A Christmas Carol Ramble - Written by Jenny Bordoli

[caption id="attachment_4599" align="aligncenter" width="1038"] The group outside Nether Alderley Church.[/caption]

On Saturday 7th December, an enthusiastic group from East Cheshire Ramblers met at the National Trust Car Park at Alderley Edge for a 5 mile walk with a seasonal flavour.Thirty two of us set off down Bradford Lane to St Mary’s Church at Nether Alderley where we enjoyed the Christmas carols sung by the excellent Barnby Choir. We were delighted to be greeted by our very own welcome sign, created especially for us by John Edwards and Marion Duff, who are ramblers and also sing with The Barnby Choir. We were encouraged to join in the singing where appropriate and were soon feeling in the festive mood. The current church is very attractive and dates from the 1300s. It is built from local stone quarried at The Edge and slate from Kerridge. The Old Saxon preaching cross and the 1200 year old yew tree in the church yard indicate this may have been a very early place of worship.
After about half an hour, at the end of the first session of carols, we continued on our walk. Everyone was feeling cheerful as we made our way down Hocker Lane in the winter sunshine. We then continued to Finlow Hill where some members, who were a bit short of time, made their way directly back to Bradford Lane and then to the car park that we started from. The rest of us continued on to cross the B5087 and returned to start via Hill Top.
We all agreed that our Christmas Carol Walk had been a great success and that we should make it an annual event. I am looking forward to the next one already.

[caption id="attachment_4596" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Some of the group gathered outside Nether Alderley Church.[/caption]