A Windy Stroll in Delamere Forest

Distance 4.5km; Ascent: 50m; with Isabel

See route in new window

With gale force winds forecast for the hill tops in the Peak, I concluded that we'd better avoid the high ground today and instead try to seek out somewhere where it wasn't raining!  The forecast suggested that the rain would clear away to the east during the morning, so a walk somewhere to the west of home sounded like a plan!  There was a pleasant sounding walk around Delamere Forest in the Cheshire ATP walks book, which we had considered on the bank holiday weekend but we ended up going to Rivington Country Park instead, and it seemed to be an ideal option for the day and it may even provide some shelter!

It was raining when we left home this morning, but as we headed west the weather improved and other than the wind it was quite pleasant when we arrived at the Linmere car park, although the skies looked to be threatening rain.  I set off walking soon after 10:30am with Isabel in the pushchair and headed north over the railway line, before turning right onto a pleasant earthy track alongside several of the Go Ape walkways.

Earthy track through Delamere Forest past the Go Ape walkways

Soon we reached Blakemere Moss, where there were good views westwards across the lake and we continued along its windy eastern shore.

Blakemere Moss from the east

At the corner of the lake we headed uphill away from the water through mixed woodland on a gravel track before heading westwards up Hunger Hill.  After several well signed junctions we were soon on the broad track leading back to the railway bridge.

View across the forest from the track back to the railway bridge

We reached the car at around quarter to midday after a pleasant stroll of little over an hour during which we had only seen a handful of other walkers.  The route had been graded as a grade 3 ATP walk in the Cheshire ATP walks book, but other than the bumpy gravel track in places it seemed to be a relatively easy ATP walk.  And just as we started to drive home, the rain started, which was good timing :)