(S/E) With your back to the Royal Oak pub, turn right and walk up Longhurst Lane past the 20 mph speed-limit signs.
Turn left down Knowle Road (signposted Mellor Primary School), passing Mellor Sports Club on the right and the school on the left.
(1) Cross a stream and follow the road through Slack Wood, passing a left-hand turn to Townscliffe Lane, until you reach Knowle Farm. From the farmyard, take the footpath on the right uphill across fields to reach Mellor Church via a flight of steps.
(2) At the far end of the churchyard, turn right and walk down the road, past the Parish Centre, then climb to the main village street. Turn left to the Devonshire Arms, then cross into Gibb Lane on the right.
After 1⁄4 mile, turn left at a junction (Whetmorhurst Lane). After about 1⁄2 mile of steady climbing, bear right at a farm entrance then turn right at a T-junction by Moorland Cottage. Follow the lane for 1⁄4 mile past a couple of farms to a crossroads below Mellor Cross.
(3) Follow the lane ahead of you, passing below the cross, to Three Chimneys Cattery. Beyond the cattery, when the driveway turns right, follow the green lane ahead. After 80 yards, turn right at a gate with a footpath sign and follow a walled path that descends below a small wood and above a house.
On reaching a driveway, turn left past the entrance to Higher Capstone Farm.
(4) When the drive swings right, take the footpath straight ahead, over a stile by a gate. The path drops down to a further gate, where you go down a couple of stone steps and follow the wall downhill.
Leave the wall at a footpath sign and pass below a small quarry and down a slightly rocky descent to a stile beyond a poultry barn. Turn right to meet a byway.
Turn left and follow the byway through Brook Bottom to the Fox Inn to rejoin the Main Route.
(5) From the Fox car park near the telephone box, follow the track downhill marked Goyt Way. Go under the railway bridge and pass Strines Station. After a short stretch of cobblestones, turn right by Strines Hall, following a bridleway uphill towards Greenclough Farm.
(6) By the farm, cross a stream and follow the Goyt Way on your left. When the track splits, keep to the Goyt Way on the right (slightly uphill). Stay alongside the railway, ignoring a signposted bridleway on your right.
Pass Windybottom Farm then go through the tunnel under the railway to meet the River Goyt. Beyond Roman Bridge (on your left) you go under the railway viaduct, then pass Roman Lakes on your right-hand side.
(7) At the junction with Lakes Road, turn right for a short distance and then turn left following an uphill path opposite the Old Hall. At the top of Old Hall Lane, turn right back to the Royal Oak. (S/E)
