Stile and Stone

The above stile takes you through a field used for grasing horses, but the path was here long before the horses came to graze here.

Some of these stones are woth investigating closer...... some have been worked into gate posts and are reused for stiles, other show signs of shaping but no sign of ever being a gate post. I like to think it might have been a 'standing stone' of some kind..... We do have them nearby so the idea is not as daft as it sounds.

This leads into a woodland pathway over looking Early Bank road and Early Bank Woods, the trees are mostly Beech, Oak, Chestnut, Rowen, Hawthorn and Holly.

Walk Around Matley 9

More Sights To See

Old Gate

I am always on the look out for these, more so for the gate posts. Some are very well carved and I'm sure different areas had different designs.

View Towards Hyde

This clearly shows how near to the town we are, and the blue sign in the middle right of the above shot is a traffic sign on the M67 motorway which cuts its way through the center of the town.

Old Farm Buildings..

These buildings are down a pathway I have not walked before and is somthing I know nothing about.... it will however be getting a visit as soon as I can make this walk again. It looks lived in but I can't think of any roads or lanes that lead that way...

Waymarker & Stile

These are something else I keep taking pictures of.... more as a reminder to check the paths out... and another reason is I come across them damaged at times and it helps to have a picture when reporting them.

Dry Stone Wall

As you nearly all know now I show these whenever I can... this one is well past its best and will be lost for ever in time. It is an old stretch of walling but most as gone and the gapes have been replaced with barbed wire.

Walk Around Matley 7

Stuck For Choice

With all the different footpath to take round Matley I was stuck for choice as to which I was going to take. I was happy to find that most of the stiles I could squeese my belly through. These paths all criss-cross the local farms and as one of the farmers was working in certain fields that day I kept to the quieter ones. The farmer in question is a nice friendly chap, always gives a wave to those he knows and will stop for a chat as well at times. I will show him working and his herd of dairy cows next week.

Walk Around Matley

Join me for a walk around an area of Hyde called Matley. I have not walked these local footpaths since my boys were small.. I have not felt up to a walk in a while so I was up and out this morning as I woke feeling OK.

This gatepost as alway intrigued me.... looks like a world war two bomb... some did get dropped around here. I could not hear any ticking after I kicked it anyhow.

This well trodded path leads to a meadow with a nice little pond in it... The only clue to it being here is the bullrushes which can be seen in winter when the meadow grass is low.

15 years ago it was no trouble at all getting through this stile...... today my bulk of a body very nearly got stuck. ha!

The Elder Tree is fenced off in this field as a under ground stream bubbles up in a slight hollow... I think the fence is to stop any of the cows or horses getting hurt... I will be taking the path to the left and following a drystone wall and hedgerow... join me tomorrow to see what else I saw today.