2 February 2022 - Around Tarporley

Here are a few pictures taken on a cloudy day. I walked Jen Darling's 'Tarporley' route in her 'West Cheshire' book for the purpose of bringing the route description up to date for her.

I parked behind the Rising Sun and wandered down the High Street as far as the Baptist chapel, pictured above.

Next to St Helen's church, the manor house, built sideways to the road, dates from 1586 and is said to be the smallest manor house in the country.

The route took me down a path beside St Helen's church.

Soon the Sandstone Trail was joined, with good views towards Beeston Castle. (And a narrow muddy path confined by an electric fence.)

A muddy descent led to Wharton's Lock, an excellent spot for elevenses.

The firm surface of the towpath was short lived, as I left it at the next bridge - Bate's Mill Bridge - where I turned off past the Shady Oak pub.

Soon I was back on the Sandstone Trail. Not much sandstone in evidence, but lots of glutinous mud!

After numerous fields of mud, a signpost to Tarporley that led me around the less muddy perimeter of a huge field, to paths that dumped me straight into the car park I'd chosen.

Looking back towards Beeston Castle over a sea of Sandstone Trail mud

Here's the 10 km route. It took me a muddy three hours, but I did make one or two wrong turns, and 'editing' took a bit of time. All good fun!