Day 37: The Moorfield Arms

Distance: 11.3 miles
Ramblers: 12
This post is getting to you a day late, because the Moorfield Arms has no wifi. That's understandable, since they are out in the middle of nowhere. What's harder to accept is the lack of heat or hot water. This is more of a problem today than it would have been last week because the temperature has dropped a lot, and to compound that we've moved from the low plain south of Manchester to the higher country east of Manchester - the peak district. We're not quite in the moor here, but around dinner, the clouds gave us a bit of a break and we could clearly see Kinder Scout just off to the east. It's cold enough now that there's a chance of snow tonight. So between the higher, more exposed country and the new weather system, a little heat would be nice.
The rooms are in a different building from the main pub, and while the pub is toasty warm, the rooms are freezing. Seems the propane heater in that building is on the fritz, and it doesn't want to start up. We asked, not unreasonably I think, for hot water and heat. The cook was dispatched to take a look. I guess when you're a cook out here, you need many skills. He worked on it valiantly for a couple of hours, but with no success. After he accepted defeat, a man in coveralls with power tools gave it a go. He too was defeated. Fortunately, we nabbed an electric heater from the pub and it's been running for three or four hours now and so the room is now merely cold instead of freezing. And the cook turned on the back up electrical hot water heater, which (after about five hours) heated up enough water for us each to shower. And the bed here does have lots of heavy blankets. So we're ok.




The day ended wet and cold, but started out dry and only a little cold. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at Red Oaks Farm, where I mixed things up a bit by having the full English with a duck egg instead of a hen egg. We enjoyed the company of Bonnie at breakfast - not my cousin Bonnie, but this Bonnie:




We started the day by walking under the Macclesfield canal; the canal we'd walked all day yesterday. The bridge in this picture is an aqueduct - the water flows over the road. I find this kind of odd, but it's common on the canals we've walked.




Once under the canal, we joined the Middlewood Way, a 10 mile long conversion of an old steam train rail line to a horse/bike/walk trail. This is a very nice trail, and seems pretty well used. It's the only trail we've walked that is a dual carriageway: the whole length supports two lanes of traffic.




And, there are giant bunnies (and other animals) on the trail.




About an hour into the walk, the rain started, and we pulled out the pack covers and rain gear. The rest of the day varied from drizzle to rain with a few breaks in between.




After a couple of hours, we switched back to the canal for a mile or so, and saw a cute cat peering through a canal boat window.




We needed to get from the canal to the village of Disley, but it wasn't clear which side of the canal we needed. We stared at the map, and debated, not really getting anywhere, when, out of nowhere, came a dozen men outfitted in boots and sensible walking clothes, more than half carrying rucksacks, striding towards us quickly and with a sense of purpose. The Ramblers!




Peter, their leader, looked over our map at the route we'd chosen. He told us we could get to Disley that way, but we'd have to cross a railroad line, and it wasn't really the best way. He suggested that instead we should join his group and follow them; that'd get us to a land that would lead us to town. Peter exuded confidence and authority, so we did!
It was great to walk for a half hour with no need to check the maps, and with a group of friendly people to talk with. We were curious about why it was all men, but were scared to ask what happened to their women. Too soon, we were at the lane into Disley, on course, and parted ways.




We spent an hour and a half over tea and lunch at the Ram's Head - our longest lunch yet! They had a roaring warm fire, good food, and Banoffee Sundae. Mmmmmmmm.




North of Disley, the terrain has changed. We've turned the corner from the gentle plains of the midlands, and have moved into the wilder rolling hills of north England. It's beautiful, but it will make the walking more challenging!
Tomorrow, we have a long walk directly north to Diggle, where we join the Pennine Way and head into Yorkshire.

Location:Moorfield Arms, middle of nowhere, UK