I took a gamble. It was raining when I set off from home, but thankfully it was just heavily overcast when I rolled up outside Brown Knowl's telephone box - the starting point for this walk, which sets off up the road pictured above. It was warm as well - no gloves needed today.
This was a 'route description check' of one of Jen Darling's 'Walks in West Cheshire and Wirral'. It's only a short (just over 5 km) route, but with extra wanderings I went a good kilometre further than that.
The walk starts off up the road past an impressive Methodist chapel.
However, at a Bickerton Hill sign I mistakenly turned left, not realising that I should go straight on and up the hill, which is really Larkton Hill, though the whole area can probably be described as 'Bickerton Hill', before turning left.
Steps were dutifully re-traced when I realised I'd reached the Sandstone Trail from the wrong direction.
A short stroll down Reading Room Lane brought me back to the start of the walk, by Brown Knowl's 'phone box.
All that remained was for me to finish off the contents of my flask and enjoy the company of some friendly goats.
Here's my 'warts and all' route that was 6.5 km rather than 5 km, due to my misinterpretations along the way! There's about 180 metres ascent. Allow about an hour and a half for this excellent outing.
After the correct left turn, the path followed the crest, and Larkton Hill soon appeared out of the gloom, pictured below to the left of a shapely fir tree.
Continuing on to Maiden Castle, the site of a 2000 year old Iron Age fort, I spotted one of several tree trunk seats that I'd expected to see earlier. I enjoyed a break at one of these before heading up a well marked footpath onto Bickerton Hill.
Kitty's Stone, pictured above, is situated at the top of Bickerton Hill - a memorial to Leslie Wheeldon's wife Kitty. I think the poems on adjacent sides of the stone would appeal to our good friend Andrew.
The Welsh hills are visible from here. But not today!
Mad Allen's Hole is marked nearby on the map. I didn't spot that - it's apparently a two storey cave that was inhabited in the 17th century by a heartbroken hermit. Nearby, several skulls have been carved into the soft sandstone.
Continuing on to Maiden Castle, the site of a 2000 year old Iron Age fort, I spotted one of several tree trunk seats that I'd expected to see earlier. I enjoyed a break at one of these before heading up a well marked footpath onto Bickerton Hill.
Kitty's Stone, pictured above, is situated at the top of Bickerton Hill - a memorial to Leslie Wheeldon's wife Kitty. I think the poems on adjacent sides of the stone would appeal to our good friend Andrew.
The Welsh hills are visible from here. But not today!
Mad Allen's Hole is marked nearby on the map. I didn't spot that - it's apparently a two storey cave that was inhabited in the 17th century by a heartbroken hermit. Nearby, several skulls have been carved into the soft sandstone.
After another minor error ("keep to the crest") I found my way down to a National Trust path that doubled back, following the base of the escarpment at a lower level.
I was concerned to find cattle in a field of mud, with no obvious grass to be seen, and was relieved to come across a feeding station - there's lots of hay behind these curious animals.
A short stroll down Reading Room Lane brought me back to the start of the walk, by Brown Knowl's 'phone box.
All that remained was for me to finish off the contents of my flask and enjoy the company of some friendly goats.
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