The name refers to the area covered by the Recreation
Ground and the
bottom end of Adlington Road. There are
a dozen cottages at the end of Adlington
Road huddled against the boundary with Adlington parish. Lodge
Brow rises above them on one side, the trees of Swinerood wood rise
on another. They look out across the Recreation Ground with a backdrop
of Kerridge Hill and White Nancy. A truly delightful
spot - in spite of the name! The popular Vale
Inn is
among these cottages.
The river Dean boldly runs down the southern side of the Recreation
Ground.
Almost unseen a small stream rises in the wood behind the bowling greens
and runs in a stone built culvert beneath the edge of the cricket field
and under the cottages and all the way across the children's playground,
under the railway viaduct and only re-appears where it drains into
the river Dean. Not a lot of people know that!
The name Gnathole probably comes from the time before the Macclesfield
Canal
was built when this was waste ground, very badly drained, and
with the river ambling through it - ideal conditions for gnats and
other nasties. When the canal was built, from 1825 - 1831, the river was
straightened and the area drained in order to stabilise the ground
where the embankment was to be built. Further improvements came in
the late 19thC when the area was brought into use as a recreation ground.
The cottages in this area are believed to have been built by Stephen
Sheldon (1771-1844).
The recreation ground is home to Bollington
Cricket Club.
More than a hundred years ago this was for a short time Cheshire's
county cricket ground!
