Reddish

Today I booked a rail ticket to the dark side of The Pennines, intending to ramble around some of Manchester's southern suburbs. I boarded the 10.21 at Dore & Totley station only to find that it was packed - standing room only.

Five stops away at Edale, it seemed that half the passengers left the train. It made me wonder if there was some special event happening in Edale but it was more likely that they were just city dwellers out to enjoy the countryside in October sunshine. Anyway, it meant that I could have a seat and read another chapter of my book.

I disembarked at Reddish North which is a couple of miles south of Manchester Piccadilly. I had maps with me so I knew where I was going even though I had never before walked in Reddish, Brinnington, Denton or Bredbury.

Horse conference by Ross Lave Lane

Soon I was in countryside, trudging up Ross Lave Lane to Hyde Hall and the underbelly of Denton. I popped into "The Fletchers Arms" for a latte and a bag of cheese and onion crisps (American: chips). Then down to The River Thame with its long riverside walk known as The Thameside Trail - a lovely green corridor away from traffic. I reached Humes Wood Weir and as I was taking a photograph of the water cascading I spotted a grey heron standing on a nearby rock. He or she may not have noticed me for these distinctive birds are normally very skittish and fly off before you can remove your lens cap.

Not far from there a young Polish man asked if he could help me. He had seen me studying my map. Kindly he directed me to The Peak Forest Canal constructed in the 1790s.

The highlight of that stretch was probably The Woodley Tunnel - 176 yards long and no electrical lighting inside it. Then I climbed a flight of steps hoping they would lead me to street level. But at the top it was a place for floundering with brambly briars and security fences - there was no way through - so back down the steps.

Emerging from Woodley Tunnel

I reached Bredbury Station forty minutes before my train home was due so on Stockport Road, I entered "The Rising Sun" and ordered half a pint of cider.

At first the train home was less than half full but when we reached Edale again  a hundred people got on and three women in their late thirties joined me at my four person table. They had met at The University of Durham twenty years earlier and reunite three or four times a year even though they now live far apart. They were pleasant, kindly and intelligent and it was nice to chat with them.

Garden Tiger Moth mosaic by The Peak Forest Canal

- Made entirely from plastic lids and bottle tops