Bollington, Cheshire. A former mill town to the west of the Peak District.

To the north of Macclesfield, nestling just below the National Park boundary lies the town of Bollington. The name suggests that this is a town on the River Bollin, which flows from this area down across the Cheshire plain, but actually Bollington lies 2 miles from the Bollin and is on the River Deane, a tributary.

Like Macclesfield, Bollington was also a mill town but produced principally cotton rather than silk. It has a number of former mills - though here they are often built of stone rather than brick. Here too spinning has long since ceased and has been replaced by other industries.

Bollington is also well known as a stopping point along the Macclesfield canal - part of the Cheshire Ring - and the canal crosses the valley of the river Dean on a tall aqueduct. The canal is the top section of the Macclesfield canal and is 518ft above sea level.

There is the very interesting Bollington Discovery Centre and a nice cafe in the Clarence Mill beside the canal which is open to the public at the weekends and on Wednesday afternoons.

Bollington is a good centre for exploring the north-west corner of the Peak and is overlooked by Kerridge Hill, which is topped by an unusual white cone called 'White Nancy', and offers a magnificent view of the area.