Start at: Chinley Railway Station
Grid ref: SK038 827
Difficulty: Medium
Distance: 8 km
From the railway station take a short section of road up to Dryclough Farm and shortly afterwards a signpost and a stile on your right. The path climbs steadily alongside a wall to contour the flank of Chinley Churn below the old flagstone quarries of Cracken Edge.
Beyond the quarries the path improves as the ground becomes less disturbed, but to counteract this the navigation gets a little more complicated and less direct. At the crossroads turn right and follow the obvious path that first heads towards a small coppice then turns away from it at the last minute to head for the corner of the field. The route now crosses the next field diagonally to the left to reach another stile before a wall on the right provides a handrail for the next two fields.
Emerging at the Chinley to Peep O’ Day road turn left initially, using the road for a few metres, before a path on the right heads across the fields. Cross the little stream and continue to use the wall on the left as your guide through another field to reach Monk’s Meadows. Another stile, and the wall still on your left, leads on to the A624. Cross the road and now follow the wall on your right to the corner of the field and over another stile. The wall now resumes its familiar position on the left, going alongside one edge of the field then turning right along the shorter edge to reach a T junction.
Take the right hand path and descend to the main road again, passing Andrews Farm and a small disused quarry on your left. At the road cross straight over to join the path to Alders Farm and on over Otter Brook. The path becomes a wider track now as it drops to the road (B6962), where a right turn will lead you back into Chinley – turning right then left to return to the railway station.