Manchester Weekend Walkers lead public transport walks into fantastic countryside all year round.
Train-based walk
Leader: Mary
Meet Point: Near the ticket barriers, or on the platform, at Piccadilly station. Alternatively, meet the group on the train, or at the Walk Start at Kidsgrove station.
Transport to Walk Start: 09:46 train from Manchester Piccadilly (final destination Stoke-on-Trent).
Suggested Ticket: Off Peak Day Return to Kidsgrove £17 - it may be cheaper to book two advance singles.
Walk Start: Kidsgrove Railway Station at 10:40.
Waypoints: Mount Pleasant, Mow Cop, South Cheshire Way, Acker’s Crossing, Macclesfield Canal, South Cheshire Way, Little Moreton Hall, Boarded Farm, Brick House, Ashbank Farm, Trent & Mersey Canal.
Return Services: x:03 until 21:03, 22:25. Additional return services via a change at Crewe or Stoke-on-Trent.
Extra: No toilets at walk start. Toilets en route at Little Moreton Hall. Optional pub visit at the end of the walk. Please do not bring your dog (apart from registered assistance dogs) as we will be waling through fields of livestock.
The walk will be undertaken at a steady pace, but it does require you to have a good level of fitness for a 11-mile undulating walk.
The route of the walk will take us through the rich mosaic of agricultural land, woodland and lowland heath, interlaced with rivers and canals, that you find in the Cheshire Plains and the countryside borderland of Staffordshire.
We begin the walk mainly following a flat route of farmland paths and countryside lanes that gradually ascends towards the steep rocky hill of Mow Cop, with its 'mock' ruined castle at the top. After lunch at Mow Cop, we will gradually descend via fields and country lanes towards the topsy-turvy Tudor timber-framed house of Little Moreton Hall, with its curled scenic moat. From the Hall we will crossover an A-road and continue the walk on mainly flat farm fields and countryside paths to meet the Trent & Mersey Canal, which will take us back to Kidsgrove Train Station.
Please carry plenty of food and water to sustain you for a long day. There will be no opportunity or time to purchase food at the walk start or anywhere en route.
Please wear suitable walking footwear as some of the route is uneven and will be muddy/ boggy in sections (NO sandals or crocs).
