Hello and welcome back to my Blog 😊.

Today myself and Angela did a lovely 7 mile circular walk which took us along the Macclesfield canal and through the National Trusts Lyme Park estate.

After scraping the ice off the car windscreen we set off for Higher Poynton and parked at the Nelson Pit visitor centre.

Nelson Pit was one of more than 70 mines sunk around Higher Poynton during the 19th century, exploiting a coal seam some 400 ft below the surface. It is estimated that 30 to 40 men worked Nelson Pit. Lord Vernon owned the land and under his ownership the village of Poynton grew considerably, so that, in 1897 there were 550 underground miners employed as well as 160 overground. In the 1880’s around 250,000 tonne of coal was produced from the Vernon estate.

The coal was transported from the mines by the Macclesfield canal. In its heyday you would have seen a horse-drawn narrow boat pass Mount Vernon Wharf, next to Nelson Pit, every ten minutes.

Leaving the car park it was a short walk up to the Vernon basin and what a sight – full of beautiful narrow boats!

It was early so there was no one stirring. We walked along the towpath, up a cobbled path over a bridge and then we spotted a tiger! Thankfully, it was on the opposite bank 😊.

I was enjoying walking along the towpath and looking at the boats.

After walking for some time along the towpath we left it and headed across open fields gaining height as we went. Looking back we had views over to Alderley Edge and Manchester. We entered Lyme Park and followed a path that took us to the grand house. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cheshire-greater-manchester/lyme

We had visited the estate before when it was very busy so, today, it was interesting to see the contrast with few people about. We sat by the lake and had a coffee amused by the antics of the geese playing (squabbling?). It was a lovely spot for a stop.

After our break we did a woodland section of walking.

Leaving the woods we left Lyme Park and entered open countryside again .

We made our way back to the Macclesfield canal.

Walking along the towpath we spotted a boat where there was a definite theme of ‘Only Fools and Horses’. The back half of a reliant robin on the stern and the front half on the bow.

We spotted a café beside the towpath so, of course, we had to stop for a coffee. We sat in the sun watching the world pass by. After, we visited the Nelson Pit visitors centre where we learnt more about its history and also discovered more walks in the area.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶‍♂️