Bollington Circular Walk 3

Grade: Challenging
Distance: 8km/5 miles
Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Map: OS Explorer 268
Terrain: Partly strenuous
Barriers: N/A
Toilets: Available 364 days a year between 9.30am and 4.30pm at the Start and End of the route.

The third in a series of circular walks around Bollington and Kerridge starting from the Rangers Office, Adlington Road (what3words: ///pushover.city.corkscrew). The routes vary in length highlighting points of interest and provide pleasant views of the countryside.

This walk includes a visit to White Nancy. The path to Nancy is steep, and the ‘Rally Road’ path can be slippery when wet. However the view over the Cheshire Plain from the Kerridge Ridge makes the climb well worthwhile.

Early in the walk you join the Macclesfield Canal towpath. The canal was one of the last to be built, its route was laid out by Thomas Telford and opened on 19th November 1831. The Macclesfield Courier reported in 1831 that around 20,000 people watched the opening by a procession of boats. Ladies were not permitted on the boats because, the Courier said, ’Of a very natural anxiety for the preservation of their health, which might have been endangered by exposure to the cold and damp atmosphere.’

While walking alongside the canal, notice the stacked planks of wood just before bridge 27. These can be slotted into the grooves located near the bridge, where the canal is narrow; to seal off a length of canal so that it can be drained for repairs.

You will pass Redway House and Cottage which were formerly The Redway Tavern and before that a farm and three cottages owned in 1848 by a widow, Anne Gaskell. The farm comprised only three fields, two for meadow and one pasture. The car park occupies the meadow area.

A key feature of the route is White Nancy. A member of the Gaskell family of Ingersley erected this famous folly, between 1815 and 1818 to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo. It is probably named after Nancy Gaskell of Rainow and her daughter also called Nancy. Originally it was fitted with an access door and furniture for the family to enjoy a picnic. Note the letters in the paving stones showing compass directions. Using the compass signs look southwest and see the Jodrell Bank dish.