A Morning Stroll at Lyme Park and plans for my next backpack

Distance: 3km; with Isabel

See route in new window

I had the day off with Isabel today, and it was forecast to be dry so a morning walk somewhere was in order.  Both MWIS and the Met Office forecast there to be hill fog in the Peak District, so I opted to leave my planned walk around the Roaches until another day.  Instead we headed to Lyme Park, which I hadn't been to for many months.

Knightslow Wood, Lyme Park

Our chosen walk for the morning was "The Moorland Way", a 2 mile stroll described in one of the National Trust's Lyme Park walk leaflets, and the suggested time was 1.5 to 2 hours, which seemed awfully long for the distance!  I set off walking at around quarter past ten, with Isabel in her rucksack carrier and headed up the hill and into Knightslow Wood.

Cluse Hey

Soon we reached Lime Avenue and had a good view back down it towards Lyme Hall.  We continued through the pleasant pine woods, with good views over the moorland to the left.  At the end of the woods, there was a leat to cross and then we followed a path above the valley of Cluse Hey to reach Paddock Cottage.

Paddock Cottage

The sun was now out and from the cottage there were good views across the Cheshire plain and I could make out Alderley Edge in the distance along with the many high-rise buildings of Manchester and surrounding towns; unfortunately it was a bit too hazy to be able to see the hills of NE Wales today.

View across the Cheshire plain from Paddock Cottage

We returned to the car at 11:10am, less than an hour after we set off, and took a wander alongside the lake before heading home for lunch and a pleasant morning stroll.

It was a shame not to be able to see the Welsh hills in the distance as that is where I am planning on heading for my next couple of backpacking trips.  I am planning on walking the Offa's Dyke path in much the same way as I did the Pennine Way, i.e. splitting it into several weekend or long weekend backpacks.  Either at the end of this month, or early in February, I am planning on taking the train to Prestatyn one Saturday morning and walking to Llandegla over a couple of days.  Then, probably in March, I'm going to return to Llandegla and walk to Welshpool.