Looking over the Cheshire Plain from the Cheshire's Close Viewpoint - our starting point.
Lapwing in fields North of the Old Man of Mow.
The Old Man of Mow.
Another view of the Old Man of Mow.
First views of the Mow Cop mock ruin.
View of the mock ruin from the Primitive Methodist dedication stone to the Glory of God.
Final view of the mock ruin.
The path is there somewhere.
"I think this is the path."
Congleton Edge from the East.
Snowdrops just about to open.
Possibly the highest point on Congleton Edge.
The trickiest bit of the traverse of Congleton Edge.
Distance: 8.5 miles Climb: 1728' wind assistred GPS reading. In reality about 1050'
Time: 4 hours 44 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.2 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.8 m.p.h.
Group: Martyn and Nigel.
Getting out of the car at the Cheshire's Close viewpoint, the start of the walk, we thought David S had made the right decision and stayed at home. Thankfully we did decide to set off in the direction of the Old Man of Mow and the mock ruin at Mow Cop. It was only around the ruin that we felt anything like winds above 25 m.p.h., so we didn't hang about near the ruin for long.
Both the ruin and the Old Man of Mow are worth visiting. retracing our steps from the ruin, we were able to explore a lower level path that skited round the West side of the masts.
The path West of Cheshire;s Close , was as expected the boggiest, but with care were able to find a way through without getting our feet wet.
We stopped for lunch on the Gritstone Trail, South of Whitemoor Local Nature Reserve, where were pleased to take advantage of a picnic table.
As we had lunch, we did experience our first signicant gust of the day, when Ngel's grapes tried to escape!
after lunch we soon back on track heading past Higher Whitemoor Farm to pick up the Staffordshire Way at the Northern end of Congleton Edge. The track North of Higher Whitemoor Farm soon turned into a muddy mess caused by off road motor bikes, so it was a relief to to escape from it into a field.
The traverse of Congleton Edge went well, although the narroest section of path was a little intimidating, but thankfully the strong wind at that time was blowing us towards the fence and not the cliff edge.
We arrived back at the car having had a good walk, with no more than a few spots of rain early on, and thankful that we were largely sheltered from any wind for most of the walk. Even in the wind it never felt cold.
Birds seen or heard today included: lapwing, Common kestrel, Carrion crow, Woodpigeon, Black-billed magpie, House sparrow, Greenfinch, Great tit, Common pheasant, Common blackbird, Wood nuthatch and Grey wagtail.
After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Vale Royal Abbey Arms, Oakmere. This hostelry has been recently renovated to a high standard by Lees. Most people seemed to be eateing food, but we were able to find seats to enjoy a good pint of Lees Bitter. It was a good decision to try this place out, and i am sure we will call in again whenever we are passing after walking in the East Cheshire.
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