Shutlingsloe

A better day weather-wise with mostly sunny periods but mostly very windy.
Leaving the car by the Visitors Centre, in Macclesfield Forest near Trentabank Reservoir, Karen and I followed a track parallel to the road which led through woods and gradually upwards until it reached an open area with the large summit of Shutlingsloe ahead.
The last section was steep, but thankfully very short, following steps of gritstone which brought us the the long and narrow summit near the trig point. From here you had a 360 degree view of the surrounding land and across the Cheshire plain with the town of Macclesfield below and hills in the distance, with the huge radio telescope at Jodrell Bank very easy to spot.
We dropped down on one side to have lunch in a sheltered spot out of the breeze then continued along the summit ridge to drop down a path leading past a farmhouse to a lane at Wildboarclough.
We continued along the lane then at a footpath sign next to the Crag Inn pub and crossed several fields with views of the surrounding countryside, following a wall enclosing the Open Access area of Piggford Moor.
We soon arrived at a stile, which was well-signposted by the farmer who obviously had got fed up of walkers wandering around looking for the way on! The stile brought us to a narrow, minor road which we followed for a few hundred metres to Greenway Bridge. Here there was a path leading from by the bridge along the Oaken Clough stream, which we followed after a short break by the bridge.
Passing Oakenclough Farm, we dropped down an ancient sunken track to pop out on a another minor road by the Hanging Gate pub. The path continued right by the pub door and by the smoking shelter then back into fields for a short while before again joining a minor road for a while.
We left the minor road and followed a section of the Gritstone Trail as far as Ridgegate reservoir where we left the Gritstone Trail to follow a path through woods and then all that was left to do was to follow a stony track back to the car park and Information Centre in the Macclesfield Forest.
After dropping our rucksacks back in the car and changing from boots we had some lovely cake from the food trailer parked behind the Information Centre called “Nice Nosh”. This isn't your usual “Burger Van” type of food but excellent locally produced food at very reasonable prices.