Midge Walkers

Walk No.  165

Midge Hall- Farrington Moss 26-03-23

Due to activities at the church which some of our walking members were participating in during the evening, it was necessary that the walk today was of a more local nature and of sufficient length to give them time to get home and ready for the evening service. As such, a walk which we had carried out previously on the 19th September 2020 was chosen, but shortened.

On this first official day of Summertime, when the sun had shone during the morning, by the time we were ready to set off we had used up our allocation and grey skies were more prominent. We met at Midge Hall Chapel and the group of 11 set off at 1.35pm. Once again we were pleased to welcome another new face to our group. Virginia had expressed an interest and as this was expected to be an easier walk, thought she would sample this for starters.

Leaving the car park and turning right along Longmeanygate we passed the round-about at the entrance to the new housing development, to the first turning on the left. Jane Lane is a winding route with some quality housing along its length and gives way to a lesser track at which point we crossed a rail line. Following the track between fields of rich soil, some of which were still quite boggy due to recent rainfall, ultimately brought us on to Sodd Hall Lane.

Continuing along this very straight route between further fields, a distracting sight of llamas and their alpaca cousins was seen to the left, which prompted a few photographs. The route brought us to Long Moss Lane where we turned right and walked to a fork in the road where we branched right onto Startley Nook. After a short distance, at a point where a bungalow with the appropriate name of Long View was situated, we turned right between the fields to reach a T-junction, where we again turned right and shortly after re-crossed a rail-line emerging at the corner of a recycling centre for garden waste. Following down the left-hand side of this soon brought us to the round-about at Flensburg Way and the Leyland Centurion Tank, which provided a suitable stopping point for refreshments.

After a 15-minute break, we resumed our journey taking the farm track at the side of the main road to its point where it started to angle towards the farm. This was a much muddier route, but we persevered and passed through between the farm buildings onto Hugh Lane, returning back to Longmeanygate, emerging at the rear of the industrial units, turning right and following the road back to our starting point.

The walk had covered a distance of 4.5 miles which had taken us 2 hours. Despite putting the clocks forward one hour earlier in the day, there hadn’t been much evidence of summertime, but as a chill wind normally blows across the moss, we count ourselves lucky that we didn’t have that either. As the weeks go on we are promised summer will arrive soon and our walks will then take place without the need for coats.