Chadkirk, Compstall and Werneth Low
Nature10.42 kmabout 3 hrs 15 minDifficulty: Moderate
Includes steps, stiles, gates, fields and paths that can be very muddy, boggy or slightly overgrown, and some steep lanes. Part of the walk follows a road with no pavement, which can be busy. Good footwear is essential, and you may wish you had worn wellies. Not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs.
A moderate loop from Romiley Station along the Peak Forest Canal and River Etherow to Compstall, then over the lower slopes of Werneth Low and back past Romiley Golf Course. Takes 3 to 3.5 hours. There are muddy sections on the approach to the River Etherow and around Far Benfield Farm, and it may be best avoided after very wet weather.
Along the way
Romiley Station
From the station entrance, cross the road and go down Church Lane, to the right of the Romiley Arms. Stay on it as it slopes gently downhill and passes under the Peak Forest Canal.
Burymewick Cottages
Opposite the cottages, take the flight of steps on the left up to the canal and turn right towards Marple. At Hyde Bank Tunnel the towpath crosses the canal to Hyde Bank Farm. Turn right after the farm and follow the lane, with the farm on your right and tall terraced houses on your left. An opening on the right leads back down to the canal. Just before the aqueduct, take the path on the right under the aqueduct and railway viaduct. It enters a field, which can be very muddy, then heads up to the left to a stile onto Watermeetings Lane.
Watermeetings Lane
Turn right down the lane, past Upper Watermeetings Farm on your right, and stay on the tarmac track to the second farm. Cross the stile by the gate on the left, marked with a red way-marker, and go past outbuildings on the right. Follow a rough track up to a gate, but don't go through it. Follow the sign left to Werneth Low, over the stile with the Valley Way sign. This section can also be very muddy. Carry straight on at the red way-marker.
River Etherow
Turn left at the river and follow the sign over the stile. This section can be slightly overgrown but is passable. Keep parallel to the river through the woods, past a weir, until you reach the main road with the bridge on your right. Turn left at the road, then right onto George Street, signed to Compstall village and Etherow Country Park. Follow it left through the village, past the Andrew Arms on your left. Turn left up John Street into School Lane, which is steep in places. Pass School Lane Farm on the right and Bardsley Knoll on the left, ignore the stile on the left, and carry on past Chapel Farm. Alternative, not on the map and a little longer: instead of the road, continue into Etherow Country Park and take the waymarked path on the left, before the weir, to the left of a wooden shelter. It rises through woods with a field up to the right. Go through or over the gate or stile on your right, and up through the field to a stile with a white sign. Turn right onto a farm road, then through a gate on the left just before the farm. Continue uphill through a field to a stile with no fence either side and go left to another stile with a path crossing. Turn left, eventually dropping downhill between two high hedges, which can be the bed of a stream. At a concrete farm road turn right, and continue from the farm in the next stop.
Hyde's Farm
Continue up the lane past Hyde's Farm to a fork with Beacom Lane on the right. Keep left onto the lane marked "Private Road" and "Public Bridleway". The road bears left to a farm with a row of buildings higher up on the right. Keep to the lower road through a gate, with the stables on your right. Go through the gate at the end and cross a field, which can be boggy, along the edge with the fence on your right. The path curves left to a stone stile. Cross it and go downhill to the left into light woodland beside a stream. Cross the wooden footbridge, turn left and climb for about 150 yards, then cross a wooden stile to the left of a gate. Head towards New Cloughside Farm and go through the small gate to the right of the barn. Turn left and follow the track for about 100 yards, through a blue gate or the smaller gate to its left, then a five-bar metal gate. Cross a stile with a way-marker and keep straight on to another five-bar gate with a smaller gate to its left. This track can be very muddy and confused in wet weather. Pass through the farmyard at Benfield Farm and turn right onto the lane.
Far Benfield Farm
Pass through some fairly ornate gates and follow the lane to the road between Compstall and Werneth Low. There is no pavement and it can be busy, so take care. Turn right and walk about 250 yards up the road to the sign for Springwood Farm. Turn left along this track, passing Brow Cottages on your right. At the farm entrance take the track to the left through the gates. Do not go towards the farm. Cross the stile by the gate and follow the path with the stone wall on your right. Don't turn left into the golf course, but keep straight on towards Greave, ignoring a sign to the left after about 150 yards. Pass The Cottage and Beech Fairy Cottage. After about 200 yards, take the lane with concrete tracks on the left. This is Pinfold Lane.
End of Pinfold Lane
Turn right up Sandy Lane. Turn left at the Foresters Arms, past the sign marked "Unsuitable for HGVs". Go through Greave Fold and down the lane past the old chapel on your left. The lane becomes a path between houses. At Moadlock turn left, then immediately right onto a dirt track between houses. Cross the field straight towards a wood, go through the gap in the trees and carry straight on to the gates of Healdwood House on the right. You are now at the top of Guywood Lane. Turn left, go down to Compstall Road and turn right back to the station.
About this walk
Compstall is the village at the centre of this walk. There is a café in the Etherow Park buildings just off George Street, and the Andrew Arms is further along, though it's worth checking it will be open if you plan to stop. The building next to the pub was once a chapel and has been converted into homes.
Beside the River Etherow, the path passes a weir with a flow measuring station.
Further on, look out for the house named Chapel Farm, with statues of dogs on its gateposts, and Brow Cottages, marked N W 1809. A house on Pinfold Lane has a plaque with the same date and initials.
Near the end you pass the Foresters Arms, known as The Piggy, and the old chapel of Holy Innocents on Greave Fold. Just after the canal tunnel at the start of the walk, a smallholding sells bags of wood for wood-burners, and a couple of well decorated old caravans are usually visible from the road.
Based on the Friends of Romiley Station's booklet of walks.