lane, at the end of the walk.

Part 2 of The Cown Edge Way,  Macclesfield Canal to Mellor

[1] At bridge number 7, leave the towpath and cross over the canal to the farm access road. Turn right at the T junction and follow this towards the large brick house where the track bears to the right in front of the large converted barn. Follow the surfaced track as it bends round, passing in front of the house, to reach a rough track, where turn left. (There is an unauthorised diversion here: after passing the large converted barn, cross stile straight ahead and follow the field boundary, with fence on your right, to reach a wooden swing gate. Pass through this to reach a rough track, where turn left with sign post to Strines).

[2] Shortly, go over the stile and follow path with fence and hedge on your right to reach a metal gate-stile. Cross this and follow the footpath through a second field to reach a wooden stile and track. Turn right. Follow this track for 150 yards. *When track bears left, continue ahead to cross a stile and shortly see another stile in a stone wall. Cross this and follow field footpath to track that leads to the small hamlet of Lea Cote.

[3] Continue ahead to quickly reach Wybersley Road (sign on right).

* Should the conditions here be very muddy, take the track that bears left and follow it up to the Romper pub, to then take the road south as far as the track leading to Lea Cote off Wybersley Road.

Cross Wybersley Road and follow the minor road (heading SSE) for just over 300 yards to Turf Lea.

[4] Take the next left turn (signposted) and follow a winding farm track; then through the metal stile to a narrow track leading down to the Peak Forest Canal.

(A) The Peak Forest Canal was built between 1794  and 1804 linking Marple to the Peak Forest Tramway at Bugsworth and, 3 decades later, to the Cromford and High Peak Railway at Whaley Bridge, the main cargo being limestone. The very impressive flight of 16 locks at Marple is one of the longest in the country.

[5] Cross the canal by the Dutch type lifting bridge, turn left and follow the towpath for 350 yards. Immediately after the canal bends sharply to the left, turn right at a Cown Edge Way signpost and descend gradually through two fields, turning left in second field to cross two stiles to reach a narrow lane.

This path gives excellent views across the Goyt valley towards the Derbyshire hills and provides a clear view of the next part of the Way.

Turn right passing Crux Barn on your left, and a group of three lovely old cottages to reach Strines Road. Cross Strines Road, turn left and follow the pavement for 130 yards to the signposted drive on your right. Descend the drive and follow the riverbank footpath to reach the River Goyt at Roman Bridge.

(B) Roman Bridge was built in the late 1700's: this very attractive bridge was given the title Roman when the Marple railway line was opened about 1860. Originally called windybottom brige (after the nearby woodland) it had a low turretted parapet which was swept off by a drunken timber snigger. Later a man was blown off and drowned, prompting Samuel Oldknow to erect the iron railings.

Ramson, strong smelling garlic, can be found by the river in spring, and later in the year bittersweet. It is an ideal picnic spot.

(C) Samuel Oldknow's mills were about half a mile down stream, using water from the Roman Lakes. Samuel Oldknow was a master weaver of fine muslins. He built his great mill in 1790, but this was burnt down in 1892. He employed many workhouse apprentices who were better treated than those in many mills at the time.

The Roman Lakes were Oldknow's mill lodges and the nearby Bottoms Hall is believed to have been the Apprentice House.

[6] Shortly after crossing the attractive footbridge turn left along an unsurfaced track to follow briefly the Goyt Way. After 140 yards leave the main track and bear right to pass through an unusual step stile (Peak and Northern Footpath Society  signpost Mellor / Cobden Edge / Cown Edge Way) to ascend Strawberry Hill. The steep path turns right and then turns left to cross a footbridge over the railway.

Bear slightly right to a gap in the hedge and then bear very slightly left following a mown track across Mellor golf course towards a birch copse. Continue on this track to reach the edge of mature woodland and find a rough track with a pond on the left and a tall stone gatepost to the right. (NB. the OS map is misleading here as it shows the track passing through an open area when in fact it is wooded). Follow the track through the woodland and emerge to see a golf course bench on your right, and a way mark on a large oak tree over to your left. Follow the boundary of the golf course on your right, adjacent to the woodland, until you reach two stone gateposts on your right leading to a path in the woodland. Follow this path running parallel to the golf course boundary, climbing up a few steps at the way mark, to reach the Frank Mason memorial signpost. As indicated, turn left to cross four fairways (beware flying golf balls) of the golf course, along the ancient ploughing ridge, following the yellow spots on some trees to reach a small plank footbridge that leads to the footpath alongside the Linnet Clough Scout Camp.

At the Cown Edge Way signpost continue ahead on the track, with the camp car park on your right, for 175 yards. Turn left at the yellow waymarker and follow path through the camp activity area, passing the large green Peak and Northern Footpath Society footpath plate (to Longhurst Lane) with a Frank and Louisa Mason memorial plaque on the post. Turn right at the end of the fencing and take the way marked path into the woods. (NB Do not take the stepped path to the left adjacent to the railings).  Descend to a small brook. Cross this; the well used path then more or less contours round the hillside, with fine views of Mellor Church ahead, to the attractive Damsteads Farm where turn left along the farm access road to Longhurst Lane in Mellor.

(D) Mellor Church. Formerly a chapelry of the Parish of Glossop it is believed that the first chapel was built here in the reign of Stephen (1135-1154). The nave and chancel were rebuilt in 1829. The tower is partly 15th century with some earlier portions. A circular font at the west end probably dates from Stephen's time. The pulpit on the north side of the chancel, outside the communion rails, is probably a unique example of an ancient pulpit cut from a solid block of oak - most likely 14th century, which would make it the oldest in England and possibly in the whole of Christendom. The earliest pulpits were made entirely of wood. In an old barn near the church gates is a subscription list for the 'new' hearse acquired  during the 19th century. Also a recently carried out archaeological dig.

This is the end of part 2.

For those wishing to join or leave the Way, turning left here on Longhurst Lane will bring you to Marple Bridge, approximately 1 and two thirds miles away, where train and bus services are available. Before you do so you will probably want to visit Mellor Church. A great view point, a very interesting church, and by its side an archaeological  site.

A Walk of Contrasts

The Cown Edge Way was conceived by the Manchester Area of the Ramblers Association as its contribution to National Footpath Week in conservation Year 1970. It was formally opened on 26 September 1970 by Tom Normanton MP. The work in identifying a suitable route was carried out by the late Dr Frank Head (then Area President), Leslie Meadowcroft (then Area Chairman) and the late Frank Mason, with most of the practical work carried out by members of the Manchester Area of the RA.

The total walk covers about 18 miles. A fit walker will be able to complete it in a day and, if you allow at least 8 hours, you will have ample time for stops, photography, etc. However, many people will prefer to complete the walk in stages, allowing more time to enjoy the many interesting features to be seen along, and just off, the route.

The Cown Edge Way is a walk of contrasts. Passing through the edges of an upland area, it enjoys constant changes in altitude, modest in absolute terms but significant in their impact on the landscape, geology, flora, fauna, land use, architecture and climate.

Section 1 starts on the edge of the Cheshire Plain at a modest altitude of 250 feet; it passes through a lowland countryside with brick the predominant building material and hedges forming the field boundaries. However, we are climbing gradually and by the time we reach the Macclesfield Canal the fine views across the Cheshire Plain confirm we are now over 500 feet above sea level. Stone is becoming a common building material, including for the construction of the canal itself.

Sections 2 and 3 are on the upland fringe, with constant changes as we climb in and out of the valleys and cloughs. Stone is now the traditional building material – hedges still dominate but stone walls appear along the more elevated sections. Section 4 is very much an upland area since it lies entirely above the 600 feet contour line. Sections 5 and 6 show most of the characteristics of sections 2 and 3 as we gradually descend towards the plain.

Geology of the Cown Edge Way

The section of the walk between Hazel Grove and Hawk Green is characterised by gently undulating glacial deposits set down about 10,000 years ago, a legacy of a warming climate following the most recent episode of an Ice Age during the glaciers at one point extended from the polar ice cap to what are now the River Thames and the Severn Estuary.

The abrupt, steeply sided gulleys, such as those seen at Poise Brook and at Torkington Woods, now carry only small streams. Their depth highlights the great erosive power of huge quantities of meltwater from receding glaciers cutting through this unconsolidated glacial drift like a knife through butter. Fairly fine deposits (i.e. consisting of small particles of material), intensive cultivation and man’s attempt to nurture a fine soil test the eye of the keenest geologist until the gully at Torkington Woods reveals a rich harvest of pebbles and boulders of rock types including volcanic ashes, lavas, granites and metamorphic rocks carried hundreds of miles south by the ice from the Lake District, Scotland and Scandinavia. Look for flat faces, pyramidal shapes and scratches: boulders carried at the base of the ice cannot roll along and become rounded. The slow moving ice encapsulates and drags one face to be worn flat by the resistant rock over which it flows.

Solid rock is not seen until Hawk Green as we cross from 10,000 year old glacial deposits to the solid rock of the 320 million year old coal measures of the Carboniferous Period, a legacy of an age during which we lay close to the equator. Subsequent northward movement of the continent brought desert conditions but the underlying 225 million year old desert sandstones of the Permo-Triassic rocks of Hazel Grove are hidden by the glacial deposits. To the east, the rocks are extensively faulted and become progressively older. The grits and shales of the Millstone Grit series were laid on a continental shelf by floodwaters. Subsequent folding and erosion created a series of scarps pointing towards the Peak District, which look particularly impressive from Cown Edge.

Below Cown Edge lies a magnificent landslip, a consequence of the shales being lubricated by underground water. The landslip covers the glacial deposits and is thought to have occurred between 7,000 and 10,000 years ago.

Broadbottom beach, the point at which we cross the River Etherow, consists of gritstone carried downstream by the river and a rich variety of glacial deposits. These can be seen not only in the meander to the right but also at the base of the steep eroded bank to the left of the bridge.

This route was developed in 1970 by  Dr Frank Head, Leslie Meadowcroft and Frank Mason. It has been published in printed form on 5 occasions since then. It has just been revised again by Janet Cuff and Steve Slater and checked by Margaret Metcalf.