[1] START Use the stile (fingerpost North Rode) up steps off Church Lane, 150m southwest of the church. Walk the field-edge path for several pastures to a stile beneath a holly tree, then across the causeway between fishing ponds to the large lake. Start along the R side but almost immediately look R for the stile, in trees above the larger lake, into pasture and advance south away from the lake beside three fields to a copse. . Go L then look R for the stile, in trees above the larger lake, into pasture and advance beside three fields to a copse. Head into copse on a rough track then keep ahead along the hedgeline to a lane T-junction.

[2] Join Pexall Road (opposite) to reach a waymarked stile (L) in 140m. Follow the field-edge track to and through the distant spinney and then go slightly R off the continuing field road, aiming just R of Manor Farm's buildings. Join the concreted driveway ahead, farmhouse on your L. Keep R at the fork to approach Yew Tree Farm. Turn L beyond the cattle-grid, advancing past farm buildings, then beside a fence to reach the driveway to North Rode Manor. Bear R along this, shortly crossing the estate lake's dam; remain with the old driveway to find houses and a road junction beside a railway bridge.

[3] Cross the railway and head along Bullgate Lane to reach the Macclesfield Canal. Turn L nearside to pass the top lock at Bosley flight and follow towpath north for the next 4.5km (2¾ miles) to reach swing-bridge No.47 (NB not the electric road bridge [49] at Oakgrove). This gentle section passes through attractive hummocky countryside bordering the Peak District's lofty gritstone ridge of Sutton Common.

[4] Leave the towpath here (picnic tables nearby) and head L to cross the nearby railway footbridge. Proceed along the long, straight, tree-lined track through the raised bog of Danes Moss Nature Reserve, a haven for invertebrates. Peat was dug here from medieval times until the 1960s; the path you're on was a 3ft-gauge horse-drawn tramroad that transported peat to the main line sidings, short stretches of rail remain in-situ.

[5] At the sunken, tree-lined cross-track in 1km, turn L to reach a tarred lane at a bend. Walk straight ahead to the next L-bend; here turn R, past the scrub and then along a waymarked field-edge path through several hand-gates. At the very end, as the field funnels to a surfaced lane, keep ahead, soon reaching the ornate gatehouse to Gawsworth Hall. Bend R to the nearby junction between ponds. Turn L to the church and roadside parking. The Harrington Arms is at the end of the lane ahead.