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The walk started with a steep climb up through Corbar Woods to a viewpoint marked with a large cross. It was a relatively clear day with only a hint of rain but as luck had it we saw not a spot. It was the first time in any of Austin's walks on Combs Moss that he'd actually seen it. It was normally draped in cloud or mist.

Chapel rail station was very quiet with no sign of a toilet. It was as well it was quiet and there was no one about. OOps, didn't notice the CCTV cameras!!

Change from the kitty was deposited by Bill into each of the 6 unchained collection boxes situated along the bar, although Sooty seemed to have been his favorite. "That's the way to do it….."

As we departed the landlady caught sight of Yuppy and asked where we'd walked from. The 6 miles from Buxton didn't impress her as she described how she'd just completed a 35 mile walk in 2 days to Kidsgrove. Outside, the lads pointed out her other assets, which Yup hadn't noticed.

The mast could be seen quite close now but as time had moved on a decision to head straight to Chapel via the edges of the reservoir was made. Nails attempted a muddy manoeuver but escaped unscathed.

At Castle Naze we split with the Buxton boys who headed off around Combs Edge, directly into the wind.

In the distance we could easily spot railway lines, heavily disguised as railway lines; Combs Reservoir and the television station mast on Ladder Hill that had a luring effect on DT.

Maybe it was the thought of him spending a night under a tarpaulin below it that appealed and the building of a camp fire at its base to disrupt tv signals to anyone in the area.

Inside the station we were pleasantly surprised to see Dickie and newcomer Lionel, along with Hecky Thump, Austin and Mike Scott who were tackling the first half of the walk and then completing the circuit back to Buxton. The rest would drop off the edge down to Combs and contemplate a few miles around Ladder Hill, or not, before heading to Chapel en le Frith.

96th Office Sqwalk Combs Moss - Buxton 21st April 2017 (see route maps at bottom of page)

Up for it were:

Granpop Bill, Anytime Tone, Nails, Yup and DT with Knotty, Hecky Thump, Mike Scott, Lionel and Dickie joining us for the first half to the fort at Castle Naze.

Granpop Bill, Anytime Tone and Yup took the train from Stoke, meeting up with Nails at Stockport where the deal of the day, a Smith's coffee and a pastry for £1.50, far outweighed anything that Pumkin could throw at us.

We moved between platforms 1 and 0, then back to 1, eventually catching the train and passing through pleasant countryside to Buxton where DT sat waiting in a very relaxed pose on the platform.

The quiet country lanes meandered down into Combs. Nails attempted to provide us with a lesson on photography suggesting we kept the barbed wire fence in the foreground for effect. Setting up his tripod normally took an hour to produce raw pictures whilst yup took a few hundred jpegs in two minutes and declared that they were well done.

We passed some delightful properties, which Nails likened to some in Alsager where posh people live. Surprising how too much food can addle the brain.

Tony's balls were bulging out of his trousers as we left the fringes of a golf course and entered the streets of Chapel.

The Roebuck was intended to be our main destination in Chapel but a micropub across the way drew us in.

Chunky seats and tables made from huge timber baulks had been produced to deter anyone nicking them. Wainwrght's ale was available along with another couple but with train times to consider we crossed the road back to the Roebuck where their Black Sheep was out of sorts, so the Wainwright was yet again the preferred option.

Soon after, Knotty headed off perpendicularly in hot pursuit of a crater formed by one of the doodlebugs in the war, which fell short of it's intended target. More information on doodlebugs can be gleamed from Knotty if you wish to hear more. The size was no more than 5m diameter so Yuppy took a photo from a distance to save energy, whilst Knotty set off in search of fins.

The Beehive village pub soon came into sight and the Wibbly Wallaby soon after.

Beryl Cooke looked down on us as we tucked into our Rapido special reduced price lunches, and our Wibblys at £3.80 a pint. DT was still dreaming about the ascent to the mast when he was distracted by a shepherdess through the window who was expertly herding sheep into an adjacent field.

DT headed off back to Buxton and within ten seconds the rest of us were heading in the opposite direction back to Stockport, where it was deemed too far to walk from the station to an indian to have a curry. Granpop Bill's swollen ankles and sunburnt feet from his recent holiday had survived, just, and he was ready for home.

The sightings of pubs near to various stations on route triggered Nails into considering a rail ale trip along the Buxton line in the future. Disappearing out of view was the TV mast…..

Another successful day out.

Thanks to the Buxton lads for joining us. Cheers

Yuppers

(enjoy yer craters)