A trip to Marple, Cheshire

21^st May 2022

Nestled in the northern panhandle of the County Palatine of Chester is the town of Marple. The town is split through the middle by the Peak Forest canal, which winds its way all the way from Macclesfield to the City of Manchester.

I began my walk from the Asda car park. Although perhaps not beautiful in the traditional sense, the supermarket itself was in a large brick building that fits in well with the terraced houses and shops that constitute the town. I then made my way to the canal. The Peak Forest Canal is part of Britain's winding and complicated network of canals. These were dug mainly in the 19^th Century to facilitate trade and the transfer of goods in the increasingly industrialised English economy. Now, though, they mainly bear a recreational purpose.

There were many narrowboats moored along the canal, with very silly names. The walk along the canal is a generally peaceful affair. It was a Saturday afternoon, but compared to the frantic nature of the city, it was a fairly pleasant mix of joggers and dog-walkers whose noise supplemented the chirping of birds, with trees on either side of the canal. On one side it dropped maybe ten metres down onto a busy road, although further along there appeared to be a path down to the road. The other side of the canal slopes gently upwards into a hill. The fields at the bottom of the hill were mostly empty, but they seem to be fields used for pasture and grazing. I say "mostly empty" because a large group of geese had decided to sit around glaring menacingly at me as I walked past them.

Onwards, then, I spied a mysterious half-hidden gate, surrounded on its side and on top by dense greenery. There was a wooden gate flanked by two stone pillars. Although the wood was new, the pillars were likely very old. I stepped through the gate, and entered into some woods. There was a climb up a hill, and across a field with some splendidly docile sheep. This was right at the top of the hill that flanks Marple, with a truly wonderful view of the canal.

Past the hill, and along the ridge between the sheep, lied another strange stone gate. This was laid on one side of the churchyard of the All Saints' Church in upper Marple, which was surrounded by a low brick wall.

It was then a jaunt over the gate, and through the graveyard. The graveyard is old; some gravestones which can be barely made out date back to the early 19^th Century, and is still in use to this day. There were huge quantities of dandelions and other white flowers growing around the gravestones, too, which made for a poignant metaphor.

Next comes the march to the road. In the churchyard is a large belltower. Bizarrely, the parish elected to build an entirely separate stone tower entirely to house eight bells purchased by them. This tower now stands tall next to the church, confusing the likes of me and everyone who walks past and has to look it up on the Internet.

Beyond the church and a little down the road are buildings that appear to be old almshouses. Almshouses are buildings in Britain built for the purposes of charity to those without a house, such as the local poor, elderly, and widows, who would otherwise have been unable to afford rent.

The road continued down the hill for some time, past terraced houses and sideroads beset by semi-detached houses. There was little traffic, and I ran into only one or two other people walking the other way up the hill. I walked until I passed the Ring o' Bells pub.

It was now a circle back to where I had come past on the canal. Navigating a spiral staircase, and along the cobbled towpath, I swiftly returned to the Asda car park.

Marple is a quiet, but pleasant town. Although I can't say what actually living there would be like — I imagine rather boring, after a while — it is absolutely worth a visit. You get lost in thought amongst the spanning branches and reaching grasses, with only the birdsong and the sheep to listen to, or the distant talking of narrowboat pilots. The High Peak holds many treasures, from the B29 crash site, the peak of Kinder Scout and the ice-cold stream that runs down to Edale — but Marple is one of the lesser-known ones. If you choose to go somewhere in the area, walk the path I took, and I assure you, you won't be disappointed.