Tag: Cheshire Challenge

A path between a low sandstone gorge. In the background there are tall pine trees
Cheshire Challenge, Walk

Cheshire Challenge walks 13,14 & 15 – Delamere Loop

Ellen Rando Girl

Three walks in one blog!  Grab a cuppa, this is a longer read.

I walked the Delamere Loop from my house over three walks in January and February 2021.  The third Covid lockdown meant I had to walk from my house, so to walk the 35km of the Delamere Loop I walked an extra 31km to meet the path further south.

The first section started in Delamere Forest alongside Blakemere Moss.  I’ve walked, run, roller skied and dragged my tyre around the mere many times and will walk it again as part of the Cheshire Challenge on the Delamere Way.  The route heads out of the forset to a steep road called the Yeld, it’s a relentless slog of a walk and even more of a grind for those that cycle it.  Around here there are small orchards and this one was full of Fieldfares gorging themselves on the fallen apples.

After passing the outskirts of the village of Kelsall, the walk heads back into the trees, this time in Primrose Wood.  Its here that a remnant of the ice age can be found, with a minor detour.  Now called Urchin’s Kitchen, the narrow sandstone gorge was a formed by melt water under the vast ice sheet that once covered here.  Cool huh?  The Delamere Loop continues to wind through the woods climbing up hill to pop out onto a quiet road, then back onto a narrow bridleway and then out on to the road that leads in to Utkinton.  After Utkinton, a less lovely stomp along a road for a few hundred meters brought the turning point, a large black and white fingerpost came into view.  Time to head for home.

Spiky Gorse with yellow flowers. In the distance out of focus is a fence and field
A path between a low sandstone gorge. In the background there are tall pine trees
A selfie of me eating fruit cake, in the background are bare trees

I’m not normally worried by cows.  I’ve found that if I just walk slowly, quietly telling them I am the most boring thing they will see all day and that I am really not worth the effort to investigate then they generally ignore me.  Its rare I get a strong feeling that something is not right, maybe its a primordial instinct, a sixth sense that tells you things are not all hunky dory and even without looking danger in the face, you know it is there.  And this was one of those occasions.  As I entered the field it was at least knee deep in sloppy mud in places and I had to pick my way, hopscotch style, across what was theoretically a path: no one would keep cows on this I thought, they must have been moved.  I was wrong.  As I started to reach slightly firmer ground, I saw the cows and they were definitely interested in me.  Decision time.  Turning back put them behind me where I couldn’t see what they were doing: if I fell in the mud I could be in serious trouble.   I decided to continue, checking exactly where the exit from the field was on the OS app, phone in hand, slowing to a snail’s pace and with my walking poles to make sure I didn’t slip I walked directly towards the stile out of the field.  I was fine, they were uncomfortably observant and skittish but moved away as I approached and I made it to the stile without incident.  But it wasn’t a pleasant experience: I have only once before felt this wary of livestock and my heart was thumping as I swiftly climbed the stile.

A black and white painted iron fingerpost on a roadside verge. Behind it is a field gate in a hedge with bare trees in the background. The sign post points to a cul-de-sac to the left and Cotebrook to the right
Herd of black, white and brown cows stand on a hill looking at the camera. The field is deep with mud and the trunk of a Oak tree is in the foreground.

And so back to the outskirts of Primrose Woods, down to the equestrian centre and then up the lane to Eddisbury Hill.

Two weeks later, I retraced my steps to Utkinton this time in snow as I dropped down from Delamere to Primrose Woods.  Deciding I didn’t fancy my chances with the cows again, I headed to Utkinton and repeated a small section of the Delamere Loop I had already walked.  At the black and white fingerpost I turned right instead of left and continued along the Delamere Loop.  This route was a lot of road walking.  The trouble with walks in winter that are road and paths is selecting footwear.  Snow and mud calls for walking boots, but miles on tarmac is unforgiving on the feet and joints.  Through Eaton and onward to the ghostly quiet Oulton Park race circuit, I finally left the tarmac to the refreshingly squidgy paths of Little Budworth Common.  Here the first tiny early signs of the incoming spring were appearing in the woods: the brilliant green shoots of the bluebells peeking through the leafmould.

steep, narrow stone steps. The carved stones on the sides have slots for what might have been wooden steps like a ladder. There is a wooden handrail and a dusting of snow.
A selfie, wearing winter walking gear. The ground is covered in snow with wood in the background.
A muddy track through sparse scrubby woodland. There is a wooden signpost with "Little Budworth County Park" written on it. Around the base of the sign there are green shoots poking through the leafmould.
A Llama looks over a bare hedge. The sky is grey and cloudy.

This walk was the longest of the Delamere Loop walks at 25km but the least efficient of the Cheshire Challenge so far, with more distance covered on the unnamed paths than on the named ones.  At the Longstone, I left the Delamere Loop and turned back to home.  The Longstone is a medieval waymarker it would have been in the form of a cross but all that remains now is a solid chunk of the base.  Rare in this part of the country, the unassuming stone is grade II listed.  More road walking followed.  A pavement along the busy A49 was welcome and then the quiet, dead straight road along a wood know as Hogshead Lane.  A short way along a verge and I gratefully headed back on to paths, this time the Oakmere Way.  This is a permitted path alongside the sand quarry and leads all the way back to Delamere Forest.

Another two weeks later and I was walking back along the Oakmere Way, down Hogshead Lane and back to the Longstone.  This was a shorter walk of 20km, and after a few kilometres walking along quiet tarmac lanes, I came to the Whitegate Way.  Once a railway this is now a permitted path for cyclists and walkers, at 11km it’s the shortest long-distance path of the Cheshire Challenge but today I was only walking a section that doubles up as the Delamere Loop.  I both like and dislike paths such as this.  It’s a little too polished for my taste but its great for thinking time as no effort is needed to navigate and I don’t need to pay too much attention where I am putting my feet.  As I reached the end of the Whitegate Way I started that polite game of leap-frog gate holding for two teenage girls on mountain bikes: I walked past them, they then rode past me.  They asked me where the Whitegate Way ended and we started chatting about local routes to explore.  I’d like to think I planted the seed of an adventure for them.

A broken, lichen and moss covered stone plinth on a grass verge in front of a hedge
Grass banks with a lake in the distance. A fence run along the top of the bank with woods to the right. In the distance there are hills with a mast on top

Another short stretch of road and I was back in Delamere Forest and soon standing by the Delamere Loop sign pointing towards Blakemere Moss.  The Delamere Loop is the second of the Cheshire Challenge paths I have finished, the first being the Baker Way that I walked way back in the summer.

Or so I thought.  Some weeks later, on an evening stroll up the hill behind my house after work, I found a Delamere Loop sign.  At the top of a hill I definitely didn’t walk up.  My inner list-ticking self feels the need to investigate this further…

Videos of the walks are here: walk 13, walk 14 and walk 15

The routes are available on the Ordnance Survey website: walk 13, walk 14 and walk 15

Cheshire Challenge distance35km
Paths walkedDelamere Loop
Total distance67km
Total ascent978m
OS mapOS Explorer 267
Date walkedJanuary & February 2021
Time taken18.5 hours
CakeMostly Christmas cake
Dance poseVarious, mostly silly
Total Cheshire Challenge distance completed241km (1500km total)
the stats

A tractor tyre decorated to look like a Christmas wreath. Greenery is draped over top, there are red baubles and two galvanised buckets are hung to look like bells
Cheshire Challenge, Walk

Cheshire Challenge walk 12 – Bishop Bennet Way

Ellen Rando Girl

OK, so the Bishop Bennet Way has redeemed itself a bit with this section.  The route starts at Churton and is mostly on byways and bridleways, there was still road walking to be done but on much quieter stretches.

A metal signpost with the Bishop Bennet Way in both directions. Behind the sign the sky is brilliant blue.
a woman wearing a knitted headbad pointing at a location on a large information board map
A tractor tyre decorated to look like a Christmas wreath. Greenery is draped over top, there are red baubles and two galvanised buckets are hung to look like bells

This was a proper stomp of a walk for me.  Walked between Christmas and New Year, the December days were at their shortest and I wanted to walk off the fug in my head from the disappointment of the new lockdown.  I set off from Churton where I had left the route a few weeks before, quickly the route turned onto a long section of bridleway.  The sun was out and the low light through the trees gave my glum mood a boost with the sun in my face for almost the whole day.  The mud squelched under my boots, often having to leap seemingly deep puddles, putting faith in my guess that the landing was solid. 

This walk wins the prize for the best sign seen enroute: a warning of subsidence on a restricted byway caused by badgers.  Taking my Primus stove with me on these winter walks was definitely a good idea, normally I barely stop on a walk, enough to check the map, dig out a snack from my pack or swap jackets as the weather changes.  But stopping to boil water forces me to sit and just be present in the landscape.

A red square warning sign against a blue sky. The white text says "BEWARE Subsidence caused by badger activity"
A gas camp stove and green plastic mug in the sun on grass.
A rough red sandstone rockface heavily overgrown with trees and ivy.

All but the last section of the day was up hill, gradually getting steeper as I climbed up from the plain past a sandstone scar and towards the southern edge of the sandstone ridge that runs through Cheshire.

One more section of the Bishop Bennet Way to go!

Video of the walk HERE

The route is available on the Ordnance Survey website HERE

Cheshire Challenge distance16.5km
Paths walkedBishop Bennet Way
Total distance16.5km
Total ascent107m
OS mapOS Explorer 257
Date walkedDecember 2020
Time taken4 hours
CakeCarrot cake
Dance poseShow time!
Total Cheshire Challenge distance completed206km (1500km in total)
the stats
A rusty corrugated steel barn with rusty agricultural and railway maintenance machinery, all heavily overgrown with thick brambles
Cheshire Challenge, Walk

Cheshire Challenge walk 11 – Bishop Bennet Way

Ellen Rando Girl

Well, it had to happen at some point in this challenge, a walk I really didn’t enjoy.  To be fair, the Bishop Bennet Way is primarily a horse and cycling route on bridleways, byways and roads; this section had long road sections and for someone who’s preference is remote wild places it didn’t fill me with much joy.

A brown information board with map of the Bishop Bennet Way
A tarmac road with white lines down the middle and triangle warning road signs. The road bends to the left in the distance and there is a grass verge.
A narrow muddy track with grass and bare hedges either side. There are three large trees bordering the path and a deep drainage ditch to the right.

The route starts in the shadow of Beeston Castle and follows a byway before a long trudge along the road past the Ice cream farm.  In non-covid times the prospect of ice cream would have cheered me up but even the drive through seemed closed.   I found a good lunch spot where I could light my stove for a warm drink, eating a lot of cake and watching a flock of hens were highlights, as was the curious machinery graveyard at Calveley Hall.

A plastic tub containing two pieces of sponge cake. The tub is on the ground surrounded by dry oak leaves and green grass.
A rusty corrugated steel barn with rusty agricultural and railway maintenance machinery, all heavily overgrown with thick brambles

Pfft.  That was it really.  17km in the bag and glad that’s ticked off: But I guess you can’t have all all the time, can you?

Video of the walk HERE

The route is available on the Ordnance Survey website HERE

Cheshire Challenge distance17km
Paths walkedBishop Bennet Way
Total distance17km
Total ascent54m
OS mapOS Explorer 257
Date walkedNovember 2020
Time taken4.25 hours
CakeFruit sponge
Dance poseNone, head down stomping!
Total Cheshire Challenge distance completed189km (1500km total)
the stats
Rolling grassy land with low bare trees under a grey cloudy sky. In the far distance, silhouettes of hills can be seen on the horizon.
Cheshire Challenge, Walk

Cheshire Challenge walk 10 – South Cheshire Way & Llangollen Canal Walk

Ellen Rando Girl

November.  It was no surprise that this was a damp walk under grey skies, but the mood was anything but sombre.  A circular walk meant meeting with a friend and it was lovely to have company again.  The walk started and finished at Wrenbury-cum-Frith, in non-covid times a post walk pub dinner would have definitely been part of the plan. 

Black cows look at the camera while standing next to a red brick barn with a large crack in the wall. The sky is overcast and the field is full of lush green plants.
A woman in red top and wearing a blue backpack sands looking into a lake. The lake is overflowing the edges and the wind is blowing the rushes.

The first half of the walk is along the South Cheshire Way: pub quiz fact – at 55km it is just under half the length of the North Cheshire Way.  Muddy fields were the start of the day, gently rolling through lush grass and pastures.  The waymarked path diverted a couple of times from the map, which caused a bit of navigational confusion but we soon popped back out onto the road to Marbury and the accurately named Little Mere and Big Mere.  Time for our legs and lungs to get a good workout, the route pulls steeply and steadily up Buttermilk Bank to a spectacularly long view to Peckforton and Bickerton Hill and the sandstone ridge.

Rolling grassy land with low bare trees under a grey cloudy sky. In the far distance, silhouettes of hills can be seen on the horizon.
A four-finger timber signpost stands next to a fence. The sign shows Marbury is behind the camera and Wirswall to the right. There are yellow waymarks but everything is green with algae almost matching the colour of the grass in the field behind it.
A single oak tree dominates the picture with brown leaves. The tree stands in a partly harvested field of maize, the dry stalks blowing in the wind.

All down hill from here, the path picks up the Bishop Bennet Way, another Cheshire Challenge path that I’ll be ticking off soon.  After another muddy trudge through a recently harvested maize field we joined the Llangollen Canal which at this point is also the Sandstone Trail.  We stopped here for a late lunch, timely as the weather began to close in; mizzle turned to drizzle and then to rain.  Head down, deep in conversation at times and comfortable silence at others, we stomped steadily along the canal with barely a drop in height of 10 meters over the whole 10 km.

A three-finger timber signpost in front of a scrubby hedge. The words 'Sandstone Trail' are painted in blue on the post.
A rusty red narrowboat moored along a grassy towpath. The boat's windows are cracked open and there are logs, tyres and a BBQ on the roof. Leaves have fallen from the trees and the sky is overcast

Video of the walk HERE

The route is available on the Ordnance Survey website HERE

Cheshire Challenge distance19km
Paths walkedSouth Cheshire Way, Llangollen Canal Walk
Total distance20km
Total ascent181m
OS mapOS Explorer 257
Date walkedNovember 2020
Time taken6 hours
CakeNone this time 😦
Dance poseJazz hands
Total Cheshire Challenge distance completed172km (1500km total)
the stats
White water rushing out a sluice in front of a closed canal lock. The canal is in a cutting and sunning is glinting through the tall leafy trees in the background
Cheshire Challenge, Walk

Cheshire Challenge walk 9 – Shropshire Union Canal

Ellen Rando Girl

Sometimes all you want is a nice simple, long walk to let your mind wander and not have to concentrate too much.  This walk was to be a 20km stomp along the Shropshire Union Canal, finishing where the South Cheshire Way crosses the canal and where I had planned a series of circular walks to save for walking with friends.  From Audlem and south, no other Cheshire Challenge walk crosses the canal so most of it will be solo and possibly multi-day walks for me.

I set off from just outside Cheswardine; as is often the way with canal walks it started at a narrow canal bridge and steps down to the towpath.  The October weather was warm and sunny with clouds gathering but no sign of rain.  I’d planned a walk and talk with a polar friend, Lungi and passed the first two kilometers happily chatting about training and back-up plans should trips be cancelled again, sharing the rural Cheshire scenery on Facetime to South Africa.  Social media may not be perfect but sharing a walk with a friend I have not met in person is pretty special.

A view of the canal from the top of steps leading down to a grassy towpath. The blue sky can be seen through overhanging trees.
A construction work sign tied to a wire fence. The sign is a map showing a section of the footpath is closed with two areas of construction.
A two-story red brick building with hanging baskets of flowers and white painted windows over looking a canal lock. the sky is blue and sunny, a narrowboat is entering the bottom of the lock.

Then the barrier fencing loomed into view.  Recent heavy rain had caused landslips in the cutting and the towpath was closed.  Drat.  That’ll teach me to check with the Canal and River Trust before setting out. Of course, this was the one time I had not bought the map with me as the navigation was just ‘follow the canal for 20km’ and so I had to end my chat early to work out a route on the OS app instead.  It wasn’t the most pleasant of detours and involved a section of verge walking along the busy A529, it barely added any distance to the day but it does mean I now have a stranded bit of towpath I need to walk.  Re-joining the canal at Tyrley Locks was a friendly greeting from the slower pace of the canal after the lorry-dodging on the roads.  A snack later and I was ready to carry on.

The whole of the walk is gently down hill and there are plenty of locks along the way.  A deep tree lined cutting just along from Tyrley with a series of locks was a magical dell with ferns and mosses covering the engineering epic that it must have taken to build it.

White water rushing out a sluice in front of a closed canal lock. The canal is in a cutting and sunning is glinting through the tall leafy trees in the background
A muddy towpath next to a canal cut deep into the rock. Tall trees overhang the cutting and the sun is glinting through the trees creating patches of light on the brown water.

Aproaching Market Drayton I was greeted by a very enthusiastic parrot in a narrowboat, who waved their toys enthusiastically at me as I walked by: I’d say its not what you expect to see but I’ve learnt you see all sorts of life on the waterways.  A little further on another out-of-place sight was a grade 2 listed Pillbox at Market Drayton built in 1940.  As I stopped, slightly surprised by it, I got chatting to a couple who had recently become full-time boat dwellers.  Canals seem to attract friendly people; I am not sure how long we talked for and I don’t really recall what we talked about but it was lovely to have a touch of normality and connection with people.

A concrete WW2 pillbox next to brick steps and a blue sign pointing towards the town centre
A view from the end of a canal bridge, there is a stone wall dividing the path on the bridge into two paths.
A black metal sign made of three squares with white writing in a soil verge. The top left sign is "Autherley Junction 26 miles", the top right is "Nantwich 13 miles" and the middle bottom is "Norbury junction 10 1/2 miles"

Another thing I like along my walks is to read the plaques on benches.  Often they are just a name and dates in memory of someone but some are beautifully poignant, witty or just make you stop and think.  I’d hope that lots of people have smiled and sat with Ellen and Ike.

A paper sign, the ink blurred by water, in a plastic envelope pinned to wood with rusty drawing pins
A black sign with white writing on the wooden back of a bench. It the background the hawthorn leaves in the hedge are starting to turn yellow. The sign says "Come Sit with ELLEN & IKE, Rest your Feet, Lean your Bike. With Memories, The ARGENT Family"
A timber shelter with pastel coloured bunting. There is cake under covers, a fridge and a red cash box.

The walk ended a few kilometres north of Audlem, which meant walking the full length of the locks flight, with an honesty box cake stall at the top and plenty of pubs at the bottom for boaters to steel themselves for or recover from the effort of working the 15 locks.  The top of the locks to the end of my walk was a repeat of the towpath, also part of the Weaver Way which was walk 4 of the challenge for me, the finish today was Austin’s bridge now a footpath on the South Cheshire Way.  I’ll be back here someday soon.

Video of the walk HERE

The route is available on the Ordnance Survey website HERE

Cheshire Challenge distance17.2km
Paths walkedShropshire Union Canal
Total distance20km
Total ascent108m
OS mapExplorer 257, 243
Date walkedOcotober 2020
Time taken6 hours
CakeApple cake
Dance poseGeneral silliness
Total Cheshire Challenge distance completed:153km
The stats
An arched canal tunnel entrance surrounded by trees with a grass bank and road on the right hand side
Cheshire Challenge, Walk

Cheshire Challenge walk 8 – Trent and Mersey Canal Walk & North Cheshire Way

Ellen Rando Girl

This was a relatively gentle walk with a lot of industrial heritage along the way, and you can’t go wrong with a bit of industrial heritage for interest!  It was also the Ordnance Survey’s Get Outside day and the weather was glorious early autumn sun, so all round a grand day!

The two Cheshire Challenge walks counted were the Trent and Mersey Canal Walk (153km, 95 miles in total) and the North Cheshire Way (113 km, 70 miles in total), but I will be walking both tracks again as part of the Cheshire Ring Canal Walk and Weaver Way.  We started on the canal, which is quite a height above the river.  This is a lovely canal section, with mature trees on both sides, lots of low farm bridges and big, long views across the river plain and towards the Sandstone ridge.  We could almost see the paths we took on walk 3, back in the summer.  This canal has two tunnels, neither can be walked through and the path climbs up and over the wooded hills instead.  The canal is only wide enough for one narrow boat at a time and two-way traffic is managed by dividing the hour into slots when boats can travel in each direction.  The sound of the boat engines travels long through the tunnel and it seemed an age before the blue painted boat appeared. 

A a black and white painted steel bridge with white painted brick sides over a canal. It is surrounded by trees
An arched canal tunnel entrance surrounded by trees with a grass bank and road on the right hand side

After the tunnels, the canal skirts the edge of Barnton village and the town of Northwich with houses and gardens backing onto the towpath.  At one house, the owner had painted a long line of stones to thank and support all the groups of people who have found the pandemic extra tough or have helped others: police, careworkers, refuse collectors, refugees, theatres and scientist to name just a few.  The line must have had close to a hundred stones and there was a sign encouraging passers-by to add any group that had been missed.

The Anderton Boat Lift deserves a blog of its own.  It was built to enable boats to move between the Weaver Navigation and the canal, a drop of some 15 metres from the canal.  It’s still in operation but we weren’t lucky enough to see it working while we had a cup of tea in the visitor centre garden.

A large black steel construction with two moving water-filled containers for carrying boats.
a stone with "the show must go on" "Theatres" and "Art centres" painted on it.
a selfie of three people with paper cups of tea in front of the Anderton boat lift.

Retracing our steps this was now the North Cheshire Way and after walking up and over one of the tunnels we turned away from the narrow tree lined canal to the wide and open river.  The twin locks at Saltersford are huge and imposing; though quiet now the river was once a motorway of the water ways.  We stopped here for cake, lounging in the sun on a mown grassy bank watching a diving bird, possibly a Shag, fishing along the opposite bank.

A lock gate with blue skies and mown grass banks
A river lock and the river reflecting a blue sky with trees on an island
Two people leaning on railings looking at a steel bridge overhead

The rest of the walk followed the river on wide field edges all the way back to the swing bridge at Acton Bridge, and tempting though it was to continue along the river we had reached the end of the day’s walk.

Video of the walk is HERE

The route is available on the Ordnance Survey website HERE

Cheshire Challenge distance11.65km
Paths walkedTrent and Mersey Canal Walk, North Cheshire Way
Total distance12.1km
Total ascent172m
OS mapOS Explorer 267
Date walked27th September 2020
Time taken5 hours
CakeApple cake
Dance poseForgot, but we did sing!
Total Cheshire Challenge distance completed145km (1500km in total)
Walk stats

Bright red hawthorn berries
Cheshire Challenge, Walk

Cheshire Challenge walk 7 – Two Saints Way & Shropshire Union Canal

Ellen Rando Girl

I wanted to set myself a goal of walking a 20 mile walk in August 2020. A month before 20km had felt like a tough goal and two months previous 20 miles was a distance that seemed impossible. As the goal was distance only, I made it a little easier by removing most of the navigation challenges by following the canal: which also made it mostly level walking on good paths.

The walk started at Tattenhall Marina. Parking at the marina is residents only, so I called the next door Icecream Farm to ask to use their carpark. Parking can be a touchy subject with tourist’s cars causing obstructions especially in the national parks. I was given permission to park which also set a time target to be back in time to buy icecream! The footpath from the Icecream Farm run down the marina access road the follows a signposted footpath on the right. A small wooden walkway leads out onto the towpath.

As the Two Saints Way diverts off the towpath, I planned this on the outbound leg so if there were navigation challenges then it would be on fresher legs and clearer minds. Following the Two Saints Way from Chester the waymarks are the cross of St Chad, who’s shrine is at Lichfield Cathedral. Following it from Lichfield the waymarks are a goose, the symbol of St Werburgh who’s shrine is at Chester. The path follows the towpath of the Shropshire Union Canal for 4km to Wharton’s Lock. The Sandstone Trail crosses the canal here, and the Two Saints Way briefly follows the Sandstone Trail to Beeston Castle. It then leaves the Sandstone Trail and follows single track roads to Beeston Village and on to the outskirts of Bunbury, and crosses the busy A49. The path then heads down Wythin St to a kissing gate into a field. The right of way runs diagonally across the field, but the crop was heavily wind damaged and a clear path round the edges of the field seemed a better option. There was a then a little more navigation confusion as the path tracks across a field on the map, but there is now a small mature wood. A reassuring waypoint appeared and confirmed we were on the right path. The next field was very wet underfoot alongside the River Gowy, making me question my decision to wear my trail running shoes which employ the principle of allowing the water out easily: which means they let the water in easily. Slightly damp socks later, the path came out onto the road up to St Boniface’s Church.

teasels against a blue sky
A signpost overlooking a field of cows
A small black and white cottage with large red brick chimneys
A sandstone church tower, with a clock face and stained glass window

St Boniface’s is one of many churches along the Two Saints Way and worthy of a visit: but we pressed on. The road out of Bunbury back down to the canal is less pleasant with narrow verges and faster cars, though it is only for about a kilometre. The Two Saints Way rejoins the Shropshire Union Canal at Bunbury lock, an impressive double lock to fox the first-time boat hirers next to an equally impressive stable block.

The next section of the canal is a bit grim at the first impression, the busy A51 runs alongside the canal for about 2.5km with accompanying commercial properties and petrol station. But this was where we spotted a damsel fly – too quick to see enough to identify it, and a male black tailed skimmer dragonfly on the return leg. Never assume that just because its not pretty, nature isn’t thriving. The next major milestone is the junction at Barbridge where the Shropshire Union Middlewich Branch heads east and a short distance further along the Shropshire Union mainline is the midway mark of the walk. A lovely stretch of the canal carries on to the turnaround point where the Llangollen Canal joins at Hurleston Junction at the impressive signpost, with a tiny Two Saints Way waymarker.

Bright red hawthorn berries
A ginger cat asleep on a narrowboat
Two women in walking kit standing in a grassy field, smiling at the camera

Here we turned around, and ‘left’ the Two Saints Way to complete the rest of the walk counting towards the Shropshire Union Canal path. The way back was a steady stomp along the canal with no deviation from it’s towpath. The return walk always seems to go faster, and we made good time back to Bunbury locks. Here we continued along the canal along a section missed out by the Two Saints Way: it was a peaceful stretch of canal with three single locks and surrounded by trees. At Wharton’s lock we once again retraced our steps, and the weather turned and the waterproofs came out. The towpath here is being stabilised and the works barges provided interest as the legs began to tire. Its easy to miss the wooden footbridge back to the car park, but the substantial black and white painted bridge over the marina entrance is a good enough clue that you’ve missed the turn; as we had.

a hand taking cherry cake from a plastic tub, held out by another person.
A woman in walking kit sitting on a canal lock gate

Back at the car, it was a quick stretch and cake before setting home. Though not until I had bought a well-deserved bucket of ice cream, well, it’d be rude not to.

Video of the walk HERE

The route is available on the Ordnance Survey website HERE

Cheshire Challenge distance:32km
Paths walked:Two Saints Way, Shropshire Union Canal
Total distance:33.2km
Total ascent:205m
OS map:OS Explorer 267, 257
Date walked:29th August 2020
Time taken:8 hours, 8 minutes
Cake:Cherry sponge
Dance pose:Ballet barre
Total Cheshire Challenge completed:133.6km (1500km in total)
Walk stats
Tiny clusters of pink flowers
Cheshire Challenge, Walk

Cheshire Challenge walk 6 – North Cheshire Way & Longster Trail

Ellen Rando Girl

I’ve realised what makes me a little nervous when planning the Cheshire Challenge Walk: obstructed paths leave you with fewer alternatives. When on the hills, most of the land falls under the CROW act and walkers are not restricted to just the permitted paths and public rights of way. So if your way is blocked, there is often a way to keep moving forward: if a stream is in spate you can follow it up hill to a safer crossing, if you’ve had enough and the pub is calling, you can plot a short cut across a moor on a bearing. But for lowland paths, that’s not an option. If a path is overgrown, your choices are very limited and often mean retracting steps. But I faced that demon on this walk and it was all good in the end.

This walk follows a section of the North Cheshire Way and the Longster Trail. Both paths share the same tracks at the beginning and end, which does mean walking up to the trig twice if you are doing things properly! Parking is at Helsby Quarry Nature Reserve, on Alvanley Road. The carpark free and compact, so plan to arrive early on sunny weekends as there is no roadside parking. The walk gets your legs going from the start as the route takes you straight up the hill into Helsby woods. Bearing right and following signs to Helsby Hill, the route passes through a deep cut in the sandstone before turning left up to the hill. On a clear day you can see the Clywds in Wales and Wirral, you can also see some of Cheshire’s more industrial views too.

A selfie of two women in walking kit next to a trig on a hill
The essential selfie

The North Cheshire Way heads from the trig back off the hill to a signpost which sent us left and along a farm road and then the road down to Harmers Wood. As we passed Harmers Wood to the left, a well signposted footpath on the right took us back into the fields. About 2km from the trig, the two paths split, with the North Cheshire Way running west of the Longster Trail. We headed South-southwest on the North Cheshire Way.

The North Cheshire Way then follows well trodden tracks through fields all the way to Alvanley, after Alvanley there is a long road section, but they are quiet single track roads so a chance to get a good pace going. A moment’s self-doubt on the navigation at a set of house gates was soon resolved when the yellow footpath marker was spotted hidden in the hedge on a side gate. A kilometre on and the track popped out on the edge of the very lovely village of Dunham-on-the-Hill. After Dunham-on-the-Hill the route heads directly south, down a single track road and across arable fields. Where the track passes a farm and meets another road, the walk leaves the North Cheshire Way and takes un-named paths east to pick up the Longster Trail.

Tiny clusters of pink flowers
An old red telephone box containing an automated external defibrilator

And now the trickier navigation challenge. The route follows a restricted by-way from Long Green, but the last 200 metres were thick with old brambles and completely impassible: attempting to push through would have ended like flies in a spider’s web. To walk back and around would have meant a 3 kilometre detour along roads: peering round a wide gap in the hedge, the Longster Trail could be seen across a grassy field. So, brave-pants pulled up high, we skirted the edge of the field and within minutes were on the Longster Trail.

A very overgrown path
a woman in walking kit hugging a trig on a hill overlooking a windfarm
A woman in walking kit stroking a horse looking over a fence

Now the route heads broadly north and gently (well, mostly gently) up hill all the way back. After fields of calmly grazing cows the route heads steeply up hill, through a neat stable yard and onto an old, sandy drove road alongside woodland and a good place for a snack stop. After crossing a stream, the Longster Trail meets a brook and follows it east. A footbridge tucked in the hedge takes the route steeply uphill then along arable fields and grazing land full of diving swallows before popping back out onto the road at Alvanley. With the North Cheshire Way within a stone’s throw, the Longster Trail crosses a road and head across fields again. Care needs to be taken to stick the the Longster Trail with a more visible footpath heading right, both paths meet the same road but the un-named path adds more distance and more importantly would have missed out a section of the Longster Trail. It’s here I should admit that I did miss the path so ended up having to walk back. Within less than a kilometre, the Longster Trail joins the North Cheshire Way and the route retraces its self back to the trig to complete the walk and the end of the Longster Trail.

Video of the walk HERE

The route is available on the Ordnance Survey website HERE

Cheshire Challenge Distance:16.1km
Paths walked:North Cheshire Way, Longster Trail
Total distance:19.1km
Total ascent:352m
OS map:OS Explorer 266, 267
Date walked:23rd August 2020
Time taken:6 hours 45 minutes
Cake:Chocolate and Beetroot cake
Dance pose:Jazz hands
Total Cheshire Challenge completed:102.3km (1500km in total)
Walk stats

Cheshire Challenge, Walk

Cheshire Challenge walk 5 – Sandstone Trail & Eddisbury Way

Ellen Rando Girl

This walk on a lovely sunny August day was the other half to walk 1, repeating the connecting path. This time I met with the awesome Sarah Williams of Tough Girl Challenges, we parked our cars and, without our usual greeting of a hug, we set off.

The Sandstone trail is well trodden and with plenty of waymarks the navigation is easy, meaning we could natter the whole time without paying attention to where we were heading.  The sun was warm and we quickly reached the turning point.

The route turns west and follows field edges then large open grazing land.  This is not a named route and the waymarks sparse, so more care was needed on the navigation.  Lots of temporary fencing for dairy cattle divided the fields, making the route of the public right of way unclear and uncomfortable for a short section.  The GPS came in useful to confirm that the path was correct as a number of electric fences needed to be crossed: a bit of team work, walking poles and good flexibility was required.  Rich grassy field, the result of the muck spreading encountered on walk 1 took us past the trees of Hoofield covert.

We picked up the Eddisbury Way following a thick hedge before popping out onto Hoofield Lane and into the village of Hoofield.  Passing out of Hoofield more navigation confidence was needed to cross a poultry farm and into thickly planted maize.  It was reasonably easy to walk down the lines of maize holding our arms in front of our faces to keep the leaves away from our eyes.  A short stretch along the busy A51 took us on the Dutton Mill were it was time to leave the Eddisbury Way and head back.  The footpath passes through a final farm sweet with the smell of cows and a final trudge up the road back to the cars.

Video of the walk HERE
The route is available on the Ordnance Survey website HERE

Cheshire Challenge distance11km
Paths walkedSandstone Trail and Eddisbury Way
Total distance19.2km
Total ascent146m
OS mapLandranger 257
Date walkedAugust 2020
Time taken5 hours
Cakefruit sponge
Dance poseHip hop
Total Cheshire Challenge distance completed100km
Stats table
A green footpath sign against a leafy hedge
Cheshire Challenge, Walk

Cheshire Challenge walk 4 – Weaver Way

Ellen Rando Girl

It has been a long, long time since I walked 20 km.  Mentally this seemed like a huge challenge, although lockdown had meant I walked almost daily I had no idea if I could walk 20km in one go.  I decided to do a solo linear walk with my husband dropping me off and collecting me: if I had to stop I could always call for an early pick-up.  As I wanted to test my endurance and not my navigation, a canal walk seemed to fit the bill.

The Weaver Way runs from the top of Audlem locks on the Shropshire Union Canal, right on the southern edge of Cheshire, all the way to Frodsham broadly following the river Weaver.  Its 64km long and the longest of the routes that is entirely within the county of Cheshire.

A green footpath sign against a leafy hedge
Weaver Way Waymarks

I started the walk at Audlem.  This unfortunately meant I had to walk back up the 15 locks to the actual start of the Weaver Way, but it was a lovely day and the locks are lovely.  After loitering long enough to look like I had intended to walk up the locks, I turned and headed north.  The walk crosses the river Weaver twice on aqueducts, once north of Audlem where the Weaver is little more than a big stream and again just before Church Minshull by which time it has grown to a river.  The stretch to Nantwich from Overwater marina is straight and surrounded by flat farmland.  But it is far from dull, there was so much wildlife from geese grazing in the fields, moorhens dabbling along the towpath and juicy ripe blackberries too irresistible not to eat.  At Nantwich there is the option to detour through the town, but I chose to stay on the towpath which was now busy with narrowboats.  As the canal heads out of Nantwich it crosses the Chester Road on a short but impressive black and white painted aqueduct.

A black and white waymark on a fence post
The Crewe and Nantwich circular walk crosses and joins the Weaver Way

It was at this point I witness what was almost an incredible encounter.  A man was busy, head down repairing his narrowboat.  As I approached, a kingfisher flew out from the trees on the opposite bank went to land on his back, changed it’s mind at the last moment, briefly landed on the bow behind him and flew back into the trees.  As I walked past him I said what had happened and we shared a moment of delight at such a beautiful bird. 

a selfie of a woman in outdoor gear with trees, a river and harvested fields in the background
The canal passing over the Weaver

Onward and I was soon at Hurleston Junction where the Llangollen Canal meets the Shropshire Union Canal, and a place I will visit at least twice more on the Cheshire Challenge.  From here it was a few kilometres to the turning point at Barbridge Junction and along the grandly named Shropshire Union Canal Middlewich Branch.  More winding and a little wilder than the main branch I recalled cycling down this towpath, chasing down a friend’s narrowboat a few years before.  Weary legs carried me on and, 24km later (not counting the walk to the top of Audlem locks) I reached bridge 14 and the end of the walk.

Video of the walk HERE

The route is available on the Ordnance Survey website HERE

Cheshire Challenge distance24.5km
Path walkedWeaver Way
Total distance24.5km
Total ascent110m
OS mapOS Landranger 257, 267
Date walked26th July 2020
Time taken5 hours 44 minutes
CakeSponge cake
Dance poseBallet barre work
Total Cheshire Challenge distance completed80.5km (1500km total)
Walk stats