Gritstone Trail: Disley to Tegg’s Nose

Saturday 29th April 2023

Last spring I thought I’d take advantage of the many bank holidays to go away during one of them and I was inspired by Abbie Barnes of Spend More Time in the Wild to walk the Gritstone Trail, who first did the trail in winter and then after that was unsuccessful returned in the spring with a much better experience. The Gritstone Trail is a thirty-five mile walk through Cheshire along the western edge of the Peak District, which I thought would provide me with an easy three day hike at a time when I was feeling vulnerable. Earlier in April I had abandoned the Dales High Way because I wasn’t feeling well, and because of bad weather, so I really needed to get back out for a walk and this was my chance. To start, I drove to Tegg’s Nose Country Park and walked down the road into the town of Macclesfield where I caught a train to Disley, the starting point of the Gritstone Trail, but almost immediately after getting off the train I fell apart. Firstly, I was anxious because I couldn’t find a toilet and then because I couldn’t find the start of the trail even though it starts at the railway station. Eventually I did find the start of the Gritstone Trail, by the railway station, just not on the side that I had gotten off but by this time I was feeling very stressed and insecure. Nevertheless, before me now was a large noticeboard proclaiming the start of the Gritstone Trail which led me up a flight of steps through glorious woodland decorated with celandines and wild garlic to a lane that brought me out into the countryside.

What I needed right now was some quiet and solitude to help me recover from the stressful situation, but there were too many people around and when confronted with a barking dog I was prompted to put my hands over my ears and try to get away as quickly as possible. I was in a very fragile state and needed to be by myself away from people where I could recover and eventually I thankfully found an area of gorse bushes where I was able to move away from the path, sit down and rest, have something to eat and find myself again. The Gritstone Trail is not very long so I had plenty of time to recover and eventually I set off again soon entering Bollinhurst Wood, whose peaceful surroundings performed wonders on my mental health so that when I entered the National Trust property of Lyme Park my mind was calm and I was able to walk past the crowds without a problem. Ahead of me was a large square sandstone structure known as the Cage that reminded me of Broadway Tower in the Cotswolds, but I avoided it because of the many crowds there and continued along the trail, past Lyme House and the car park before turning to climb up through Knightslow Wood and Park Moor. The views behind me across the Cheshire plain were extensive but it was the views into the Peak District that were more appealing to me. Turning south along a clear lane brought me over Sponds Hill, the highest point on the trail, where a viewfinder promised me that the Berwyns in Wales were visible to the west, but unfortunately not in the hazy sunshine that I had on this walk.

The descent gradually brought me down to a gap with the former mill town of Bollington in the distance and across various streams, firstly Harrop Brook where a stone packhorse bridge crosses the water beside celandines that decorated a scene so beautiful I was prompted to stop and take a moment to take it all in. Slowly, I crossed the gap and climbed the steep hillside opposite to the whitewashed monument known as White Nancy where I had extensive views west, but which lacked the interest, though restricted, that I had east into the Peak District. A narrow ridge across the Saddle of Kerridge brought me to the trig point that marks the top of Kerridge Hill while the Gritstone Trail crossed the lower slopes. The top of Kerridge Hill more than justified the diversion and I enjoyed the path down the other side and back across the side of the hill to pick up the trail and cross another gap in the hills before slowly climbing again through many small meadows whose only wildflowers tragically seemed to be dandelions. Eventually I returned to the car park for Tegg’s Nose Country Park just as it began to rain after a walk that had started very badly for me but soon began the work that I had hoped this walk would perform on my mental health.

Dunstable Downs and Ivinghoe Beacon

Saturday 22nd April 2023

I love woodland flowers so every spring I am keen to get out for a walk as often as possible and last April, despite an overcast weather forecast, I was determined to go for a walk. Having considered the Peak District I decided to head south instead to the Chilterns, which I had not visited for a couple of years and after a quick look around the OS Maps app I found a walk entitled ‘Dunstable Down – Ashridge Beacon Loop’ that seemed a good choice, mainly because the starting point was not far from the M1 motorway. I parked at the National Trust property of Dunstable Downs which sits on the northern edge of the Chiltern escarpment and so should have provided me with extensive views but fog prevented that and initially I ignored my walk to explore the downs wandering north over grasslands decorated with cowslip in amongst grass that glistened with water droplets. Cowslip dominate these chalk escarpments at this time of the year so this was not the only time I would see these small yellow flowers, but they were a welcome sight before I’d even started my walk. After rounding the northern tip of Dunstable Downs I returned to the visitor centre and finally began the prescribed walk as shown on the OS Maps app, which sent me along the top of the escarpment following the route of the Icknield Way Trail.

As the fog slowly began to clear I moved away from the escarpment and along a muddy path, ignoring the point where the Icknield Way Trail turned left so I could keep straight ahead and reach the B4540 road, soon rejoining the trial, which had diverted to visit Whipsnade Tree Cathedral, and I wish I had seen that now. Instead I obeyed the app and headed down Studham Lane and around Whipsnade Zoo, which I wasn’t interested in, but on the other side of the path I was delighted to find young bluebells. I hadn’t been hopeful to find bluebells on this walk and most were still in bud, but it was great to see bluebells for the first time this year. The path around Whipsnade Zoo eventually brought me to Whipsnade Park Golf Club, which I crossed as quickly as possible to avoid the dangers inherent in such places. My route continued to follow the Icknield Way Trail through the village of Dagnall and along Hog Hall Lane slowly climbing until I reached the National Trust’s Ashridge Estate where I joined the route of the Ashridge Estate boundary trail, which I had done in 2021. Soon, I was confronted by the gorgeous smell of wild garlic as I descended steeply into the Coombe, though foul smelling dog’s mercury became more dominant lower down and later the walk continued past many other woodland flowers that delighted me, including celandines and violets, until eventually I emerged onto the grassy Ivinghoe Hills.

I now seriously considered turning into south the heart of the Ashridge Estate and abandoning the prescribed walk to see more wildflowers, but eventually I kept to the route passing many cowslips while heading up to Ivinghoe Beacon where the Ridgeway trail ends. With many people at the viewpoint I immediately turned east to head back down the hill and towards Dunstable on a bridleway beside a tall fence that seemed to be protecting only a grassy field. On reaching a road I headed back into the village of Dagnall and my outward route where the walk on the OS Map app would have had me retrace my steps across the golf course and around Whipsnade Zoo. Since I didn’t want to do that, when I reached Dagnall I turned left onto Dunstable Road to head straight back, but soon I found that this was not a good idea as it is a busy road and there was nowhere to walk away from the oncoming cars. However, I pinned my safety on access land not far ahead where a lion has been marked out in white chalk on the side of the hill, but when I got there I found tall metal fences barring me from entering the access land so I had to keep going beside the dangerous road. Eventually, after turning right at a junction, I was finally able to enter the access land of Dunstable Downs and slowly climb the escarpment in a groove past many beautiful cowslips until I finally returned to my car after a good walk through the Chiltern Hills.