DOCSLIB.ORG

Maiden Castle, Bickerton

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Maiden Castle, Bickerton Cheshire Sandstone Ridge Into the Trees “Peace, panoramic views, heathland and John Wedgewood preached beneath a nearby oak, in October 1822. A circular walk around Continue straight ahead, on a path that winds through the wildlife — Maiden Castle has it all. This is heather. (Ignore the Sandstone Trail, which plunges down Onto the Hills the steep slope to the right here). Less than 200 metres my special patch of heaven.” Maiden Castle, Turn right, opposite the church, down a drive signposted across the plateau, go through a wooden gate into open as a footpath. The waymarked track kinks sharply right, birch woods, and bear immediately right on a well-used Dave Morris, former National Trust warden, Bickerton Hill then left, between tall hedges. Over a stile, the path opens path beneath the trees. When the path reaches the edge Bickerton into sloping fields. Walk uphill, keeping close to the left- of the slope, follow it around to the left to rise and fall hand fence, and go through the kissing gate at the base of past sandstone outcrops jutting from the hill. The path Bickerton Hill. Immediately ahead here is a slab of curiously drops obliquely across the wooded slopes, flanked by When the path rejoins the Sandstone Trail at the foot of the marked sandstone known as The Slars . Five smooth, ivy-festooned crags. slope, bear right and follow the path until it opens into a scoop- parallel vertical grooves are clear in the sloping bedrock. Some shaped field above the National Trust‘s Duckington car park. Before the rocks end, suggest they were formed during the Ice Age; but sandstone Turn right, gently uphill through the grassy valley. Go through turn sharp right, is easily eroded and they’re more probably the result of an the waymarked gate at the top of the slope and continue downhill on a tree-trunk unknown Victorian local industry. uphill to a natural saddle marked by a wooden Sandstone Trail edged path that angles fingerpost. Follow the path around the top of the Slars, and climb back across the slope. the heather-clad scarp. Back on the top, bear right at a To either side is Hether Turn left here, and climb the short slope to the top of waymarker post and head for a wooden Sandstone Trail Wood , a mixed Cuckoo Rock . Celtic folklore is rich in cuckoo references, fingerpost at the head of Pool Lane. Now turn left, gently woodland dominated and ‘Cuckoo Rocks’ occur across Britain. ‘Cuckoo’ means uphill on a sunken sandy track signposted to ‘Rawhead’ and by mature oaks with both the herald of spring and a fool or dolt — as in April Fool’s ‘Beeston’. At the top of the slope, turn left again to reach occasional holly, rowan Day, the traditional day the first cuckoo calls. a natural sandstone and birch. Recognised as platform and viewpoint a Local Wildlife Site, it’s Bear right at the summit, and follow the broad curving path dominated by a home to badgers, bats gently downhill through a mosaic of heather and bilberry. memorial called and bluebells, as well When the path forks beneath a power line, continue straight Kitty’s Stone . A as tawny owls, greater ahead, down into the trees. generous donation spotted woodpeckers, Quiet Lanes by Kitty’s bereaved redstarts, and pied husband helped the Heathland Reptiles flycatchers. Turn right at the next T-junction, and follow the waymarked National Trust acquire Common lizards can sometimes be path down to a gate leading onto a rough access track. the northern end of spotted basking in the sun on Bickerton Hill Beyond a field and house, the track emerges on tarmaced Bickerton Hill, in 1991. Sandy Lane. Within 100 metres, turn right again, into a This leaflet was originally produced as part of the Habitats & Hillforts Project signposted bridleway opposite a small house, and then almost The path traces the (2008-12) with the generous support of the Heritage Lottery Fund. immediately left into Lower Sandy Lane . In spring, the edge to enter open To learn more about the work of the Sandstone Ridge Trust and its partners, visit hedge banks here are bright with celandine, self heal, and wild birch woods again. www.thesandstoneridgetrust.co.uk forget-me-nots, followed by stately foxgloves in late summer. Bear right here, away For other walks, visit from the edge, back At the junction with Brown Knowl Lane, bear right, downhill www.sandstonetrail.com towards the top of towards Brown Knowl Methodist Church . Rural Cheshire Concept and text: Tony Bowerman Illustrations: Kim Atkinson Pool Dale. To the left is Rock Art? Map: Carl Rogers Design: William Smuts has a strong non-conformist tradition, and the church replaces the recently purchased These curious parallel grooves in the rock are a chapel begun soon after the charismatic Methodist leader known locally as the Slars ‘Ten Acre Field’ A series of other guides is available. Look out for four walks Copyright © Cheshire West & Chester 2010. All rights reserved. leaflets, four habitat leaflets, and six hillfort leaflets. Printed on 100% recycled paper Discover the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge on foot Start: Pool Lane National Trust car park (free), off Goldford Lane steps. Now part of the popular 34-mile/55 kilometre-long Around Bickerton Hill and Brown Knowl (opposite Pool Farm), Bickerton SY14 8LN. Map ref: SJ 503530 Sandstone Trail, the waymarked path traces the lip of the Distance: 5 kilometres/3 miles scarp before climbing a second, shallower set of steps to a viewpoint with a rustic log bench. A pleasant and varied circuit exploring the heathery hills around Difficulty: Easy-Medium. Iron Age Hillfort Maiden Castle hillfort Duration: Allow 2 – 2½ hours Map: OS 1:25,000 Explorer 257 Crewe & Nantwich The path rises again to cross the eroded double ramparts of THIS SHORT BUT SPECTACULAR CIRCUIT explores the very best of arguably the finest section Maiden Castle hillfort , dominating the crown of the hill. of the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge. Ascend through purple heather and bilberries to the ramparts of Dogs: Bickerton Hill is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and dogs Built in phases between 900 and 400 BC, this prehistoric should be kept on a lead between March 1st and July 31st to protect hilltop enclosure was defended by the steep natural Maiden Castle hillfort. Admire stunning views across the Dee Valley to the Welsh hills, drop down ground nesting birds, reptiles and invertebrates. Please consider other escarpment to the west, with twin, drystone wall-faced earth through open birch woods, then circle back through sandy lanes via the picturesque settlement of walkers and clean up after your dog. and timber-laced ramparts protecting the gently sloping Brown Knowl. ground to the south and east. STARTING FROM THE NATIONAL TRUST’S POOL LANE CAR From the lofty interior of the hillfort, panoramic views PARK, go through the wooden gate at the top of the parking look westwards across the Dee valley to the Welsh hills. To area and head gently uphill on a broad sandy track. The open the north is Rawhead, the highest point on the sandstone BROWN KNOWL areas of lowland heath beside the path are typical of others ridge, with Shropshire’s Caer Caradoc, Lawley, and Long being carefully restored across Bickerton Hill. Characterised Mynd faint on the southern horizon. by heather and bilberries interspersed with yellow gorse and At the southern end of the hilltop enclosure, re-cross the LOWER SANDY LANE broom, this increasingly rare habitat supports a wealth of wildlife R ancient defences and drop down steps to an illustrated E including common lizards, adders, slowworms, glow-worms, D A D A I National Trust interpretation panel explaining the significance N and green hairstreak butterflies. O Cuckoo G R of the hillfort and surrounding heath. H R Rock O C O When the track forks, 250 metres later, just before the crest of A M O The Slars C L the slope, bear left on a broad sandy path. At the next crossing Commanding Views A D N L E of paths, continue straight ahead up a flight of sandstone The distant Clwydian hills span the horizon across the Dee valley O Kitty’s Hether Stone Wood MAIDEN CASTLE Mad Allen’s Hole HILLFORT Pool Lane BICKERTON HILL To Tattenhall GOLDFORD LANE Survey mapping with permission Based upon Ordnance Stationery Office. of Her Majesty’s of the controller Copyright Licence No. 100049046 – 2011 Crown Timeline To Nantwich c. 280-250 MYA c. 900-400 BC 1600s 1742 1770s onwards 1835 1934-35 1939-95 1950s 1970s 1979 1983 1991 2010 Bickerton Hill Maiden Castle hilltop Sandstone quarried Land around Maiden Lovesick John Harris First Brown Knowl Excavations at Maiden Maiden Castle area Birch and bracken Bickerton Hill used for Bickerton Hill National Trust Further 48 hectares/120 Work begins to sandstones formed enclosure used for from scarp slope and Castle reclaimed for of Handley lives as a Methodist chapel built; Castle uncover an used as an army invade long-established motorised hill climbs designated a Site bequeathed 68.5 acres on Bickerton Hill restore ’10 Acre Field’ during Triassic Period seasonal gatherings? interior at Maiden agriculture under the hermit in Mad Allen’s replaced by current inturned entrance with training ground and heathland on the hills and motocross events of Special Scientific hectares/170 acres on acquired by National to heathland Castle Enclosure Act Hole church in 1913 possible guard firing range after grazing by sheep Interest (SSSI) Larkton Hill Trust; Kitty’s Stone chambers and cattle ends erected.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • COMPASSPORT CUP/TROPHY HEAT LEVEL B Event Bickerton Hill
    Deeside Orienteering Club COMPASSPORT CUP/TROPHY HEAT LEVEL B event Sunday March 13 2016 Bickerton Hill FINAL DETAILS Travel The event centre is at Bickerton Village Hall MR SJ 509538, SY14 8AU. From the West join the A534 at its junction with the A41, Broxton; then in approx 2 miles take a right turn at SJ 508539. From the East join the A534 at its junction with the A49, then in about 3 miles take the left turn at SJ 508539. (Speed limits, camera at Bulkeley). O signs near final turnoff only. Parking In the Hall grounds and an adjacent field as directed by marshals. If the weather has been wet and the field becomes waterlogged, later arrivals may have to park at the roadside. Facilities Enquiries/collection of pre-hired SI cards, Toilets, Registration for EOD, Download and Results will be situated in the Village Hall. No spikes or muddy shoes in the Hall please. There are additional toilets near the Start. Compass Point will be at the event selling a full range of orienteering equipment. There will be no catering at the event. There a two pubs which do food; The Sandstone, about 1k W, and the Bickerton Poacher, about 2k E, both on the A 534. Entry Via club captains for competition courses (£8.50/£4); no EOD for these courses. EOD for Yellow and Light Green non-competitive courses. Registration will be open from 10.00 and will close at 12.00. Yellow maps will be issued at Registration. Seniors £6, Juniors/Students £3. SI card hire 50p; £30 for lost SI cards.
    [Show full text]
  • South Cheshire Way A4
    CONTENTS The Mid-Cheshire Footpath Society Page Waymarked Walks in Central Cheshire About the South Cheshire Way 3 Using this guide (including online map links) 6 Points of interest 9 Congleton Sandbach Mow Walking eastwards 15 Cop Grindley Brook to Marbury Big Mere 17 Scholar Green Biddulph Marbury Big Mere to Aston Village 21 Crewe Aston Village to River Weaver 24 River Weaver to A51 by Lea Forge 26 Nantwich Kidsgrove A51 by Lea Forge to Weston Church 29 Weston Church to Haslington Hall 33 Haslington Hall to Thurlwood 37 Thurlwood to Little Moreton Hall (A34) 41 Little Moreton Hall (A34) to Mow Cop 43 Stoke on Trent Grindley Brook Audlem Walking westwards 45 Mow Cop to Little Moreton Hall (A34) 47 Whitchurch Little Moreton Hall (A34) to Thurlwood 49 Thurlwood to Haslington Hall 51 Haslington Hall to Weston Church 55 Weston Church to A51 by Lea Forge 59 A51 by Lea Forge to River Weaver 63 River Weaver to Aston Village 66 THE SOUTH CHESHIRE WAY Aston Village to Marbury Big Mere 69 Marbury Big Mere to Grindley Brook 73 From Grindley Brook to Mow Cop Update information (Please read before walking) 77 About The Mid-Cheshire Footpath Society 78 A 55km (34 mile) walk in the Cheshire countryside. South Cheshire Way Page 2 of 78 Links with other footpaths ABOUT THE SOUTH CHESHIRE WAY There are excellent links with other long distance footpaths at either end. At Grindley Brook there are links with the 'Shropshire Way', the 'Bishop Bennet Bridleway', the 'Sandstone Trail', the 'Maelor Way' and the (now The South Cheshire Way was originally conceived as a route in the late unsupported) 'Marches Way'.
    [Show full text]
  • FUTURE WALKS DELAMERE FOREST / BEESTON Coaches
    www.pdwc.org Vol: 26 Issue 13 11 November 2012 DELAMERE FOREST / BEESTON Coaches leave Delamere Station at 4.30pm FUTURE WALKS Coach Walks 8.30am start : 4.30pm return Sun 9 Dec Grasmere A: Kevin Poole B+: Allan Benson B: Margaret Oliver C: Joyce Bradbury Sun 6 Jan Windermere via Lyth Valley A: Graham Hogg B+: Barry Mather B: Bill Manning C: Leader required Thursday Car Walks 10.30am start Thurs 13 Dec Anglezarke B Walk with Colin Hunt Meet on the road at GR620155 Thurs 10 Jan Chipping B Walk with Dave Thornton Meet at the car park Sunday Car Walks 10.30am start Sun 25 Nov Tarleton B Walk with Margaret Oliver Meet in Tarleton Sun 25 Nov Mawdesley C Walk with Bill Manning Meet in the village Sun 23 Dec Heskin C Walk with Derek Lowe Meet at the Farmer’s Arms A 6 mile / 9.7km walk with little climbing From Preston take the road to Leyland then take the bypass road towards Southport and Croston. Turn right at the T junction then first left onto the B5250 to Eccleston. Go through Eccleston and you come to Heskin. The Farmer’s Arms is on your left. Park on the car park at the side of the Farmer’s Arms, Heskin. From the car park we head down Heskin Lane and take the footpath across the lane to Little Wood and Big Wood where we follow a road to Bradley Hall. Here we take the footpath past Wood End Farm and on to Commissary’s Farm where we go over the M6 and down the side of the motorway to Charnock Old Hall.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Brochure
    2020 Your Holiday with Byways Short Cycling Breaks 4 Longer Cycling Breaks 7 Walking holidays 10 Walkers accommodation booking and luggage service 12 More Information 15 How Do I Book? 16 How Do I Get There? 16 The unspoilt, countryside of Wales, maps and directions highlighting things Shropshire and Cheshire is a lovely area to see and do along the way. We for cycling and walking. Discover move your luggage each day so you beautiful countryside, pretty villages, travel light, with just what you need for quiet rural lanes and footpaths, as well the day, and we are always just a as interesting places to visit and great phone call away if you need our help. pubs and tea shops. Customer feedback is very important With more than 20 years experience, we to us and our feedback continues to know the area inside-out. Our routes are be excellent, with almost everyone carefully planned so you explore the rating their holiday with us as best of the countryside, stay in the ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’. We are nicest places and eat good, local food. continuing to get many customers Holidays are self-led, so you have the returning for another holiday with us or freedom to explore at your own pace, recommending us to their friends. take detours stopping when and where Our Walkers’ Accommodation Booking you want. Routes are graded (gentle, and Luggage Service on the longer moderate or strenuous) and flexible - distance trail walks continues to be we can tailor holidays to suit specific very popular. Offa’s Dyke is always requirements - so there's something for busy as is the beautiful Pembrokeshire all ages and abilities.
    [Show full text]
  • Crewe & Nantwich Health Walks Health Walks Are Aimed at People
    Crewe & Nantwich Health Walks Health walks are aimed at people who do little or no exercise to try walking as a way of becoming more active, getting healthier and meeting new people. The walks cover a short distance, taking around 45 minutes, with everyone encouraged to walk at their own pace. Our programme of weekly walks is as follows: Crewe Business Park - Tuesdays 7.00pm during the summer months, 1.00pm from September, beginning from the grass verge on the opposite side of the security office on Electra Way. West End of Crewe - Wednesdays 2.00pm from the car park at the King George Vth playing fields. Wistaston - Thursdays 11.00am from the Woodside Public House car park. Parking is available. Nantwich - Sundays 11.00am from the town centre square near St Mary’s Church. For further details please contact Craig McKeith on 01270 537240 Explore the Whitegate Way The Whitegate Way is the perfect place to walk, cycle, horse ride, have a picnic, bird watch or just do nothing but listen to the wind in the trees and the birds singing! A free leaflet including a site map is available from Whitegate Station. Parking is available at Whitegate Station car park off Clay Lane, Marton near Winsford. 9.00am to 8.00pm April to September, 9.00am to 5.00pm October to March also Winsford and Over car park, New Road off A5018/A54 roundabout, Winsford. For further details contact John Cergnul on 01606 301485, email: [email protected] The Mersey Forest in Cheshire Northwich Community Woodlands is a key part of The Mersey Forest.
    [Show full text]
  • %)E£Am&Te and Oakmene
    %)e£am&te and Oakmene Afumim2C JVeuw Ikc/pm 2008-09 and a Sloppy, JVem IJewc! View from the Roman Road, Eddisbury Hill Delamere & Oakmere News What's On Delamere Church Golden Age Dec/Jae Qforiitmat Cue All events in Delamere Wed. 21stJanuarv 4.00pm Community Centre, unless Bingo indicated. 5amJilty Cfixidting£e 2.30pm All club/society secretaries Semice Please let me know well in advance the dates of your Golden Age meetings for the following two Wed. 4th February h 11.45pm months (ie by 16' January for Hot Pot Lunch Feb/March etc. (if you would Midnight 12.30pm like them included in this Communion diaty). followed by a talk Contact me on either: The Driving Test. How good 01829 752723, or by e-mail: Qfo&stmcu) S)cuf are you? robin. ackerlev(a).btinternet. com 8.00am Holy Tom Kerney or at: The Paddock Stoney Lane, Delamere * Tarporley Communion CW6 OSX 10.30 am Short Golden Age (*not Kelsall) Family Service, Talk by followed by John Howarth Short Holy Himalayan Adventure Women's Institute Communion 2.30pm Tues. 9th December Christmas Party Golden Age Home-made Christmas Card th Competition Wed. 7 January St Peter's Delamere 7.30pm Talk on Sunday School New Zealand meets every 4th Sunday in the Ted Hawker month. All ages welcome. For Golden Age further details please phone Wed. 10th December 2.30pm Gloria Ackerley Christmas Lunch Women's Institute on 01829 752723 Members only Tues. J 3th January Delamere Primary 12.30pm A talk by School Kay George Sun..l4fcDec.
    [Show full text]
  • Lct 5: Undulating Enclosed Farmland
    LCT 5: UNDULATING ENCLOSED FARMLAND General Description This character type is defined by undulating topography and the associated small to medium scale enclosure into which it is divided. Key characteristics are the generally cohesive and un-fragmented historic landscape in the south of the borough, small woodlands, ponds and streams, nucleated rural villages and scattered farmsteads. Land use is mainly pasture. Away from main roads, railways and settlement the landscape is generally quiet and rural. Views within this type very much depend upon location and the nature of the immediate topography. There is a range of monuments from Bronze Age barrows to post medieval canal locks. The character type is found across a large part of the Cheshire West and Chester borough; to the east between Northwich and the Sandstone Ridge and in the south of the borough. Visual Character The location of this landscape type is reflected in the prevailing views which extend to adjacent character areas, either out over the low-lying plain or up towards the often dominant Sandstone Ridge. Roads typically follow the rolling topography, offering extensive views from high vantage points out over the immediate field pattern and extending to the high ground in the far distance such as the Pennines in the east. Long distance views are sometimes affected by large scale industrial works in adjacent areas. LCT 5: Undulating Enclosed Farmland 138 From low ground the landscape appears smaller in scale due to the increase in enclosure and the contained views where skylines are typically formed by hedgerow trees, woodland and farmsteads, with occasional electricity pylons and church spires.
    [Show full text]
  • Walk 7: Grindley Brook and Back in Two Ways Higher Wych Stile to Your Right
    Walk 7: Grindley Brook Longer Route Description gateway, to a waymark post directing you across a culvert and through a and back in two ways Start at Grindley Brook 1. Go steel field gate. With the hedge to through the car park on to the Malpas Long route: 6.8 miles / 10.9km • Duration: about 4 hours your right, cross more pasture to a road (B5395 – narrow and quite busy). Short route: 3.5 miles / 5.6km • Duration: about 2 hours stile and then a steel kissing gate. Just past a house is a stile to the left. Starting point: The Horse & Jockey, Grindley Brook Turn right, and then left along a grass This path is well way marked – (Check with the pub, 01948 662723, if you wish to park there. bank. Below is Wolvesacre Mill, which continue across several fields, with Or use the No.41 bus service from Whitchurch) is now a cottage. the brook to your left, to reach a Mostly flat (only a few short, steep banks), with stiles, and gates. footbridge across the Red Brook. On Another kissing gate leads on to a There are places where it can be muddy. the other side you are in Wales. Cross track, turn left, and after passing a In summer there may be crops to walk through. a wet meadow, through an open cottage, Llethr Mill 2, go over the Two wells and a church Where Canal crosses Brook St. Mary’s Church, Whitewell (also known as Iscoyd), The Llangollen Canal ascends from is a whitewashed brick church which was a former Hurlestone Junction in Cheshire to ‘chapel of ease’ (an alternative and more convenient Llangollen and is a branch of the Shropshire venue) for parishioners of Malpas in Cheshire.
    [Show full text]
  • Baker Way Route Download 398179064.Pdf
    Baker Way The extended Baker Way links the heart of Chester with Delamere Forest Park. Grade Long Distance Distance 21km/13miles Time 5-6 hours Start Chester Railway Station Map OS Explorer 266 & 267 Generally flat with a few short rises, notably in Delamere Terrain Forest Route Details The extended Baker Way links the heart of Chester with Delamere Forest Park. The core of the route is provided by the original Baker Way - a long established route from Christleton to Brines Brow Picnic Area. The original route was devised by members of the Mid Cheshire Footpaths Society and commemorates the life and work of Jack Baker, onetime footpaths officer for Cheshire County Council. The extended Baker Way provides links to bus and train services at both ends, allowing the route to be walked in either direction without the use of a car. Black Lake is one of the flooded hollows within Delamere Forest, believed to have been formed as the ice sheets wasted away at the end of the last Ice Age. Their original depth was often several metres but accumulation of sphagnum and leaf litter has led to them gradually becoming mosses rather than open water. They continue to provide important habitats for a wide range of wildlife - look out for dragonflies, sundew and cotton grass. The Forestry commission bought 137 hectares of farmland at the Old Pale in 2000. Originally cleared of trees, it is now being returned to woodland with planting of a mix of 170,000 conifers and native broadleaved trees. New footpaths and bridleways have been developed across the area allowing visitors to enjoy the extensive views over Cheshire and beyond which are available from Pale Heights.
    [Show full text]
  • Rural Properties to Rent in Cheshire
    Rural Properties To Rent In Cheshire Is Hervey always succulent and cushiest when sleaving some air-mails very inhumanely and helter-skelter? Ali andusually zoometric belly-flopped Hew breveting flip-flap or her aestivate retirer epigrammatising full when meroblastic jurally Anthony or inebriates uprisen contractually, hindward and is Toddy raspingly. n-type? Curtate Stanley street as they did properties to in rural rent cheshire west Use the form below to reset your password. The widest range: main house cheshire rural properties in to rent! Get emails with the latest news and information on the local property market, our products and services. Wilmslow provides a more comprehensive range of shopping facilities whilst Marks and Spencer at Handforth Dean and John Lewis at Cheadle are only a short drive away. Which locations would you consider? This sizeable property is situated on a private, quiet cul de sac and offers easy access to local amenities, motorways and Chester city centre. Find the widest range of offers for your search to rent equestrian cheshire. The registration has a multipurpose room to rent in. How much is your home worth? Sign up now to stay up to date with new releases and special offers via email on this development and others close by from our brands Barratt Homes, David Wilson Homes and Barratt London. Small private cottage to rent just off Graham road in Pretoria. Cultural Quarter on the first floor of a building it currently shares with Warrington Central Library. Internally the accommodation comprises entrance hallway, lounge, modern kitchen, family bathroom, loft conversion which would suit a variety of purposes and bedroom wit.
    [Show full text]
  • Eddisbury and Kelsborrow Hillforts
    Cheshire Sandstone Ridge Glacial Landscape “I love to climb the ramparts and, in the Roman Road A circular walk around Follow the road to the bottom of the hill and turn left around evening gloom, sense the presence of all Drop down into Organsdale valley, and climb the flight of steps the bend into what is now Stoney Lane. At the bottom of the those who lived here long ago.” up to Gresty’s Waste car park, on the A556 Chester-Manchester lane, cross the A556 Chester-Manchester road with care. road. Cross the busy road with care and continue straight ahead, Eddisbury and Go straight ahead, on another short section of Stoney Lane, Don Wilson, Eddisbury Hill resident uphill into Nettleford Wood. to cross the A54 Chester-Winsford road. Continue through Kelsborrow Hillforts a gap beside the double gate, and bear diagonally right on a Within 300 metres, turn right, onto a narrower path signposted to path across the undulating field ahead. The path heads for ‘Stoney Lane’. The path leaves the woods to skirt the upper edge Beyond the café, turn right, downhill on Tirley Lane. Bear left at the the tip of a communication mast poking above the trees. of Organsdale Field, parallel with the route of the old Roman junction with Waste Lane and follow the road downhill past Roughlow road between Chester (Deva) and Manchester (Mamucium). Climb over a pair of waymarked stiles at the top of the Farm . It’s named after a long-since ploughed out Bronze Age Later called Watling Street, the military road traversed the slopes field, and bear right, gently uphill on a broad track beneath burial mound, or ‘low’, that once dominated the nearby hill.
    [Show full text]
  • Lct 2: Sandstone Ridge
    LCT 2: SANDSTONE RIDGE General Description The Sandstone Ridge stands prominently above the surrounding Plain and is visually one of the most distinctive landmarks in the Cheshire West and Chester landscape. It comprises a spine running roughly north-south from Helsby through Tarporley and on to Duckington for some 30 km, emerging and dropping back down into the plain as a series of scarps and sandstone outcrops. Helsby Hill and Beeston Crag are prominent isolated outliers. There are overlapping characteristics with the Sandstone Fringe character type, but the visual and topographic differences set it apart from this more intermediate landscape. The ridge has a very strong cultural and natural character for example there is a concentration of prehistoric sites, woodland and heathland, sandstone quarries and exposures and sandstone buildings, walls and sunken lanes. Visual Character This landscape exhibits varying degrees of enclosure and contrasting scales, due to the localised ridge and valley features of the undulating topography and a wide variation in woodland cover. At many locations solid blocks of woodland (including conifers) and high hedgerows combine to provide strong enclosure, creating an impression of a small-scale verdant landscape. The sense of enclosure by lush, dense vegetation is further reinforced when travelling along sunken roads between high hedges or valley bottoms below wooded ridge lines. Elsewhere, reduced tree cover leads to a more open landscape with a dominant hedgerow pattern, particularly evident from many elevated positions available along the network of narrow lanes. LCT 2: Sandstone Ridge 47 Expansive, long distance views provide an important element of this landscape type as they are widely available from the higher ground and contribute significantly to the distinctive character of the landscape.
    [Show full text]