Gold, English wallabies, and a hidden church: Gradbach Mill

If you visit the Cheshire town of Macclesfield, try to get up to the area around the Youth Hostel at Gradbach Mill. It's a beautiful area, less well known than other areas over the border in Derbyshire, but well worth a visit for all that.

The Mill itself was once a silk mill - the water wheel that powered it is still there, as is the mill race and its lodge.

Strangely enough, this whole area is home to the English species of wallaby. It seems that quitev a lot of these animals escaped from a nearby menagerie, and survived in the wilds of Cheshire. They are now listed as a British species. Many's the time a motorist has signed the pledge after seeing one in the glare of his headlamps as he headed home after last orders at The Cat and Fiddle Inn, on the hills between Macclesfield and Buxton.

Finding Lud's Chuch, a hiding place and ploace of worship for non conformists wishing to avoid persecution, is difficult. Most people come across its hidden entrance accidentally while out walking in the area.

The Cat and Fiddle Inn, incidentally, is one of the highest inns in England, at 1,690 feet above sea level, second only to the Tan Hill Inn in North Yorkshire. Its name is the subject of debate: some say it was named after Caton Le Fidele, a former Governor of Calais, others that it was named after Catherine of Aragon - Catherine Le Fidele, and still others that it comes ffrom the French, 'le chat fidele' - the faithful cat!

It is certainly a welcome sight on the dark moors above Macclesfield, and its enigmatic name adds to its many other qualities.

Gold - it is said that gold was found in these hills, but whether it can still be found is not certain. What is though is that any visitor to the area will find plenty to get interested in - the whole area abounds in things to look at and places to explore.

Robert L. Fielding