We were due to meet by Ridgeway Reservoir but the road was closed through Langley up to the Leather Smithy.

After detours through back road and much tooing and throing as we met oncoming traffic we belatedly got to the meeting point. 26 people had turned out as it was a pleasantly sunny morning.

It was good to see the United Utilities sign promoting Walks in Macclesfield Forrest.

We set off up the hill by the road by the Leather Smithy.

The views back across the Cheshire Plain looked great.

We passed this old cottage…

…dated 1880.

The cottage was vacated in the 1930 when the Forrest was planted. Brian , one of our group, was at school with a boy who lived there.

This is a picture of the interior of the cottage now…

…I wonder what it was like back then.

The trees have grown since then…

…and now many are being harvested.

Now over the brow we headed in the direction of Bottoms Reservoir. A local Ram seemed to seek our attention/ He looked in fine fettle,

or perhaps his interest was in the ewes in the opposite field, as the nights are drawing in!

We passed Hardingland farm, how pretty it looks. I was reliably informed it used to be a B&B.

The view towards Teggs Nose looked splendid.

We took our break on a small track.

The blackberries were in abundance and very tasty.

At the bottom of the lane we met a farmer and his two dogs moving his sheep into the top field.

We had planned to walk up to Teggs Nose but our late start put pay to that and so we walked across the stream…

…where we passed a horse rider out enjoying the country-side.

We circled back behind Ridgegate Reservoir…

…and by that path we saw a number of Speckled Brown butterflies.

A nice end to a great walk.