A walk from the Knot Inn, Rushton Spencer, Staffordshire

Today we’re heading out past Congleton and just over the border from Cheshire into Staffordshire to Rushton Spencer for a walk from the Knot Inn. Today’s route is a little over three miles, which is just enough to work up a thirst for a drink at the pub. If you want to build up a larger appetite and have a meal, perhaps start here and follow the path in the other direction; it’s about 3/4 of a mile from here to Rudyard Lake, which we’ve visited before, and so tagging this on would make a 6-mile walk.

The Knot Inn

The Knot Inn is a mid-19th-century railway inn which stands beside what used to be the Macclesfield to Uttoxeter line. This disused railway line now forms a section of the Staffordshire Way path.

The Route

We follow the path to its junction with the Gritstone Trail and then follow this beside an abandoned water course which once fed water to Rudyard Reservoir from the river Dane. The river Dane is to our left, and we are also on a section of the Dane Valley Way here. We follow the path until we reach a junction where the Gritstone path turns left, and the Dane Valley Way goes straight on and turn right, charting a course back to Rushton Spencer. It’s also worth noting that at the far end, the route intersects with another route we’ve done from Wincle.