Macro photography with the Sigma 105mm – insect close ups

A lack of time for a variety of family reasons has meant it’s been a bit of a struggle to find time to get out and about with my camera in the last couple of weeks.

Thankfully things are retuning to normal and we were able to find time for a decent walk earlier in the week when we headed for High Lane and a walk along a stretch of the Macclesfield canal .

After parking the car we headed off towards Baileys Trading Post where we knew we could stop off for a decent coffee.

We made our way there partly along the canal towpath and then partly along the Middlewood Way which is I have seen described as an ’11 mile linear park’. It’s a really decent place to walk and is a route that has been reclaimed from where an old railway line used to run.

Although we have walked that way a decent number of times we had hadn’t realised that there was a small but quite impressive conservation site there, called Jacksons Brickworks. The weather was a little too hot and humid for us to really make the most of it but it’s a place that we will most certainly be going back to.

Jacksons Brickworks

We had a brief wander through the Jacksons Brickworks Conservation Site and loved it.

The following info in italics is a straight cut and paste from the Cheshire East web site and provides information on the Middleton Way (which is where the conservation site is). It’s definitely worth checking out and although it’s an easy walk from High Lane there is an accessible car park that can get you right ‘on site’

Click here to see the location of Jacksons Brickworks on Google Maps.

Sensitively reclaimed from a former railway line to provide a natural attraction for walkers, cyclists, horse riders and nature lovers. An 11 mile (16km), traffic-free greenway from Macclesfield to Marple on the Peak Park fringe with car parking, toilets and information points, with fine views over the Cheshire Plain to the west.

The Middlewood Way follows the line of the former Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway through picturesque Cheshire countryside and between historic mill towns. For much of its length, the Middlewood Way runs close to the Macclesfield Canal, and there are many options for easy circular walks. For the more adventurous, the extensive public footpath network reaches into the Peak District Foothills to the east and the Cheshire Plain to the west.

The management of the length of the Middlewood Way is shared between Cheshire East Council Countryside Ranger Service and Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council. See the Who’s Who at the Middlewood Way for more information.

For more information about the history of the Middlewood Way please see the Activities and Information page.