Shining Tor
Sunday, 5th May
2002
I would have climbed Shining Tor when I took part
in the Cloud 7 Circuit in August of 1998. However,
if you read my account,of the first 14 miles -
click here to view - you will know that Ray, my
walking
companion that day, and I
decided we had had enough when we reached the
Cat and Fiddle Pass between Macclesfield and
Buxton. The next "leg" of the walk would have
taken us over Shining Tor and I suppose my
wanting to go up it now was because I had not
done it that day.
Anne and I were having a weekend break near Wilmslow and with the Cheshire Hills not far away we decided to walk up Shining Tor. It was a beautiful day as we headed to the Goyt Valley and the car park by the Errwood Reservoir. On the way there, via Bollington and Kettleshume, we were tempted to park by Pym Chair, a short distance from Shining Tor. However, as this is in the region of 450 metres above sea level and as Shining Tor is only 559 metres the modest climb from this point would have felt like cheating. I therefore continued and drove down a narrow road to "Errwood". Anne was quite concerned about the ascent we were going to have to make from the car park by the reservoir which, when we reached it, was already well over half full. Good job we didn’t arrive much later as it was filling up very quickly. The May sunshine was obviously encouraging others to get walking.
Boots on, walking poles
in hands, we set off. Having not been to the
Goyt Valley before we decided to go south
along the west bank of the reservoir and enjoy
the views and, having crossed Clough Bridge,
we headed roughly south-west along a track
that would eventually drop down to the "Cat
and Fiddle". Initially it was quite steep but
the further uphill we went the easier the
walking became and looking back made the hard
work very worth while with views down to the
reservoir and across on to the moorland
beyond. Visibility was excellent. We really
had picked a good day.
After about half a mile a
path came in from the right, which had also
started from the reservoir and had followed a
stream uphill from the from the north side of
the aforementioned Clough Bridge. Here Anne
decided to stop to admire the views, get her
breath back, and give a small group of other
walkers, who had materialised up the other
path, a chance to go in front of us. However,
they didn’t seem to want to move so Anne and I
continued uphill and on the brow of the slope
turned right (north-west) to follow the track
that was signposted "Shining Tor". This was a
very straight path, well maintained and within
10 or 15 minutes we were on the top of Shining
Tor. Needless to say we were not alone.
Other walkers were
enjoying the superb views from the south-west
side of the hill. Immediately below was the
Cat and Fiddle Pass and two or three miles
further south Shutlingsloe could be seen.
Although not as high as Shining Tor, Shutlingsloe is a very impressive hill, and from our lofty position we admired its unmistakable outline. It is actually nicknamed the Matterhorn of Macclesfield and if you’ve seen it, particularly from Shining Tor, you will realise why.
There was one seat on the
top of Shining Tour and fortunately we were
adjacent to it just as the previous occupants
were leaving so we sat and had our elevenses -
water and Snickers. As we sat there we watched
the walkers who we had passed earlier climbing
up the hill, and to Anne’s indignation one of
them, a female, on reaching us said to Anne
"Oh, you made it then". Just ‘cause we were
probably 25 years older than her she obviously
thought we were a little bit past it. – Anne
"bit her tongue".
Although at the start it had been very warm the sun went in as we started to walk again and it got quite cool. I even found myself putting on a thin pair of gloves. Amazing how the weather can change on the hills; even low ones.
The path we followed from
here went north following the top of the ridge
to Cats Tor and then on to Pym Chair. This
route goes over very peaty terrain, which
would easily be eroded by walkers without
actions being taken to prevent this. The
solution was a carpet of some fibrous matting
laid on the peat with stone chippings spread
on top. It certainly seemed to work well and
was very pleasant to walk on as the peat
compressed as we walked on the "mat" and
resulted in a very bouncy gait. You could
actually see the chipping mat compressing as
the person in front trod on it.
Once over Cats Tor it was downhill to Pym Chair and then right (east) and down the road back towards the Reservoir. However, about a third of a mile down the road we took a path to the right and started on a woodland path that took us below Foxlow Edge passing a small shrine on the way. This was very pleasant with native trees, oak, birch and rowen, mixing with spruce and pine. We enjoyed this path; however, others coming the other way were not all enjoying it as much as us. Two young girls (about 8 or 10) asked Anne, in very weary tones, "Is it far to the Shrine?". They were obviously not enjoying the walk as much as their parents who were some distance in front. I wonder if we were like that at their age?
Soon after we emerged from the woodland near Clough Bridge and walked again along the road back to the car park. Here we rewarded ourselves with ice cream cornets. The walk had been just over 6 miles long and we had really enjoyed it.
Anne and I were having a weekend break near Wilmslow and with the Cheshire Hills not far away we decided to walk up Shining Tor. It was a beautiful day as we headed to the Goyt Valley and the car park by the Errwood Reservoir. On the way there, via Bollington and Kettleshume, we were tempted to park by Pym Chair, a short distance from Shining Tor. However, as this is in the region of 450 metres above sea level and as Shining Tor is only 559 metres the modest climb from this point would have felt like cheating. I therefore continued and drove down a narrow road to "Errwood". Anne was quite concerned about the ascent we were going to have to make from the car park by the reservoir which, when we reached it, was already well over half full. Good job we didn’t arrive much later as it was filling up very quickly. The May sunshine was obviously encouraging others to get walking.
Although not as high as Shining Tor, Shutlingsloe is a very impressive hill, and from our lofty position we admired its unmistakable outline. It is actually nicknamed the Matterhorn of Macclesfield and if you’ve seen it, particularly from Shining Tor, you will realise why.
Although at the start it had been very warm the sun went in as we started to walk again and it got quite cool. I even found myself putting on a thin pair of gloves. Amazing how the weather can change on the hills; even low ones.
Once over Cats Tor it was downhill to Pym Chair and then right (east) and down the road back towards the Reservoir. However, about a third of a mile down the road we took a path to the right and started on a woodland path that took us below Foxlow Edge passing a small shrine on the way. This was very pleasant with native trees, oak, birch and rowen, mixing with spruce and pine. We enjoyed this path; however, others coming the other way were not all enjoying it as much as us. Two young girls (about 8 or 10) asked Anne, in very weary tones, "Is it far to the Shrine?". They were obviously not enjoying the walk as much as their parents who were some distance in front. I wonder if we were like that at their age?
Soon after we emerged from the woodland near Clough Bridge and walked again along the road back to the car park. Here we rewarded ourselves with ice cream cornets. The walk had been just over 6 miles long and we had really enjoyed it.