Walks you can reach from Poynton by train

Spectacular views. Wild landscape of deep valleys and gritstone peaks and studded with peat bogs and pine forests. Buxton developed as a fashionable spa in 18th-19th centuries using profits from Dukes of Devonshire's copper mines. Macclesfield granted borough charter for market in 13th Century.

Time: 7h (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Stiles; busy road with no pavement and fast traffic.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Similar walk: Walk Midlands (inc. GPX).

Reverse direction: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Steep residential roads, rolling pastures, quarried hilltop, moorland edges, forest, isolated chapel, reservoir, long ridgeline and canal towpath.

Time: 8h30 (7h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Steep ascents.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Rail Rambles.

Spectacular views across Cheshire plain. Countryside ridge walk with gritstone outcrops, woodland paths and fields. Mow Cop is where Primitive Methodism began in 1800 with mass prayer meetings by Hugh Bourne and William Clowes.

Hilly: two fifths on high ground, rising above the surrounding land.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Stiles and steps; steep downhill sections.

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Recommended: A majorly off-road, easy-to-follow walk following the Bollin Valley Way nearly all the way, with steep steps at the Macclesfield end and increasingly marshy ground nearer Wilmslow. Well-marked with gates and steps and infrastructure in good condition. Follows the Bollin Valley Way.

Waterway: four fifths along the River Bollin.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Lunch: Prestbury has a pizzeria and pub.

End-of-walk reward: Macclesfield has shops and pubs.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Mostly Trent and Mersey Canal towpath, with a woodland-and-road section over the hill around Harecastle Tunnel through Bathpool Park. The canal offers great variety, passing industrial relics and modern development and with steps at the Kidsgrove end and some shallow mud but a lot of good surfaces.

Waterway: four fifths along the Trent & Mersey Canal.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Crossing the road in Kidsgrove needs care — no proper crossings, just raised road sections. Steps from Kidsgrove station car park to the towpath. The towpath is shared with the 555 cycleway and is narrow in places.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A lovely hilly stroll across fields, down some lanes and with a couple of main roads. The ground is decent underfoot in dry conditions.

Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Slow Ways.