(S/E) From the rear of the pub, follow the fence on the right of the garden and out into Beaufort Close. Turn left. At the junction with Devon-shire Road, turn right. Continue to the end of the road then follow the footpath past a cycling barrier to Talbot Road. Turn left then immediately right (Moss Lane). At the next junction, turn left (Trafford Road), then turn right along Chapel Road, passing the Methodist Church.
(1) On reaching the B5087, cross and turn left. Cross George Street then turn right into Chorley Hall Lane. Take the first left, Lydiat Lane, and follow it to its end. Take the path opposite, between houses, and follow it along the edge of a playing field to a bridge over the railway. Go through a kissing gate and cross the next field diagonally to another kissing gate followed by a footbridge. Turn left and follow the field edge, with a ditch on your left. Cut the corner to a further kissing gate. Cross the next field to steps and a stile at the end of the railway bridge. Cross the railway then when the track bends left, go through a kissing gate on your right. Beyond a stile, turn left along a narrow fenced path to another stile. Walk between gardens to Welsh Row.
(2) Turn right along the road for 400 yards. Opposite the track, to Walton Farm (on the right) turn left onto a footpath. Cross a couple of fields divided by kissing gates then bear right along a grassy track and over a footbridge out to the road. Cross to the footpath opposite, descending to a stream before bearing left to the churchyard. Pass to the right of the church and exit next to the old school. Follow the driveway out to the road.
(3) Turn left past Nether Alderley Mill. Continue along the main road at the end of Sand Lane. At the entrance to Nether Alderley Primary School, cross and take the road on the right by the phone booth. Beyond the school, follow cobbled Bradford Lane for 150 yards before turning left over a stile onto a footpath along the edge of a paddock. Turn right over another stile, then left along the field edge.
(4) After another stile, join Artists Lane between cottages and turn right. Follow the road for 600 yards. After a farm on the left, then a wooden owl carving, take a track on the left, passing a metal barrier and then a small disused quarry on your right. Carry straight on at a junction with a bridleway (to your right) and climb gently past an area of treeless sandy spoil on your right.
(5) At a junction of paths, turn right. The path continues up the right-hand edge of the woodland, passing a National Trust sign by the board explaining the excavations at the Hagg Cottages. At a waymark post keep left. At a sandy open area, bear right to emerge on the B5087 opposite a cottage and parking area.
(6) Cross and enter the woodlands, passing the National Trust map. At a crossroads of paths go straight on, signposted ‘Engine Vein’. Turn right by the Armada Beacon and pass the Druid’s Circle before climbing gently to Stormy Point. Keep left of the open area and pass below the plaque recording the area’s gift to the National Trust. Descend past rocks to a saddle, where you swing hard right down the slope to another path. Turn sharp left and continue descending to another path junction. Follow the path to the right, out of the woods and below the sandstone cliffs of a disused quarry to a car park and road.
(7) Turn left along the road for a short distance then, before a cottage, turn right onto a footpath up steps amongst holly trees. Follow the path to a stile and into the corner of a field. Follow the right-hand edge of the field to another stile. Cross the next field diagonally to a footbridge over the Whitehall Brook. Follow the left-hand field edge to a stile in the corner, then turn left along the left-hand edge of the next field. After 100 yards, go through a kissing gate on your left and turn right, passing to the right of a pond.
(8) Follow the field edge out to the road by a farm entrance. Turn right along the road for a short distance, then left over a stile by a farm gate. Follow the left-hand edge of a couple of fields, then climb a stile into a layby by a road (Heyes Lane). Cross the road and follow a farm track opposite. Pass through a gateway, then turn left along the hedge. Follow the field edge round to the right, then turn left over a footbridge.
(9) Emerge between garden fences onto a road and cross straight over into another fenced path. Bear left before a play area out to a grassy mini-roundabout. Follow Oakfield Road, ahead, to its junction with Heywood Road, where you bear left, ignoring Crescent Road on your left. At the junction with Heyes Lane, turn right. Keep right at the junction with Duke Street, then turn left into Moss Rose to return to the Drum & Monkey.(S/E)
