Bridgend Centre Trail 8 - Upstairs, Downstairs

Start : From The Bridgend Centre 104 Palmerston St, Bollington, Macclesfield (SK10 5PW), England. Grid ref. SJ 935 779

(S/E) With your back to The Bridgend Centre, turn left (West) and walk along Palmerston Street (B5090) to go through the Aqueduct which carries the Macclesfield Canal. Cross the road to the Recreation Ground, turning left down the steps and along the path following the River Dean.

Continue forwards and then fork left up the slope with the grassy bank on your right. Going through the archway, turn right and follow the road round to emerge back on Wellington Road, where you turn right. Go under Bollington Viaduct and past the site of Oliver’s Waterhouse Mill. (A)

Continuing forward, on your right you will pass Bollington Hall Farm, one of the oldest buildings in the area. A corn mill stood just behind the farmhouse and its wheel was fed by a leat, bringing water all the way from near the Bridgend Centre. Turn right (West) and walk down Albert Road. Ahead of you on your right you will see Lowerhouse Mill. (B)

(1) At the bottom of Albert Road by Lowerhouse Mill, where the road bends to the right, turn sharply left into Ridley Road. Now turn right down Moss Lane and you will pass a house on the right which has a sign above the door, ‘Lowerhouse Library, 1862’. Greg also built this library, followed by a reading room and crèche.

Continue to the end of the lane and bear left on the track round the edge of the field. To your left you can see The Mount situated in trees over a hillock. (C)

(2) At the end of the track ignore the turn into the farmyard and continue ahead through the gate with a stone in front, and into a field, where you follow a hedge and then a fence on your left. Cross over a stile next to a stone slab and climb diagonally, between a hedge and trees towards farm buildings.

(3) At the corner of the field, turn left passing the PNFS sign 559 at Whiteley Hey Farm and join the track going left up a slope through some metal gates, taking care underfoot. Turn left in to Well Lane and upon reaching a green triangle, turn left up the Gunco Lane track.

Continue forward through a kissing gate and walk straight ahead. To the left beautiful views can be seen of the Nab, Billinge Hill, Rainowlow and White Nancy, with The Mount in front. Through the next kissing gate bear right and up by a stile next to a gate. Climb straight up, staying close to the hedge through a copse of trees and bearing right to the kissing gate onto a lane in front.

(4) The house on your left is called ‘Hilltop’. Continue to the end of the drive and turn left. At the end take great care to cross over Flash Lane, turning right to steps on the left just before the roundabout.

(5) Go down the steps and follow the path through two kissing gates and up the steps. You are walking between the Silk Road and Dumbah Hollow.

At a junction of paths continue forward and through a kissing gate. Follow the path over a hillock, through a gap in the fence and down and over a stream.

(6) Walk straight ahead towards a kissing gate, going past a pylon on your right and then straight up, passing ‘The Rookery’ on your right.

Go through a kissing gate and cautiously cross over Bollington Road (B5090) and slightly right, to follow a footpath sign by the side of a house, which leads into a ginnel. Continue forward by the side of the playing fields towards the Leisure Centre.

(7) Before the Leisure Centre, turn right (South-East) and down a path between a fence and a hedge. When you emerge onto a track, continue forward and then right down a ginnel. Turn left (East) along Clarke Lane, next to Mode Hill Barn.

Carry on over the railway bridge. Steam trains used to chug along this route, which was the Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway and is now a linear walkway called the Middlewood Way.

(8) At the next bridge turn left on to the Macclesfield Canal, passing a dry dock on the right and Adelphi Mill on the left. Carry on under the Bridge no 27 and over the Aqueduct, with Clarence Mill in front.

(9) Turn left through the gate opposite the Mill and left down the track. Cross the road and go left under the Aqueduct, into the Memorial Gardens. Go through the gate on the left, then right and back to The Bridgend Centre. (S/E)

Start : From The Bridgend Centre 104 Palmerston St, Bollington, Macclesfield (SK10 5PW), England. Grid ref. SJ 935 779

Parking : The Pool Bank car park near the Bridgend Centre is a little further in Palmerston Street.

Public transport : Bus line stop at Aquaduct (Palmerston Street)

Terrain : Can be slippery when wet! Road, Track

Facilities : Toilets, Cafés, Shops and Bar around the Bridgend Centre.

Find more information and walk ideas at Bridgend Centre here.

Younger walkers! Follow the trail of kingfisher markers and see what else you can spot along the way. Plus there’s a ‘Kingfisher’ quiz that will make the walk fly by … download it yourself or pick one up at the Bridgend Centre.

Download the quiz here.

(A) Oliver’s Waterhouse Mill : In the 1950s a place had been desperately needed for Bollington’s handicapped children and the mill’s gatehouse subsequently housed the Bollington Spastic Clinic. The Waterhouse Mill was demolished in 1962 but The Waterhouse, home of the Oliver family and now the Bollington Medical Centre, can soon be seen on your right. One famous Bollingtonian, Terry Waite was born at No. 60 Wellington Road, opposite the Waterhouse.

(B) Lowerhouse Mill : Acquired by Samuel Greg in 1832, he went to great lengths to make his workers happy, renovating their Long Row cottages, making allotments, and building a Sunday School and gymnasium.

(C) The Mount : Samuel Greg lived in there and years later Kenneth Burrows, a rich Lancastrian colliery owner, resided there. He too was a philanthropist and became the benefactor of Bollington Cross School.