Macclesfield to Buxton walk

25.0 km (15.5 mi), with 905/739m ascent/descent. For a shorter or longer walk see below Walk Options.

8 out of 10, with 7 hours walking time.

An exciting route from the fringes of the Dark Peak to the fringes of the White Peak, namely from the historic Silk Town of Macclesfield in Cheshire to the even more historic Spa Town of Buxton in Derbyshire.

You climb steeply out of town along residential roads to quickly emerge amongst pastures and rolling hills and ascend further to Tegg’s Nose, a formerly quarried hill, with its handful of fine viewpoints, from where you descend through the Walker Barn Stream valley and rise again through Macclesfield Forest to the isolated Forest Chapel. Cross the Tor Brook valley and ascend along a road above the Clough Brook valley, lastly steeply up to the ridge separating Cheshire and Derbyshire.
From the ridge, divert for an out-and-back ascent of Cheshire’s highest top, Shining Tor, then descend into the lonely Upper Goyt Valley, passing the Goytsclough Quarry and crossing the Goyt River. You rise over Goyt’s Moss’ moorland and up along the Berry Clough onto the British watershed between the Irish Sea and the North Sea, i.e.: between Goyt and Wye. From here descend into the Upper Wye Valley via Burbage to Buxton, along residential roads and through the Pavilion Gardens, where the gritstone and limestone arms of the Wye meet.

Return by bus (faster) or train. The bus line also offers multiple ways of reducing the length of the walk.

The latter parts of the walk are very lonely and exposed, in bad weather consider switching to the sister walk Macclesfield Circular via Tegg’s Nose and Kerridge Hill.

Late Morning Shortcut from Forest Chapel, descend along Oven Lane to Bottom-of-the-Oven instead of routing down and up through the far north easterly corner of Macclesfield Forest (cut 1.5 km and 40m ascent).
Mid-walk Shortcut: cut out the out-and-back ascent of Shining Tor (cut 2.0 km and 75m ascent).

Bus Line 58 (Macclesfield – Buxton via Cat & Fiddle), with an hourly service Monday-Saturday and five buses on Sundays and Bank Holidays, offers various stops on - or close to - the route toeither shorten the walk by cutting out a stretch at the start or by finishing the route early, and in any case of getting back faster from Buxton to Macclesfield (or London) than via the railway. Last return buses (as of 06/2021): Mon-Sat 18.06 Railway Station, 18.08 Market Place, Sun/Bank Holidays 17.10 Market Place. [See the route map for the location of the stops.]
A - Forest Cottage stop (cut 2.0 km and 54m ascent), the last stop within Macclesfield: continue in the same direction uphill, in 100m continue in the same direction along Buxton Old Road, where the A road curves to the left. Follow this road uphill, in the later stages without a pavement. In 750m the walk route joins from the right along a car wide gravel track. Continue in the same direction and pick up the text at the asterisk *) on page 5.
B – Walker Barn stop (cut 4.9 km and 257m ascent), the first stop outwith Macclesfield (and without shelter or signpost): go back along the road to turn second left along Buxton Old Road, signed for ‘Tegg’s Nose’ (i.e.: not first left, Crooked Yard Road). In 750m, by the entrance to Teggs’ Nose Country Park’s visitor centre and tea room, the walk route joins from ahead along a gravel path. Turn left and pick up the text at the double asterisks **) on page 7.
C – Cat & Fiddle PH stop, 550m off route, 14.6 km into the walk.
D – Burbage, Level Lane stop, 3.0 km from the end of the walk: take the bus to Macclesfield from here, without continuing the route down into Buxton. Last bus: 18.15 Mon-Sat, 17.17 Sun/BH (06/2021).
E – Burbage, The Duke PH stop, just a few minutes of walking further than the Level Lane stop, but by a pub. Note: Mon-Sat the bus stops to the right of the pub (as you approach it), on Sun/BH to the left of it!
E – Buxton, Market Place stop, 500m from the end of the walk on a diversion: useful if stressed for time to reach the last bus from the Railway Station, and necessary on Sundays and Bank Holidays as the bus does not go via the train station on those days.

OS Explorer: 268 (Wilmslow, Macclesfield & Congleton) – just for the urban start – andOL24 (The Peak District – White Peak Area)
OS Landranger: 118 (Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield) and 119 (Buxton & Matlock)
Harvey Superwalker XT25: Peak District South and Central (but only Macclesfield Forest onwards)
Harvey British Mountain Map: Dark Peak or White Peak (but only Broadcar Road/Tegg's Nose onwards)

Macclesfield Station, map reference SJ 919 736, is 237 km northwest of Charing Cross, 133m above sea level and in Cheshire East. Buxton Station, map reference SK 059 737, is 22km southeast of Manchester, 299m above sea level and in Derbyshire. It is on the Stafford to Manchester branch line off the West Coast Main Line from London Euston (hourly service). Travel time from London is from 101 minutes Mon-Sat (but 2 ¼ hours on Sun). Buxton Station is the terminus of the Buxton Line from Manchester, with two trains per hour Mon-Sat daytime and one per hour else. Journey time is an hour to Manchester, over three hours to London (chg. at Stockport).

Saturday Walkers’ Club: The walk is doable as a daywalk from London with a train no later than 08.20 hours.

Tegg’s Nose Tea Room Tegg’s Nose Country Park, Buxton Old Road, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 0AP (07955 532 703). The Tea Room is located 5.8 km (3.6 mi) into the walk.

The Forest Distillery Chambers Farm, Bottom-of-the-Oven, Macclesfield Forest, near Wildboarclough, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK1 0AR (01260 253 245). The distillery is located 11.3 km (7.0 mi) into the walk.
The Stanley Arms Hotel Ankers Lane, Bottom-of-the-Oven, Macclesfield Forest, near Wildboarclough, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK1 0AR (01260 252 414). The Stanley Arms is located 200m off route, 11.5 km (7.2 mi) into the walk.

Peak View Restaurant & Tea Room Buxton New Road, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 0AR (01298 22103). The Peak View is located 13.8 km (8.6 mi) into the walk.
The Cat & Fiddle Buxton New Road, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 0AR (01298 73711). The Cat & Fiddle is located 550m off route, 14.6 km (9.1 mi) into the walk. Built in 1813, and long England’s second highest pub, it closed in December 2015 with an uncertain future. Robinson’s Brewery have recently sold it to the Forest Distillery though, who intend to open it as Britain’s highest altitude distillery, with a pub attached.

The Duke 123 St John's Road, Burbage,Buxton SK17 6UR (01298 78781). The Duke is located 2.2 km from the end of the walk.
Plenty of options either around the Market Place, or close to the Train Station.

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National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234

Mar-24 Thomas G