ALDERLEY EDGE FOREST TRAIL

Fancy leaving the car at home? This easygoing walk in Alderley Edge can be reached by train from Manchester in just 28 mins

Start: Alderley Edge Train Station, SK9 7QA

Distance: 5.64 miles

Duration: 2.5 hours

Elevation: 625 feet

Difficulty: Easy

Navigation: Follow step-by-step on komoot, or download GPX file

Route Highlights:

• The Wizard Tea Room

  Coming up top of our list on walk highlights has to be The Wizard Tea Room. For us, that’s the sole purpose of going for a Sunday stroll: to stuff your face with sweet treats on the home stretch.

  We’ve mapped the route so the Wizard Tea Room pitstop is towards the latter end of the walk so you can stop off, grab a brew and unwind before the short walk back to Alderley Edge. The tearoom is family run, dog friendly and features stunning outdoor seating that’s perfect for a summer’s day.

• Stormy Point

  Stormy Point, a dramatic red sandstone escarpment which reaches to 600 feet (160 metres) above the surrounding landscape, offers impressive views. On a clear day you’ll be rewarded with views right across Manchester, Stockport, the Pennine Hills, and beyond. Allegedly, Stormy Point was once the site of the biggest modern witch coven in England. It’s also the main setting for Alan Garner’s fantasy books, Weirdstone of Brinsigamon and The Moon of Gomrath.

• Wizard’s Well

  A hidden gem and a local legend of Alderley Edge. There are many varying stories of the happenings at Wizard’s Well, but one suggests that a band of warriors lie sleeping in the chamber and only arise in times of trouble to save their country.

  Carved on the face of the well is a line which reads ‘Drink of this and take thy fill for the water falls by the Wizhard’s will’. It’s thought that this inscription was created in Victorian times to attract more visitors, but we much prefer the theory that a wizard himself carved it.

  Make sure to look closely at the rock itself to come face to face with the wizard…

• The Edge

  Alderley Edge has long had associations with wizards and witches and is shrouded in myth and legend. The folktale regarding the Wizard of the Edge relates the tale of a Mobberley farmer crossing the Edge whilst taking a fine white horse to market.

  Legend has it, the farmer encountered an old man with a long white beard dressed in strange clothing, ushering the farmer to follow him to a large rock. When the wizard touched the rock with his wand, two large iron gates appeared to open into a cave. Inside the cave, the wizard is said to have pointed out a large pile of gold and jewels, telling the farmer to take his payment for the horse. Wild, eh?

  The Edge itself became known as a ‘witchy’ place in the sixties when the local Gardnerian coven were photographed performing ritual skyclad in the local and national papers. Spooky.

• Druid’s Circle

  The Druid's Circle is situated in the woods on the path between Stormy Point and the Beacon. The Druid's Circle is not a true prehistoric stone circle, it is around 200 years old and has no earth lines registered around it. Alan Garner, author of a fantasy book series based here, claims that his great-great grandfather Robert Garner created the circle. 

  The Holy Well has pagan links and possibly dates from Anglo-Saxon times. In 1843, Robert Bakewell told how the waters from the well, ‘are said to be a cure for barrenness’. A few yards below it is the Wishing Well, also known as the de Trafford Well, which also has pagan links.

•  The Beacon

  The Armada Beacon was part of a chain of warning beacons to act as alarm systems in case the country was invaded. It is thought that in 1588 it took 12 hours for the news that the Spanish Armada had been sighted to travel from the south coast of England all the way to York. The beacon was built on top of a Bronze Age ‘bowl barrow’ or burial mound and is almost the highest point of the Edge. The stone building that housed the beacon’s fire basket was damaged in a gale in 1931 and demolished shortly afterwards. Today, you’ll find memorial stone erected in its place.

• Alderley Edge Mining Museum and Tours

  Join the Derbyshire Caving Club for a tour of the historic mines of Alderley Edge. Please note, some trips may require crawling and stooping so make sure to enquire should you or a member of your group struggle with this.

  For more details, head to the Derbyshire Caving Club’s website.

Good to Knows:

• Terrain: The route is relatively flat with a few uphill sections through the woods. The woodlands can get VERY boggy after heavy rainfall, so make sure you boot up for this one.

• Public Transport: Take the train from Manchester Piccadilly to Alderley Edge train station, the starting point of the walk. (28 min journey)

• The Merlin Pub: Fancy making a full day of it? Head to The Merlin after your stroll, where you can continue the witchy vibes in a premium pub setting, with premium pub food, if you ask us.

• Accessibility: Undulating terrain that may be unsuitable for buggies and wheelchair users.

• Dog friendly: This route is dog-friendly, featuring just one stile with room for a small dog to be carried over. Alternatively, you can cut out the detour from Stormy Point via the mining track and straight to The Wizard Tea Room to cut out the stile.

Fancy giving this one ago? Check out our full guide on Instagram