Shutlingsloe with Peter (in the rain)

Peter and I have been trying to coordinate our diaries to climb Shutlingsloe for some time. We finally managed to arrange to go out today - probably the wettest day we've had for some time! Nevertheless, we stuck to our plan and took our dogs over to the Macclesfield Forest in order to wander around under and within a large cloud. Shutlingsloe is locally known as 'The Matterhorn of Cheshire' due to it's distinctive shape, which unfortunately we were unable to appreciate today. According to Wikipedia the name derives from old English 'Scyttel's hlaw' meaning 'Scyttel's (personal name) hill'.

We started our walk at the visitor centre near Trentabank Reservoir, and walked up through the trees following signs up to the hill. The rain was persistent throughout the walk, and we got drenched. It was particularly nasty at the top, with horizontal rain whipping into your face! Not really a day for photos...
Once we'd reached the summit, we continued East off the summit, and then worked our way round North back into the forest and some shelter. We enjoyed a great walk through the forest, and the dogs were very happy running around amongst the trees. We managed to work our way back to the road, then crossed over to explore more of the forest on the other side before finding a small road further north which we followed around back to the car. Thankfully the rain abated just enough for us to do a quick change in the car park, before heading off to the local pub.

A much needed drink and meal at Leathers Smithy allowed us to dry off a bit. It was a great little pub, and clearly a local favourite judging by the lack of space in the car-park! I enjoyed a vegetarian wellington washed down with a half of Robinson's Unicorn, both excellent.

So, that's a quarter of the hills done! Thanks Peter! I'm hoping for better weather for the next hills, although I guess I can't guarantee that in February and March in the UK...