Walk Summary
A short out-and-back walk that ticks the isolated Ethel, The Cloud. Superb views from the top to Shutlingsloe, The Roaches and Jodrell Bank Telescope. It only takes about an hour and could be done (as I did) with a '2 walks in a day' combo with the other isolated Ethel, Gun (see Jumping The Gun).
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Date: 09/06/2023
Length: 2.02 miles
Height Gain: 182 m
Terrain: Stone track, woodland trail, steps, lightly used road
Navigation: Map useful (although the signs and paths are reasonably obvious)
Start: Timbersbrook Carpark
Route: Timbersbrook Carpark, Cloud Plantation, The Cloud, Cloud Plantation
Map: OS268 Wilmslow, Macclesfield & Congleton
Weather: Sunny
Walkers: Nun
Captain's Log
A Re-plan
The Cloud (or Bosley Cloud) is the most south westerly of all the Ethels. During my strategy planning for my Ethels Venture, I tried to link it with other Ethels, but it really is out on its own. In the end, I decided that I'd just have to summit The Cloud on its own and I came up with a 17 mile circular walk. When I revisited the route last night though, it didn't look all that interesting. I therefore decided that I'd just do The Cloud as a quick one-off climb (just over 2 miles) and then drive over to Tittesworth Reservoir and do a 9 mile circular to include Gun (see Jumping The Gun), another Ethel that is difficult to link into a route with other Ethels. Decision made I drove to the south western corner of the Peak District and parked in the village carpark at Timbersbrook. It was only when I got my OL24 White Peak Area map out that I realised that The Cloud was just out of the scope of the map. I sighed. Fortunately there was a reasonable map displayed in the carpark. It seemed all I had to do was follow the Gritstone Trail to the top. I wandered over to the carpark picnic area and started following the footpath signs for the Gritstone Trail.
The Cloud Is National Trust Land
Southward View From The Cloud
View From The Cloud With The North Rode Railway Viaduct Below
Head In The Cloud
The route up to the The Cloud was well signed and the path obvious. A little bit of road walking took me to some steep steps heading up into the woodland. I met two blokes and three dogs coming down. 'There aren't any good views up there' he informed me. 'I've got nothing better to do' I told him. One of their dogs was lagging behind them and when it reached me, it went off the path and had a shite. I was eating an apple at the time and I soon lost my appetite for it. At the top of the steps I saw a sign 'The Poo Fairy Doesn't Live Here...Pick Up After Your Pet' attached to a gate post. I thought it was a shame that the Poo Fairy was absent. At the top of the steps I joined a well defined path that roughly followed the ridge line up to the summit through some pleasant woodland. The trees provided some welcome shade since it had turned out to be a hot morning. I broke free from the trees and followed the path through moorland to the trig. The views from the summit were certainly impressive. The hill fell sharply to the north and east and the edge was lined with boulders and crags. To the north I could see the distinctive peak of Shutlingsloe, and to the east, the rock edge of The Roaches and Hen Cloud. Over to the west the massive Jodrell Bank Telescope was clearly visible. From this birds-eye vantage point I perused the 17 mile walk that I'd originally planned. The landscape looked a bit more interesting in reality than it did on the map and so I made a note to keep that walk in my back pocket for the future. Its route would go near to the North Rode railway viaduct. The viaduct has 20 arches and looked gigantic even from this distance. Ethel ticked, I started making my way back down to Timbersbrook
Northward View From The Cloud
Return
It really was all downhill back to the carpark and the return journey didn't take long. Going down the steep steps I noticed that the Poo Fairy hadn't taken up residence whilst I'd been on the summit. A cloud of flies were thus enjoying a morning feast.
It had only taken about an hour to get to the summit and back. I felt a little bit guilty about not doing a longer walk in the area, but I'd seen enough to tempt me to return at a later date. Given its isolated location, I think most Ethel Baggers probably just do this quick out-and-back. I put on my trainers and set my car's SatNav to Tittesworth Reservoir. Part 1 of today's walk was complete, and so now I set off to the start of Part 2.
Woodland Walking