The Gritstone Trail, or Cheshire Gritstone Trail, is a

long-distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway (landscape), greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking (wilderness), backpacking, cycling, equestrianism or cross-co ...

in England which follows the most westerly hills of the

Peak District The Peak District is an Highland, upland area in central-northern England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It is subdivi ...

from Disley Station to

Mow Cop Mow Cop is a village on the Cheshire-Staffordshire border, England, south of Manchester and north of Stoke-on-Trent, on a steep hill of the same name rising to above sea level. The village is at the edge of the southern Pennines, with the Ch ...

, and on via the

Macclesfield Canal The Macclesfield Canal is a canal in east Cheshire, England. There were various proposals for a canal to connect the town of Macclesfield to the national network from 1765 onwards, but it was not until 1824 that a scheme came to fruition. There ...

to Kidsgrove Station. Managed by

Cheshire East Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council, which is based in the town of Sandbach. Other towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Congleton, Wilms ...

(although partly in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

), the trail involves of ascent and is mainly outside the National Park. There are other routes in the Peak District referred to as a "Gritstone Trail" but they are less well established. The trail connects the accessible and popular outdoor destinations of

Lyme Park Lyme Park is a large Estate (land), estate south of Disley, Cheshire, England. It is managed by the National Trust and consists of a mansion house surrounded by formal gardens and a Deer park (England), deer park in the Peak District National ...

White Nancy White Nancy is a structure at the top of Kerridge Hill, overlooking Bollington, Cheshire, England. Since 1966 it has been recorded in the National Heritage List for England (NHLE) as a designated Listed building#Grade II, Grade II Listed building ...

Tegg's Nose Tegg's Nose is a hill east of Macclesfield in Cheshire, England. It has a short ridge with a high point of at , terminating in a promontory at the southern end. It lies on the western edge of the Peak District, although outside the boundary of ...

and The Cloud, and the high sections of the trail are all notable for

gritstone Gritstone or grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for ...

scenery and extensive views over the

Cheshire Plain The Cheshire Plain is a relatively flat expanse of lowland within the county of Cheshire in North West England but extending south into Shropshire. It extends from the Mersey Valley in the north to the Shropshire Hills in the south, bounded by t ...

. Apart from the café at Tegg's Nose, there are no facilities on the route. Most through hikers take three days (stopping at

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

and

Congleton Congleton is a market town and civil parish in Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is on the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 28,497 and the built-up area ha ...

) to complete the trail, traditionally (but for no particular reason) walked north to south, though the trail is more often used for shorter walks. The record in the annual Gritstone Grind (run south to north) is just under 5 hours. Footpaths in Cheshire are marked with yellow discs indicating the direction of continuation, with Gritstone Trail Markers containing a footprint inscribed with a 'G'. There are also many wooden

fingerpost A fingerpost (or guidepost) is a type of sign post consisting of a post with one or more arms, known as fingers, pointing in the direction of travel to places named on the fingers, often including distance information. United Kingdom Finge ...

s with 'Gritstone Trail' engraved. An unofficial extension from Kidsgrove to the mainline railway station at

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

, ''The Kidsgrove to Stoke Ridgeway'', is available as a free

ebook An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

References

External links

Gritstone Trail website
{{coord , 53, 9, 46, N, 2, 9, 16, W, type:landmark_dim:17000_region:GB-CHS, display=title Long-distance footpaths in England Footpaths in Staffordshire Footpaths in Cheshire

See also

References

External links