For our January walk, we have planned a 7 mile walk (approx) starting in Middlewood and ending in Disley, taking in western areas of Lyme Park, on the Manchester-Buxton line. The route is not expected to be rough but will definitely be muddy in places. We will be getting to Middlewood by train; meet at Manchester Piccadilly at 9.30 to catch the 9:51am train to Middlewood (on the Buxton line).
Meet near the information board. We should be returning to Manchester at 17:27, on the 16:53 train from Disley.
The timing above will allow for a short stop for snacks, and then a pub stop before catching the train. There's a lovely one about 500 metres from the station.
PLEASE NOTE: if the weather is bad, we will be cancelling the walk. Check the Met Office report on Saturday! Or text us on Sunday morning if in doubt.
For our February walk, we have planned a 9 mile walk (approx) starting from Godley station to Glossop, taking in Hackingknife, Idle Hill, and Coombes Edge. Because the weather in February can be uncertain, we have chosen a walk where there are plenty of ways to cut it short if the weather is bad, including Broadbottom Station, which is half-way between the other two.
The route is not expected to be rough but will definitely be muddy in places. We will be getting to Godley by train; meet at Manchester Piccadilly on Sunday, 13th February at 10am to catch the 10:18 train to Godley. PLEASE NOTE: you should buy a return ticket to Glossop, not Godley, as we will be returning from that station.
Meet near the information board. We should be returning to Manchester on either the 16:09 or the 16:39 train from Glossop, which arrive back in Manchester at either 16:42 and 17:12, respectively.
The timing above will allow for one or two short stops for snacks, and then a pub stop (or Costa Coffee, if people prefer) before catching the train.
For our March walk, we have planned something a little different: a stroll around the grounds of Yorkshire Sculpture park. Basically, it will be a free-for-all; you can walk all the way to the end of the park (3+ miles out, with plenty of scope for detours), or restrict yourself to some of the more famous sculptures and exhibits within a 1000m radius from the entrance, spend time in the galleries, and then relax in the tea shop. Information about the park and exhibits is available at: www.ysp.co.uk
We will be getting to the park by car, leaving at 10am from the city centre (place to be confirmed after we know who is coming and who is driving), aiming to be back in Manchester by 5pm. The entrance fee is £4 per car, so non-drivers should expect to be chipping in £5-10 to cover that fee and petrol.
You MUST get in touch by return email if you plan to come, and provide a mobile phone number that you can be reached on in case of any last-minute changes to meeting place and time of departure.
If you missed last month’s walk in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, here’s another opportunity to see some Art! For our April walk this Sunday (April 10th), we have planned a walk from Bury along the Irwell sculpture trail. We will have lunch at the Fisherman’s Retreat near Shuttleworth and then either return from Ramsbottom directly or continue along the trail until Lumb to take in a few more sculptures and then loop back.
For the first half, we’ll take the Metrolink from Piccadilly Gardens to Bury. The route to the Fisherman’s retreat is a fairly gentle 6-mile walk except for the last half mile or so where we leave the river valley. The pub is famous for its whisky collection if you need fortification.
After lunch there is the option of crossing the Irwell into Ramsbottom (1mi). Bus lines 472 and 474 leave from the market place four times per hour on Sunday and go back to Bury (ca 15 min), from where you can return via metrolink (4-5 times per hour, ca 40 min) or bus.
Alternatively, we can continue along the river for another 2 miles or so until Lumb and then return via Stubbins to Ramsbottom.
Meet at the Piccadilly Gardens Metrolink stop at 9:45 for the Bury line. Please make sure you have enough (small) change for metro/ bus fares (Return to Bury £3.60; the Metrolink automats do accept card payment. Ramsbottom to Bury ca £2).
For our May walk, we have planned a 10 mile walk (approx) starting from Edale station in the Hope Valley, walking over the edge of Kinder Scout and down to Chinley.
The route is not expected to be rough, although there will be a fair bit of uphill for the first 45 minutes, and possibly muddy and/or stony in places. We will be getting to Edale by train; meet at Manchester Piccadilly on Sunday, 8th May at 9:30am to catch the 9:45 train to Edale.
Meet near the information board. We should be returning to Manchester on either the 16:56 or the 17:55 train from Chinley, which arrive back in Manchester at either 17:32 or 18:31, respectively.
The timing above will allow for one or two short stops for snacks, and then a pub stop at our favourite pub in Chinley.
Our May walk from Edale to Chinley turned out to be quite nice, dry and partly sunny, and finishing with a nice meal at the pub in Chinley. For June, we are heading back to Prestatyn in North Wales by train on Sunday the 12th. This will be a repeat of a popular one we did last June, a 10 mile circular walk, up onto the ridge of the Clwydd range and then down onto the Gronant Dunes Nature Reserve, where you can expect to kick off your boots, roll up your trousers, and wade back to the town of Prestatyn for fish and chips at the end.
Meet at Manchester Piccadilly information board at 8:10am to catch the 8:27 am train to Prestatyn via Crewe, arriving at 10:16. There is a direct train back at 16:59, arriving in Manchester 18:40, or if we miss that there is a train at 17:49 with a change in Chester that arrives at 19:40. PLEASE NOTE: the return trainfare has risen to £24.90 this year.
The route is not rough but there is a steep climb at the beginning (approx 30 minutes) and, if there has been rain, is likely to be muddy in places, sandy on the dunes, and possibly windy.
for our walk Sunday 17 July, we have a 9 mile walk (approx) starting in Chinley and finishing in New Mills, on the Manchester-Sheffield line. The route is not expected to be rough but could be muddy in places. We will be getting to Chinley by train; meet at Manchester Piccadilly at 9.10 to catch the 9:22 am train to Chinley.
Meet near the information board (the train will be leaving from either platform 1 or 2). We should be returning to Manchester at 17:32, on the 17:02 train from New Mills Central.
The timing above will allow for snacks along the way, as well as food and drinks at James’s new house in Birch Vale.
Due to most people being away on holiday in August, we have moved the walk to Sunday, 7th August. This will be a 10 mile walk (approx) starting in Chapel-en-le-frith and ending in Buxton. The route is not expected to be rough but could be muddy in places. We will be getting to Chapel by train; meet at Manchester Piccadilly at 9.30 to catch the 9:51am train to Chapel, but please remember to buy a return ticket to BUXTON, not Chapel (as we will return from there).
Meet near the information board. We should be returning to Manchester at 17:27, on the 16:27 train from Buxton.
The timing above will allow for snacks along the way, as well as either a pub or cafe stop in Buxton at the end.
For September we have planned a 10 mile walk (approx) circular route starting and ending in Littleborough. The route is not expected to be rough (although there is some uphill, possibly a bit steep in places) but could be muddy (especially given the recent weather!). We will be getting there by train; meet at Manchester VICTORIA at 9:50am to catch the 10:08am train to Littleborough.
Meet at the coffee stand opposite the ticket booth. We should be returning to Manchester at 17:30, on the 17:02 train from Littleborough.
The timing above will allow for snacks along the way, as well as either a pub or cafe stop in Littleborough at the end.
In keeping with tradition, we are returning to Pendle Hill in the beautiful Ribble Valley with a 10 mile circular walk (approx) starting in Clitheroe.
We will be getting to Clitheroe by train – meet at Manchester VICTORIA at 9.40 to catch the 10am train to Clitheroe.
Meet at the coffee stand opposite the ticket office. (The stand may not be serving coffee at that time but maybe with a group of us we can persuade the owner to open early for us!).
We should be returning to Manchester for 17.53 on the 16.40 from Clitheroe.
The timing above will allow time for a picnic lunch, and a pub or cafe stop before catching the train. Trains are direct and hourly so if people prefer on the day, we can catch a later train for the return journey.
For our November walk we have a shorter journey of 7 miles (approx) starting and finishing in New Mills, on the Manchester-Buxton line. The route is not expected to be rough but could be muddy in places. We will be getting to New Mills by train; meet at Manchester Piccadilly at 9.30 to catch the 9:51 am train to New Mills NEWTOWN (NOT New Mills Central).
Meet near the information board. We should be returning to Manchester at either 17:27, on the 16:45 train, or 18:27 on the 17:45 from New Mills NEWTOWN.
The timing above will allow for snacks along the way, as well as food and drinks at James’s house in Birch Vale, approximately 1.5 miles from New Mills train station.