Cat & Fiddle to Whaley Bridge, 9 miles (25/08/22)

Members present, M.Sadler, A.Dulson, A.Sear, P.Freeman, K.Freeman, R.Jones, H.jones, D.Chambers, M.Tinsley (9)

Initially I'd handed leadership of this walk over to Adrian after experiencing my first episode of gout last week, however, thankfully, I'd recovered sufficiently to attend and lead the walk.

We arrived at Macclesfield a few minutes late and so it was a rapid walk up to the bus station for the 11:15 departure which we made with time to spare. In fact the bigger issue was whether we would all be able to board as there were many other walkers also out today. As it was we all squeezed on for the 20 odd minute journey up to the Cat & Fiddle. We disembarked into showery rain and so adopted appropriate apparel.

During the first two miles we made the steepest of the days decents along a rocky path into the Goyt Valley and the rain soon ceased for the remainder of the day. We crossed a picturesque bridge over the river which we then followed along a fern lined path. This wasn't the footpath shown on the OS map which would have taken us a far more arduous route over Goyt Moss that I'd previously reccied. After about a mile the path swung around to the right and gave us the first view overlooking Errwood reservoir which was very depleted due to the long dry spell over summer. The path then took us around a small scenic valley over Wildmoorstone Brook and then continued along the right side of the reservoir at a height of about 40 meters. As we approached the north end of the reservoir we gradually descended through a small wood and emerged at our lunch stop next to the sailing club.

After lunch we continued on our way, now in warm sunshine, descending into the grounds of Fernilee reservoir and crossing below the grassy dam to the left side where we followed the lightly wooded path again to the north end of the reservoir. Crossing back over to the other side we made even more descent down to the river Goyt which we followed to the outskirts of Whaley Bridge. Our route then led us along a section of the High Peaks railway path which deposited us in town. Refreshments were taken in the Whaley Nook Tap rooms whilst we perused over the travel options for our journey home.

Mark Sadler