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Macclesfield to Leek Walk

Reservoirs, Macclesfield Forest, the 'Cheshire Matterhorn', lonely Wildboarclough, the Dane Valley, Lud's Church chasm and the Roaches gritstone escarpment

Long Peak District Tough

History

This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.

Date Option Post # Weather
Fri, 12-Jul-24 Macclesfield to Leek: Reservoirs, Macclesfield Forest, the 'Cheshire Matterhorn', lonely Wildboarclough, the Dane Valley, Lud's Church chasm, the Roaches [Macclesfield Trip] 20 high level cloud with some sunny breaks
Sat, 09-Oct-21 Macclesfield Forest, Shutlingsloe, Wildboarclough, Lud's Church chasm, The Roaches: Macclesfield to Leek 18 low cloud lifting in time for views

Friday 12-Jul-24

Thomas G
Length: 27.7 km (17.2 mi) [shorter and longer walks possible]
Ascent/Descent: 934/875m
Net Walking Time: ca. 7 ¼ hours
Toughness: 9 out of 10
For the Full Walk: 09.15 Start outside the Train Station.
From London Euston , take the 07.13 train to Manchester Piccadilly, arrives Macclesfield 09.05.
For the Morning Shortcut: 09.30 Bus Line 14 from the Bus Station (Bay 8) to Langley (arrives 09.53)
Return bus: 17.40 from Leek Bus Station (Stand 4), arrives Macclesfield 18.17.
Should you miss this last bus : return is by taxi or via ‘The Long Way Round’: Bus Line 16 (at 16.55, 17.30, 18.15, 19.15 or 20.15) to Hanley (for Stoke Station), then train from Stoke to Macclesfield.]

A tour de force of highlights in the Cheshire/Staffordshire borderlands.

You rise quickly out of the historic Silk Town of Macclesfield over The Hollins, a modest hill with fine views over the Cheshire Plain and across the valley of the River Bollin to pass a string of reservoirs and enter the enchanting Macclesfield Forest. A steep ascent through the woods brings you out onto the open High Moor and a following easy ascent of the ‘Cheshire Matterhorn’: Shutlingsloe.

From there descend steeply into the scenic Wildboarclough and walk back up across another modest hill with quiet pastures into the very scenic Dane Valley by Gradbach Mill, almost at the halfway point.

From the river level rise steadily through Back Forest to explore the unique and magical Lud’s Church chasm, a 100m long and up to 18m deep, mossy cleft in the wooded hillside. Ascend to the Ridge, part of a 6-kilometre long curved ridge which includes the famous gritstone escarpment of the Roaches and the quite sensational Hen Cloud, a tilted standalone rockface.

Continue through pastures and over another modest hill with fine views to the historic market town of Leek, lastly through a Country Park right onto the market place and thence through the Old Town.

Walk Options
Bus Line 14 enables a start in Langley (cut 3.6 km/2.4 mi and 95m ascent). Alight at the final stop by Langley Church and go back down the road (Cock Hall Lane) for 40m to a three-way junction and turn right along Main Road (50°, signed ‘Macc. Forest 1 ¼’). Pick up the directions on page 6 at the single asterisk *).
An Alternative Route on Shutlingsloe avoids the final steep ascent to the summit (cut 45m ascent).
An Alternative Route to the one through Lud’s Church Chasm passes the Hanging Stone, an outstanding viewing point jutting out from the ridge over the Dane Valley, this adds 2.1 km.
An Ascent up the striking hilly outcrop of Hen Cloud adds 500m each way and 66m ascent.
Alternative Endings lead to bus stops on the A53 for Line 108 either to Leek (connect to Macclesfield or to Hanley for Stoke-on-Trent station) or to Buxton (connecting to Macclesfield):

· either in Upper Hulme (scenic along a tight river valley); cut 6.9 km/4.3 mi and 125m ascent; departs 13.58 to Buxton and 15.15 to Leek.

· or in Blackshaw Moor (flat through pastures and along a road); cut 5.2 km/3.2 mi and 125m ascent; departs 13.54 to Buxton and 15.20 to Leek.

Bus Line 109 (the one for the return to Macclesfield) also calls at Bridge End, adjacent Kiln Lane (at 17.44). This is just off the walk route (and mentioned in the pdf text) but substantially before the end of the route, i.e. a shortcut if time is tight.
If taking the bus to Hanley, there are frequent buses linking Hanley Bus Station to Stoke Station, but a pleasant 2.3 km walking route is described in text and also available as a gpx file.

Elevenses : The Leather’s Smithy Clarke Lane. The Leather’s Smithy is located 4.9 km (3.1 mi) into the walk. Open from noon daily. Selling hot drinks earlier, on weekends. The Forest Snug Food Van Trentabank Reservoir Car Park. The Forest Snug is located 6.0 km (3.7 mi) into the walk. Only open Sat and Sun.

Lunch : The Crag Inn Wildboarclough, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 0BD (01260 227 239). The Crag Inn is located 9.8 km (6.1 mi) into the walk. No food. The Riverside Café at Gradbach Mill Gradbach Mill. The Outdoor Café is located 13.0 km (8.0 mi) into the walk, on the banks of the River Dane. Open 10.00 to 16.00.

Tea : The Lazy Trout Meerbrook. The Trout is located 5.8 km/3.6 mi from the end of the walk. Open all day, food served all-day. The Abbey Inn Abbey Green Road, Leek, Staffordshire Peak District, ST13 8SA (01538 382 865,). The Abbey Inn is located 2.4 km/1.5 mi from the end of the walk. Currently closed and for sale. Numerous options in Leek ; some of the ones on the route are mentioned in the pdf.

For summary, walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.380

  • Mon, 24-Jun-24

    Hi all, 3 of us are thinking of a drink and dinner in Leek. I'll look into booking a taxi back. Would anyone else be interested? thanks

  • Wed, 26-Jun-24

    Hi I’d like to join you for the meal & drinks in Leek please. Is that OK? Suzie 07973 233 333 please phone me because the email that appears to be attached to this account is incorrect, no longer functioning. Thank you.

  • Wed, 10-Jul-24

    hi, I've only just noticed this, but yes, I'd like to join in too. But if too late, no problem, I'll make other arrangements.

  • Wed, 10-Jul-24

    Hi Judith, sorry our taxi is full but if you find others I can add you to the dinner booking

  • Thu, 11-Jul-24

    Hi Judith, I'd join you in a taxi share. Pete

  • Fri, 12-Jul-24

    14 met at the train station, including (after a wait for her to drop her bag off) one that had taken the early train up from London. 6 others took the bus to Langley for the morning shortcut. But they were no slouches, those shortcutters: we briefly spotted them halfway down the descent off Shuttlingsloe once we got to the top and then again briefly overlapped with them at the Gradbach Mill Café. But then we never saw them again, seeing that they managed to catch the last bus out of Leek, if from the town edge stop 20 minutes before the end.

    Us others had a 45 minute break at the Gradbach Mill Café, then split into subgroups, 1 adding the diversion past the Hanging Stone, others taking the forbidden route out of Lud's Church, then 2 walking a diversion past Ramshaw Rocks to do some scrambling.

    At Meerbrook, we picked up 1 of the shortcutters who had stopped at The Lazy Trout for a drink. Knowing by then that we had no chance of catching the last bus, we happily joined her in the back garden with views of The Roaches and of Hen Cloud.

    We reached Leek at about 18.40 and found a dinner table at the extremely nice Leek Bar & Grill.

    Then some of the younger lot ordered mini cabs via some modern contraption found online, starts with an U, I think...?

    Great day. Lovely company. Fine views.

    20 high level cloud with some sunny breaks

Saturday 09-Oct-21

Thomas G
Length: 27.7 km (17.2 mi) [shorter and longer walks possible]
Ascent/Descent: 934/876m
Net Walking Time: ca. 7 ¼ hours
Toughness: 9 out of 10
From London Euston, take the 07.20 train to Manchester Piccadilly, arrives Macclesfield 09.04.
For the Morning Shortcut: 09.05 Bus Line 14 from the Bus Station to Langley (arrives 09.22)
For the Full Walk: 09.15 Start at the Train Station
Return bus: 18.00 from Leek Bus Station, arrives Macclesfield 18.37 (according to bustimes.org, Line 109 will be reinstated from this week by local company Aimee's, although Aimee's own website still says they have stopped runing that line; we'll have to wait and see. If not, the following 'Note' will be valid.) [Note: There is currently no bus service between Leek and Macclesfield for the return journey, as the old bus line (109 run by D&G Buses) has been scrapped in anticipation of a rival company launching a new express line (X1 by Hulleys of Baslow), but that hasn’t started yet, apparently due to driver shortages. Therefore: return is by taxi or via ‘The Long Way Round’: bus line 16 (at 16.50, 17.45, 18.15, 19.15 or 20.15) to Hanley (for Stoke Station), then train from Stoke to Macclesfield.]


A tour de force of highlights in the Cheshire/Staffordshire borderlands.
You rise quickly out of the historic Silk Town of Macclesfield over The Hollins, a modest hill with fine views over the Cheshire Plain and across the valley of the River Bollin to pass a string of reservoirs and enter the enchanting Macclesfield Forest. A steep ascent through the woods brings you out onto the open High Moor and a following easy ascent of the ‘Cheshire Matterhorn’: Shutlingsloe.
From there descend steeply into the scenic Wildboarclough and walk back up across another modest hill with quiet pastures into the very scenic Dane Valley by Gradbach Mill, almost at the halfway point.
From the river level rise steadily through Back Forest to explore the unique and magical Lud’s Church chasm, a 100m long and up to 18m deep, mossy cleft in the wooded hillside. Ascend to the Ridge, part of a 6-kilometre long curved ridge which includes the famous gritstone escarpment of the Roaches and the quite sensational Hen Cloud, a tilted standalone rockface.
Continue through pastures and over another modest hill with fine views to the historic market town of Leek, lastly through a Country Park right onto the market place and thence through the Old Town.
Walk Options
Bus Line 14 enables a start in Langley (cut 3.6 km/2.4 mi and 95m ascent). Alight at the final stop by Langley Church and go back down the road (Cock Hall Lane) for 40m to a three-way junction and turn right along Main Road (50°, signed ‘Macc. Forest 1 ¼’). Pick up the directions on page 6 at the single asterisk *) .
An Alternative Route on Shutlingsloe avoids the final steep ascent to the summit (cut 45m ascent).
An Alternative Route to the one through Lud’s Church Chasm passes the Hanging Stone , an outstanding viewing point jutting out from the ridge over the Dane Valley, this adds 2.1 km.
An Ascent up the striking hilly outcrop of Hen Cloud adds 500m each way and 66m ascent.
Alternative Endings lead to bus stops on the A53 for Line 16 either to Hanley for Stoke-on-Trent station or to Buxton (for Line 58 connecting to Macclesfield):
· either in Upper Hulme (scenic along a tight river valley); cut 6.9 km/4.3 mi and 125m ascent; departs 15.55 to Buxton and 16.38 to Hanley.
· or in Blackshaw Moor (flat through pastures and along a road); cut 5.2 km/3.2 mi and 125m ascent; departs 15.54 to Buxton and 16.40 to Hanley.

If taking the bus to Hanley, there are frequent buses linking Hanley Bus Station to Stoke Station, but a pleasant 2.3 km walking route is described in text and also available as a gpx file.


Elenvenses
The Leather’s Smithy Clarke Lane. The Leather’s Smithy is located 4.9 km (3.1 mi) into the walk. Open from noon daily. Selling hot drinks earlier, on weekends.
The Forest Snug Food Van Trentabank Reservoir Car Park. The Forest Snug is located 6.0 km (3.7 mi) into the walk.
Lunch
The Crag Inn Wildboarclough, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 0BD (01260 227 239). The Crag Inn is located 9.8 km (6.1 mi) into the walk. No food.
The Outdoor Café Gradbach Mill. The Outdoor Café is located 13.0 km (8.0 mi) into the walk, on the banks of the River Dane.
Tea
The Lazy Trout Meerbrook. The Trout is located 5.8 km/3.6 mi from the end of the walk. Open all day, food served all-day.
The Abbey Inn Abbey Green Road, Leek, Staffordshire Peak District, ST13 8SA (01538 382 865,). The Abbey Inn is located 2.4 km/1.5 mi from the end of the walk. Open all day, food served all day.
Numerous options in Leek ; some of the ones on the route are mentioned in the pdf. T=swc.380
For summary, walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here .
  • Sat, 09-Oct-21

    Fabulous to meet you all at the top of Shutlingsloe this morning! It’s a lovely part of the country to explore! Happy walking xxx

  • Sat, 09-Oct-21

    With 2 new arrivals, 18 set off from the station with grey skies above. When we were on The Hollin, Shutlingsloe could not be seen, still covered in clouds. Both Elenvenses options were unfortunately not working out: The Leather's Smithy not yet open, the Forest Snug Food Van had not turned up on the day (even the Forest Rangers didn't know why not). The Trentabank Rangers Centre nevertheless made for a good first stop, for using the facilities, before the 45 minute heave up through the forest and across the moor to Shutlingsloe. The clouds had lifted by now though, somewhat at least, so much so that only wisps of mist were rolling across the top. That meant we got some views, not as far as the Jersey Estuary and the Welsh mountains but at least into the nearby valleys.

    We got chatting to other walkers and a bunch of those insanely fit mountain runners, one of which kindly left a comment on here! Greetings back!

    On down steeply into the Clough Brook valley where all but a few stopped at the Crag Inn to taste their fabled mineral water (as featured on the tellie), and/or their bottled beer (Wincle Brewery as per yesterday's walk). One group (let's call them the water drinkers) then moved on earlier than the rest (let's call them the beer drinkers).

    On over hilltop pastures into the Dane Valley to the Gradbach Mill and its café, where we lunched on pub benches by the rushing river. The highlight was yet to come, of course: Lud's Church and the Roaches. 3 then added an out-and-back up Hen Cloud into the day's work, and us water drinkers got to Leek in good time to have a well-deserved drink at The Roebuck, before going to the bus station full of trepidation to see whether that bus 109 would run or not. And run it did. Even better: because it is so newly put on that it hasn't been properly registered by the authorities, they can't charge yet for the journey, so we got a free ride back!

    The beer drinkers avoided the last ascent into Leek and got on a stop just outside town.

    1 walker had chosen one of the shortcuts from the Roaches to Upper Hulme, but was too late for the buses from there, so had to call a taxi.

    All accounted for, all happy (as far as is known).

    Strange sight of the day: pigs and cows and sheep all in the same field.

    Sound unfamiliar from walks in the southeast: frequent gun shots. Bad news for grouse and pheasants, one thinks...

    low cloud lifting in time for views

  • Sat, 09-Oct-21

    Mersey Estuary... bloody autocorrect...

  • Anonymous
    Sat, 09-Oct-21

    The shortcut walker did s there and back to the Hanging Stone - impressive slab.