my ridge & vale

Rachel Hunter

Our favourite weekend family walk in the 1970s was from Bollington to Flag Cottage, Rainow and back. Two ladies, a mother & daughter, had a tea house in Rainow at the beginning of one of the flagged paths that connect Rainow and Bollington. The teas at Flag Cottage were much enjoyed by cyclists and walkers, as not only could one enjoy home-made cake and tea, but there was a pile of books containing cartoons by Giles to look at while the tea was being prepared.

We would start the walk along one of the flagged paths that connect villages in the area. The flagstones, hewn from local stone, are said to have been laid during a cotton famine in the nineteenth century by the mill workers so they would have employment while the mills were not working. The walk started at the steps at the bottom of Cow Lane, Bollington and in those days, cows really did walk down Cow Lane from the hillside to Adshead Barn Farm to be milked. This path connects with a track contouring through unimproved pastures on the hill before dropping down to cross the River Dean, then through another field to the road where there is a row of cottages. The house at the far end of the row was Flag Cottage.

The homeward journey would be along another flagstone path at the back of the cottages which led through hay meadows towards Waulkmill with its waterfall and then along the unmade road that led to Bollington. One day, while enjoying our tea in Flag Cottage, we looked across the valley to Kerridge Ridge and saw an extraordinary sight. The bullocks in the field appeared to be playing "King of the Castle". One would stand on the top of a large grassed-over spoil heap belonging to one of the many disused coal mines, and the others would take turns charging up the hillock to dislodge the one on top.

The tea house is no more and sheep now graze that field, but the memories remain.