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Kettleshulme circuit
A route suitable for a half day outing, longer if you dawdle. In summer it may well be worthwhile taking a break to admire the gardens at Dunge Farm. Timings are based on Naismith's formula - 5 kph, plus an hour for each 600 metres of ascent.
We walked this route on 27 March 2009. For our blog report, click here.
Overview
1->2->3->4->1
LOCATION HEIGHT DIST ASCT EST TIME
OS Grid Metres Km Metres
1 SJ 988 797 250
Bull's Head
1->2 2.57 158 47 mins
Start from the Bull's Head, or the Swan Inn down the road. Parking is also available down Paddock Lane (opposite the Bulls Head) - follow the road round at the bottom of the hill and parking is on the RHS. Walk up the hill from the pub, turn immediately L into Flatts Lane, go down the hill and just before a stream turn R to Bent Hall Farm. Follow the track to the next farm, before which go over a stone stile to the L of the buildings and drop down to cross a stream and stile. Then walk up the hill, following pylons and keeping by the hedge. Keep on in the same direction, turning L then R to reach a road. Cross over and head up a field to a ladder stile in the far wall. [Optional - beyond this stile a path descends to a good viewpoint over the Goyt Valley.] From the stile go R along Taxal Edge, beside a wall, to reach a house on the R with a corner of wood ahead. Turn R down the road past the house to reach Fivelane-ends.
2 SJ 992 787 350
Fivelane-ends
2->3 3.46 126 54 mins
Keep ahead (S) along a 'No Through Road' towards Dunge Farm. By Tunstead Knoll Farm cross a cattle grid, go ahead again, then finally through a gate and to the R of a house and its garden (Dunge Farm - the gardens may be worth a visit in summer, but you'll need to buy a ticket). Cross a brook here via a stone slab, then go through a gate and bear L to a stile. Keep alongside the stream and make for a substantial barn, with a stile behind it. Continue to a stile to the L of Green Stack. Drop down to the farm road, turn R to some flags, then after 15 metres veer L off the track, following a wall then heading S over marshy grass. Keep slightly L to a stile above the top of a wall ahead, then cross another stile to reach road and turn R.
Turn 1st L over a stile by a gate, to continue down track to Howlers Knowl. Go through gate and turn R past buildings. Exit through another gate before turning R through an opening to walk down the track to Saltersford Hall, a farm. (1595 - Stopford family. Jenkins Chapel is nearby - 1st burial was Richard Turner in 1748.)
3 SJ 983 763 305
Saltersford Hall
3->4 2.70 111 44 mins
Turn L then R over a stile by a gate, and continue down a grassy track and over a field, walking parallel to the stream, which is crossed at a bridge after which turn R past a barn. Continue down the valley towards a white house - Burton Springs Farm - to the R of which a lane is reached by keeping to the R of a pond. Turn L up the road/track then at the end of a plantation turn R over a stile along a grassy track (N). Keep along the wall of the exposed field to a stile, then turn L alongside a wall to reach a high point with views over Greater Manchester. Keep in the same direction, briefly, then bear R down to Moss Brook, following it through reed grass until crossing and going over another stile. Cross a tributary, then climb to walk along the wall, over marshy ground between two stiles. Go over the R stile and continue down a boggy field to the R of the farm to reach the main road.
4 SJ 967 778 294
Main Road
4->1 3.84 148 1 hr, 1 min
Cross road and climb stile ahead, walking over field to turn R (NNE) down an ancient green lane, wet, grassy and a bit overgrown, to cross Black Brook before continuing up the green lane. Go over a stile and turn R along a grassy track to a junction. Bear slightly R, cross a stream, and follow wet ground along the side of a field. Drop back down to the green lane and cross 2 stiles to reach the main road again. Cross over and go up the track opposite as far as Charles Head Farm (1764, black post box). Pass the buildings then turn R then L down a stone path to a stile, dropping into the valley past a barn. Cross Todd Brook by a footbridge and follow a grassy track over marshy ground to a gate. Turn L along the farm track, passing Martin Stud (1752) then Thorneycroft Farm (1693) to reach the road. Turn L to return to the Bull's Head.
1 SJ 988 797 250
Bull's Head
Total trip 12.57 543 3 hrs, 25 mins
