Madeley Walks: One Way or Another.
Walk 3: Keele: Living in The Past: Knights Templar, Russian Royalty, Rock Festivals,
Roman Legions & Mines.
There are two walks: a red walk (6½ miles) (also a Keele University Loop of two miles can be added) & a purple walk (6 miles); do them separately for two half day walks or combine them to make a full day walk. All distances are approximate. Start at The Madeley Centre, New Road, Madeley CW3 9DN
(Grid Ref: 773451). Tel: 01782-751808. www.madeleycentre.co.uk. The Madeley Centre has car parking, catering & toilet facilities. Please enjoy a walk in the country, but if you can, support our local businesses,
Listed under The Adverts – but check opening times beforehand!
Explorer Maps: 257 Crewe & Nantwich & 258 Stoke on Trent & Newcastle under Lyme
The Adverts:
• Croft at The Centre Cafe & Restaurant at The Madeley Centre: 01782-751808.
• One Stop Grocery & Convenience Store, Greyhound Corner: 01782-750373.
• Shepleys Butchers, Greyhound Corner: 01782-751775.
• Tang Dynasty Chinese Takeaway, Greyhound Court: 01782-752288.
• Village Shop & Newsagent, Greyhound Court: 01782-750525
• In 2 Wine Off Licence, Greyhound Court: 01782-751708.
• Raj Indian Takeaway, Greyhound Corner: 01782-752000.
• Homers Cafe, Greyhound Corner: 01782-751800.
• Madeley Spice Restaurant & Take Away, Greyhound Corner: 01782-750088.
• Poolside Fish Bar: 01782-750242.
• The Offley Arms, Poolside: 01782-750242.
• The Stables Restaurant at The Old Hall: 01782-750209.
• The Old Hall B&B, Wedding & Conference Centre: 01782-752543.
• The Sneyd Arms, Keele: 01782-614533.
• Select & Save @ The Hawthorns, Keele: 01782-710560.
• The Gresley Arms, Alsagers Bank: 01782-722469.
• Apedale Heritage Centre: 01782-565050, & Country Park: 01782-564885.
• The Crewe Arms, Madeley Heath: 01782-750392.
• The Old Swan, Madeley Heath: 01782-751199.
• Millers Pharmacy, Newcastle Road, Madeley: 01782-752255.
• Little Madeley Sub Post Office: 01782-750236.
• Madeley Working Mens Club: 01782-750374.
STILE COUNSEL:
Red Walk: Two Stiles
Purple Walk: Four Stiles
Legend:
BP = Bridle Path
CP = Car Park
CT = Communications Tower
FB = Foot Bridge
FP = Footpath
KG = Kissing Gate
L = Left
MC = Madeley Centre
R = Right
TP = Telegraph Pole
Keele Walk – Red Dots (6½ Miles)
[1] Right, now: From The MC turn R & take the crossing by The One Stop & Shepleys Butchers, over to Homers Café, Raj Takeaway & Madeley Spice. Turn R, keeping The Pool over to the R & passing Madeley Fish Bar, The Offley Arms, The Stables Restaurant & Old Hall Country House Hotel (‘1647 Wallk Knave What Lookest At’: www.oldhallatmadeley.com). Where A525 curves to R, carry straight on up The Holborn.
[2] At the top, after 300 yds, turn L into Castle Lane, & keep on this lane for one mile, passing Pastoral Close, Netherset Hey Lane & Knightley (here the lane becomes Hungerford Lane). Ignore R turn to Hungerford Farm & carry on in same direction over cattle grid & then over M6 bridge. Keep hedge on R & head up 300 yds to top R of field & go thru’ BP gate on R. After 200 yds turn L thru’ another BP gate. Head straight up the hill, as crest hill, see another BP gate ahead. Go thru’ & turn half R & head for top R corner of field. Go thru’ BP gate, keep trees to L & go thru’ another BP gate into Highway Lane.
[3] Turn L & after 100 yds follow it round to R & in ¾ mile into Keele; passing Pool House, Braemar, Jasmine Cottage, The Forge, Pump Bank, Saw Mill House & coming to a T junction, with The Village Hall on R & Hawthorns Halls of Residence opposite. Turn R passing a road sign for ‘The Village’ [Don’t be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered!] & follow this road to The Sneyd Arms & turn L into Quarry Bank Road (for optional longer Keele University Loop, go to number 7). [The Sneyd family came into possession of the Keele estate in 1544; before the area had been owned by the Knights Templar, a medieval Military Order. The last Sneyd was ‘Sporting’ Ralph Sneyd who dissipated the estate on horse racing, building a racecourse at Keele, a railway station for race-goers … & three wives! Double death duties caused the sale of the estate to Stoke on Trent Council who then transferred in to the new Keele University in 1949]. Follow for ¾ mile, passing The Old School, Church Bank, St Johns Primary School, Select & Save @ The Hawthorns, Knights Croft, bridge over Keele by-pass A525, & follow down to Pepper Street T-junction. Turn R for 400 yds.
[4] Past J S Cotton & Sons, Motor Engineers, turn L into trackway, Hollywood Lane. [Reputedly part of a Roman road, Ryknield Street, from Chester to Derby via the Roman Fort at Chesterton. Also in a field off here, in 1970, The Hollywood Rock Festival was organised in ‘Farmer Ted’s’ field by Keele University Students & featured: Grateful Dead, Black Sabbath, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, Traffic, Free, Jose Feliciano, Mungo Jerry & compered by, among others, John Peel.]
[5] ¼ mile down Hollywood Lane & 100 yds after brick ramparts on either side of lane is making your mind up time:
For The longer walk: turn R into another trackway (i.e. going Northwards), pass a CT on L, passing Holly Farm & up to crossroads (Rose Cottage & Toll House are opposite); head up Crackley Lane towards Scot Hay & skip on down to number 8.
For The shorter walk: carry on in the same direction (i.e. going Westwards) for ½ mile down Hollywood Lane turn R at a white house, passing Cherry Cottage & Finney Green Farm. 100 yds after Rose Cottage lane becomes a road, Agger Hill, & follow down bank to A525. Cross A525 with care, take trackway slightly to L & follow it round past The Cottage, Hawthorne Acre, Madeley Heath Farm, The Foxes & to the A525 again & turn L. After 300 yds turn L into Ridge Hill Drive (The Crewe Arms is over the road on R). At Marley Eternit Work’s entrance, look to R for footpath sign & follow for 200 yds, keeping works to L, down to stile & R into field. Follow well-trod path for 400 yds, keeping hedge to L, cross stile, next to gate, & carry on to meet A525 & cross road with care
[6] (For The Old Swan: 100 yds to R & then L thru’ stone walled walkway & across A531). For MC, turn L, under motorway bridge & carry on Newcastle Road, which eventually becomes Parkside, passing Beck Road, Millers Pharmacy, Little Madeley Post Office, Lindops Lane, Madeley Court (Madeley Working Mens Club is to the R), Bevan Place. Between house numbers 6 & 7 on the R (opposite entrance to Madeley High School), take the walkway up to New Road & see MC opposite. Phew!
Apedale Walk – Purple Dots (6 Miles)
[8] 400 yds up Crackley Lane, just before first house on R, Holly House, turn R thru a KG – this is the first in a series of 9 single & double KG’s that follow the same direction; keep the hedge on R until the 8th when path changes sides & the hedge is now on L.
[9] Thru 9th KG between houses, go straight across & turn L down High Street Alsagers Bank, 300 yds to The Gresley Arms [www.gresleyarms.co.uk]. Turn R into The Drive for ¾ mile, passing Richard Heathcote County Primary School, Hill Crescent, Roberts Close, Podmore Avenue, Three Corners House, Gamekeepers Cottage & Top Lodge; 200 yds past Home Farm turn R into Apedale Road & follow this down for ½ mile, passing Burley House on way down. 100 yds after woodland appears on R, take stile into woods. Follow well-trod path, ignore any paths off to L & R, but where meet a fork, take L track (ignoring sign to R to Watermills Chimney & green arrow & stile on L). Go down & thru a squeezer stile, after 50 yds turn L onto a track down, then after 100 yds turn R onto another trackway with a Newcastle Way sign post. Carry on for 400 yds until you reach Apedale Heritage Centre. Carry on the roadway for 400 yds, turn R at sign for Apedale Energy Station, & follow signs up to the Energy Station & CP. [www.apedale.co.uk]
[10] Walk thru’ Apedale Energy Station CP & cross Black Bank & into the trackway opposite that curves round to the L for 300 yds, towards a tree-line. Continue for 200 yds, thru’ a KG into Silverdale Community Country Park [www.thelandtrust.org.uk/business/sites.html?SID=silverdale], turn R & head uphill towards a CT. At the top, go thru a KG next to a step over for horses & gate into High Lane. Turn L thru another KG & walk round & down, following Newcastle Way signs & ignoring paths to L & R. At the bottom, carry on in the same direction, passing small industrial units & then lake on L, behind green wire fencing. Keep following Newcastle Way waymarkers round to R & then turn L in front of electrical sub-station & walk down to Scot Hay Road. Turn R & walk with care up the road; 100 yds past the sub-station, cross stile on L into field. Half R across field, over another stile by a small pool, then another stile into Hollywood Lane, turn L & retrace back to point 5.
Keele University Loop – Red Crosses – Optional – (2 Miles)
[7] Turn R into Three Mile Lane, pass The Keele Centre & in 400 yds turn L into Lymes Road, a trackway. In ¾ mile turn L, just past a lodge type building, and up a trackway for ½ mile to Keele Hall Clock House [Between 1900 & 1910, Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia, a cousin of Tsar Alexander III of Russia, rented Keele Hall. In 1901, Edward VII stayed at the hall for a weekend. Between 1962 & 1986 Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon was Chancellor of Keele University. The Clock House was Ralph Sneyds breeding stables for his race horses & the racecourse faced away from the Clock House towards the M6]. Go up steps, thru’ 2 archways, bear L thru a walled walkway, under another arch & to a road junction [The Students Union (01782-733700) & shops are to the R: ST5 Takeaway (01782-734444), Santander & Lloyds Banks & Cashpoints, Select & Save Supermarket (01782-710560), Waterstones Books (0843 2908 415), Martins Newsagents (01782-626652)]. Turn L & follow this road back to Keele in ¾ mile, keeping to the pavement & using a pedestrian crossing to diagonally cross a grassy area & another pedestrian crossing to The Sneyd Arms & Quarry Bank Road & pick up route again from point 3.
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