Sunday, 15th April 2012

Walk: Tegg’s Nose, Macclesfield Forest, St Stephens church, Lamload Reservoir
Start Point: Tegg's Nose country park main car park Grid Reference: SJ 960 732
Distance: 9.6 miles Ascent: 2,254 feet
Time: 5.25 hours    
Weather: Cold with a stiff wind, sunny all day, very clear air
Comments: 8 walkers enjoyed a walk in this, a different area to our normal haunts. After starting out from the car park at Tegg’s Nose visitor centre the group made the short climb up to the quarry area to read about the history of the quarry and the people who worked it in times past. Although the quarry was abandoned decades ago some of the old machinery is preserved and there are information boards dotted around to give some idea of what working conditions were like.

A short detour took us to the top of Tegg’s nose where the unusual stone shelter at the summit sported “spy holes” pointing to various landmarks. The spotter saw only the landmark when looking through the hole. After admiring the view it was down and on to Macclesfield Forest for elevenses before continuing on to Forest Church. Lamload reservoir was our next destination where a sunny spot on a steep embankment proved an excellent stop for lunch. From here a short road section took us to the gritstone trail which we then followed all the way back to the start point at Tegg’s Nose country park.

Scroll down to see photos of the walk

The visitor centre car park viewpoint . . .

 

with information tablets . . .

 

from where there is a clear view across the valley . . .

 

and the surrounding Cheshire Plain (Jodrell Bank can be seen in the centre of this picture)

 

Then it's on to . . .

 

the quarry . . .

 

to view the old machinery . . .

 

which is well preserved . . .

 

and check out the quarry face . . .

 

before heading up to the summit (note the 'spy holes' in the stonework) . . .

 

which point to various landmarks

 

Lower down a topograph picks out interesting points on the Cheshire Plain

 

Gorse grows in abundance on the surrounding slopes . . .

 

and we look back on Tegg's Nose . . .

 

before entering Macclesfield Forest for elevenses

 

Continuing on through the forest . . .

 

which looks very different from the recce a few weeks earlier

 

Eventually reaching Forest Church . . .

 

or Saint Stephen's as it is properly known . . .

 

the group admires the interior, . . .

 

particularly the flowers . . .

 

which are all over the church

 

Meanwhile, outside Ian finds a patch of snow and proceeds to make a snowball

 

No, that's not a round cloud but Ian's effort winging its way towards the photographer!

 

Passing an unusual tree . . .

 

we eventually reach Lamload Reservoir for lunch

 

The we have to decide if it's this way or the other way . . .

 

or that way as we pick up the gritstone trail and head back to the cars

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