Lunchtime at the cricket ground below the village of Heights
On a recent sunny Saturday, thirteen East Cheshire Ramblers met for a 12-mile walk from Uppermill – a small town in Saddleworth and the starting point for some excellent walking. It’s just less than an hour from Wilmslow or Macclesfield, yet many members of our group had never been there before. This was an opportunity to open their eyes to the delights of the area, with a varied walk chosen from “Rambles around Manchester” written by Mike Cresswell.
Revising Roman history at Castleshaw
We began by walking along Uppermill’s main road and soon peeled off along the towpath between the River Tame and Huddersfield Narrow Canal. Our route took us over Wharmton Hill with panoramic views of the Diggle and Chew valleys and onward to Bishop Park and its monument. From here, our destination was the redundant 18th-century church at Heights, but there was a large black bull in the field ahead of us. As he was staring intently at us, we wisely decided to make a detour. When we arrived in the churchyard at Heights, a camera crew was filming a scene for a gothic drama. They would say no more!
From Heights, we walked past restored weavers’ cottages, headed towards Castleshaw and its reservoirs and, of greater interest, to the remains of a Roman fort. After reading the interpretation boards and basking in the sunshine for a while, it was down into another valley before our final climb of the day to Harrop Edge and back to Uppermill alongside the canal. But not before a break at the Lime Kiln cafe (a treat for ramblers – open until 7pm!).
Graham Beech
Discussing the finer points of the walk