Well, finally got out at the weekend to do this, looping anti clockwise from Hadfield, and it was mostly very pleasant indeed
Rather than cross Woodhead Bridge along the A628 I went up the short permissive path that runs North and crosses just below the weir. The footpath isn't narrow by any means but has unfenced waterways on both sides so be careful if poor visibility or if you have kids with you. The wooden slats on the bridges are super slippy too!
Over the A6024 and there's an obvious path that broadly follows the roads round eventually getting to St James church where Torside and Woodhead meet. I'm assuming this is the one shown on the OS maps but I was too focused on my footing to check gps. This is where the mostly comes into play. The path - certainly around the foot of Ancote Hill - was pretty gloopy and although obvious involved wading through very long grass and ferns. So properly waterproof boots and gaiters, or wait until 3 weeks without rain, or do as I did and spend the next hour with walking shoes full of water.
If I do the walk again I may look for other paths further up the hill though I have a feeling that the ground is currently full of water everywhere at the moment.
Once you're at St James there's an easy path that runs alongside the A628 thorugh to Crowden which is completely fern free, though the ground is a little uneven so take care. If you're tempted to go via the quarry just be aware that when i did that on a separate walk last week there was no sign whatsoever of the PROW which supposedly runs right through the quarry down to Crowden so I ended up having to retrace my steps.
From Crowden there are loads of easy options for getting to Hadfield.
Hope that helps, overall I'd be happy to walk it again if I can figure out how to avoid the gloopy bit.