Congleton Edge, Mow Cop Castle and More 21st September 2024

Ed on his last Saturday Walk with Harris Hikers before heading to Scotland.

The view towards Jodrell Bank from the Cheshire View layby.

Congleton Edge from Mow Lane.

Part of path on the Gritstone Trail through Willcocks Wood.

The start of the climb up Congleton Edge.

The view from Congleton Edge towards Jodrell Bank.

On Congleton Edge.

A delightful section of the path over Congleton Edge.

The view towards Macclesfield and Sutton Common as we emerged from Whitemoor Wood.

On the Biddulph Valley Way.

On the towpath (part of the Cheshire Ring Canal Walk).

Crossing the canal, heading to our lunch spot.

Rudie the parrot had a chat with Ed, but went quiet when I went past.

Lunch time in the shade.

Ducks and  geese.

A Moorhen - catch me if you can.

The way ahead.

A few Canada geese grazing in the field next to the canal.

One of three appropriately named bird boxes in the trees next to the canal.

"I think it's this way."

A different view of the Old Man of Mow and Mow Cop Castle.

Ed standing next to the Old Man of Mow.

A place to rest and meditate.

Mow Cop Castle.

Mike descends the steps on the East side of Mow Cop Castle

A Common kestrel - our bird of the day.

Walk stats: 9.2 miles. Climb: 1066’.
Time: 5 hours 0 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.5 m.p.h. Overall Walk average: 2.2 m.p.h.
Temperature: 16.8 Celsius to 23.9 Celsius.
Beaufort Wind Force: Mainly 0 -3. Calm, mainly Light breeze, gusting to a 10.5 mph wind at Mow Cop Castle.
Group: Ed, Martyn and Mike
The forecast for today was pretty good, with the possibility of rain coming in after 16-00.
Arriving at the Cheshire View Point lay0by, our view was marginally better than the last time we did the walk. At least this time we could just about make out Jodrell Bank in the distance.
We decided to tackle Congleton Edge first and leave the Old Man of Mow and Mow Cop Castle to the end of the walk.
We set off on the walk a little later than expected as road closures at Astbury sent us on quite a long detour around Congleton.
Initially it quite pleasant walking, with the temperature around 17 Celsius, and plenty of cloud cover or tree cover shading us from any direct sunlight.
It was only when we left the Biddulph Valley Way onto the towpath of the of the Macclesfield Canal (part of the Cheshire Ring Canal Walk) that the Sun came out in full force. At one point the temperature rose to around 23.9Celsius, any occasional breeze was very welcome.
Lunch was taken by the canal, where several picnic benches and a bench provided good seats overlooking a canal basin, where we were entertained by the many Mallards a couple of Moorhen and a few squabbling geese.
After lunch we had we had the three-mile trudge along the tow path as far as “Ackers Crossing”.
Sometimes when you complete a walk in the opposite direction to the way you have done it in the past, it presents a few problems that you didn’t expect. Today was no exception, and trying to follow the South Cheshire Way to Roe Park took a few careful looks at the map before we got it right.
As we left Road Park / Hanging Wood, we had views of the Old Man of Mow and Mow Cop Castle that we hadn’t seen before, a real bonus.
It was good to see that they had removed the unsightly fence around the Old Man of Mow. Arriving at Mow Cop Castle, we found it to very busy, obviously it is a hot spot for tourists.
The final walk along Congleton Road / Mow Lane in good visibility was a pleasant contrast to the heavy mist / fog encountered last year.
Birds seen or heard today were but included: Woodpigeon, House sparrow, Common buzzard, Common kestrel, Black billed magpie Carrion crow, Wood nuthatch, Moorhen, Herring gull, Canada goose, Mallard, Winter wren, Jackdaw and Coal tit.
Arriving back at the car around 15-30, well before any expected rain, having had a really enjoyable walk, but disappointed that Ed had not been able to see the superb views that you can get from the view point layby on clear crisp day.
As we set off for home, we could se the rain clouds coming in, but it wasn’t until we were enjoying refreshments at The Stamford Bridge Country Inn at Barrow, that it began to rain and saw lightening through the window and heard thunder.