Wizard Walk on Alderley Edge

A National Trust Guided Walk

Alderley Edge sits high above the Cheshire Plain, commanding distant views to the north. There are woods and cliffs, quarries and mines, caves, a stone circle and the Armada Beacon to explore.

We have visited many times, in different seasons, but have never had a guided walk before.  The National Trust occasionally arranges these guided walks at a weekend during spring and summer months and a few weekends ago we decided to join in.

We started the tour in the Derbyshire Caving Club's office, next to the cafe.  Here we learned about the mines below the Edge, where copper was mined for thousands of years since the Bronze Age. Local author, Alan Garner, famous for his children's fantasy novels such as "The Weirdstone of Brisingamen", helped to establish the age of the mines when he re-discovered a bronze age shovel originally found at the mines.

Alan Garner featured quite a bit on the tour.  His books are set around the Edge and we could identify a number of places that are reflected in the stories.

Engine Vein Mine was the first outdoor stop and on our way there we passed 'thieves hole' which is possibly derived from the word 'hola' meaning a hole or hollow.  It is a sunken way that would have linked Macclesfield to Knutsford.  It is obvious in places but is easily lost with the growth around the Edge.

We passed the Golden Stone or merestone which would have been a boundary marker and possibly where the wizard met the farmer on his way to Macclesfield market to sell his white horse in the Weirdstone story.

Engine Vein on Alderley Edge

The stones around Engine Vein mine are sandstone with lots if other pebbles encrusted within it,  basalt, calcium carbonate, liver coloured stones, bearite and others
and the mine looks like a long gash in the ground.  This area is fenced off from the public and we were only able to visit close up with our guide.

Sandstone encrusted with different stones

Devil's Grave

Stormy Point is a good lookout with excellent views and another vein here is known as Devil's Grave, where the cave mouth leads into  maze of ancient tunnels and legend has it that music is sometimes heard from under the ground.

There is doubt whether the Druid stone circle, which we found in the woods, is genuine and it is thought that the Stanley family, who once owned the land, created the stone circle themselves.

Further on we came across the Armada Beacon site, at the time of the Armada the surrounding area wouldn't have been forested and would have been open ground so the beacon would have been able to be seen from hills to the north and south.

View from Alderley Edge

Another fantastic view point is at Castle Rock

The Wizards Well 

We walked further into the woods and came across the wizards well were water constantly flows through the rocks and collects in a trough below the rock.  Perfect for watering horses passing through (in the story)... If you look closely at some of the rocks you can see a wizard's face.

Down in Church Quarry we were shown the vertical channels used for gunpowder to split open the rocks. The stone from this area was used to build the local church of St Philips in Alderley Edge village. 


A strange local character, John Evans, who was originally a railway company civil engineer, had a breakdown and came to live in a hut here in the quarry (just in front of the cave shown here). He was known as the hermit of the Edge and helped to map out the mines.

Church Quarry cave

One evening two friends ended up spending the the night with him.  One of them raised the alarm in the early hours as he was feeling very ill but by the time the doctor had arrived he had died. The cause was found to be potassium cyanide poisoning.  When John Evans didn't turn up to attend as a witness to what happened he was found dead in the hut, also from poisoning.  They mystery still continues as no one really knows the truth of what happened and whether it was caused by accident or intent.

Alderley Edge is a wonderful place for a walk in the woods taking in the great views where the land opens up.  You can watch planes taking off and landing at Manchester Airport, see the tall buildings in Manchester city centre, the surrounding hills of the Peak District and further on the Pennines with the Cheshire Plain directly below the Edge.

The cafe serves up some tasty cakes and teas or coffees and the Wizard pub next door is perfect for something stronger.

The Derbyshire Caving Club can also arrange visits down into the lower mines. The contact is Paul Stubbs on 0161 493 3131.