Wednesday 30 April 2025 - 'Little Switzerland'

Andy kindly gave me and Sue a lift to Willington, where we planned to do an extended version of Tony Bowerman's 5km route - number 5 in his 'Walks in Mysterious Cheshire and Wirral' book.

We started from 'coffee on a bench' at a small but adequate car park at Willington Corner (SJ 534 667), on a glorious summer's day.

As we walked up Chapel Lane we passed bouquets of Bluebells, and the four petalled flowers of Greater Celandine, its Lesser Celandine cousin having seeded in most places.

Until WW1 this area was known as 'Little Switzerland', following access by train to nearby Mouldsworth from around the 1840s, allowing visiting townsfolk to stay in local cottages and explore the nearby hills. Today we got to the top of Chapel Lane and turned left into Gooseberry Lane, where the views open out and the old cottages of 'Little Switzerland' have been tastefully extended. Long gone are the days when owners of the original cottages cleared out bedrooms to offer B&B to visitors.

It was hot and hazy, with the nearby Bickerton and Peckforton hills partially obscured by the haze. 

Nevertheless, lovely views over the Cheshire Plain were a reminder of what the visitors from smoky cities would have enjoyed in the Victorian / pre WW1 period.

 

A delightful path led high above Boothsdale towards Castle Hill.

A view from the head of Boothsdale

I love this time of year, when the emerging foliage seems to be a myriad shades of green before subsiding into uniformity as the summer progresses.

At the head of the dale the path rises up some steps and emerges into open pasture and an information board about 'Kelsborrow Castle', an Iron Age fort.

The site is described at length in Tony's book, and there is also a Wikipedia entry for this home of the peace loving people of the Cornovii tribe, who were easily subdued by the Romans.

Our path continued through a field being used for environmental reseeding tests. 

After a while, Quarry Bank Lane was reached by a small pond, a larger pond being hidden by the hedge across the lane. A short walk up the hill brought us to the King's Gate car park, offering access to Primrosehill Wood and the Sandstone Trail.

At the bottom of a slope the well signposted Sandstone Trail proper is joined, near where the next picture was taken.

A left turn from the dip in that last picture is signposted to Urchin's Kitchen, which is a sandstone gorge overhung by Scots pines. It's one of a number of glacial drainage channels in the area, and according to Tony its curious name may derive from an old country name for hedgehogs, who may enjoy hibernating amidst the drifts of autumn leaves.

Urchin's Kitchen

Scots pines overhanging Urchin's Kitchen

A hibernating human?

Returning from Urchin's Kitchen, we left the main track, crossing over it to ascend along the Sandstone Trail. The path soon turns left at a fence then rises to a point where another signed path is taken, through a kissing gate beyond Peak & Northern Public Footpath sign number 335, which also houses a memorial to Jim Morris, Secretary of Cheshire Tally-Ho Running Club 1985 to 1995 'A gifted sportsman and keen walker'.

Nice paths lead from here beside a couple of fields to Summertrees, where old guide books, and my memory, hold tributes to an excellent tearoom and garden. Sadly the owners have moved on and the property has reverted to being a private house.

Here, Tony's route turns right along Tirley Lane and returns to Willington Corner on quiet tarmac.

Our extension of Tony's route crossed Tirley Lane and headed along a delightful path through Willington Woods to a tarmac lane where a chap was returning his elderly horse called Beau to a field We didn't see anyone else until near the end of our walk.

Greater Stitchwort in Willington Wood

A pleasant path led from Home Farm to Well Lane. Easy in today's dry conditions, but there was a grassy field that could get boggy in winter.

Oak trees and Horse Chestnuts were coming into leaf and providing a lovely canopy. Buzzards glided on thermals above us.

We passed Fir Tree Farm and took a field path to a footbridge.

After the footbridge a surprisingly lovely path led to and around a golf course where we found a great spot on a bridge parapet for lunch. Just a small golf course bridge over a little stream/drainage channel.

Red horse-Chestnut

After leaving the golf course, good paths led towards The Commons, and on past Green Lane Farm to Boothsdale.

Leaving the golf course

Pretty thatched houses looked like very desirable properties.

We soon reached The Boot Inn, outside which we had reckoned on enjoying a beverage near the end of our walk. A sign welcomed those using the car park, but a larger sign stated 'WALKERS - BOOKING ESSENTIAL'. 

So we strolled on up the lovely, enclosed by trees, Gooseberry Lane, then back down Chapel Lane to the car. We'd walked 12km, with about 200 metres ascent, taking a leisurely 3 hours plus stops.

Luckily Andy had some nicely chilled beer in the car, so we didn't miss out on being rejected by the local pub.

I'm still no good at selfies...

Friday 28 March 2025 - Hockenhull Platts

We were booked into the Wildlife Photography exhibition at Chester Zoo at 17:40, so it was worth leaving home after lunch and ticking off one of Tony Bowerman's 'Walks in Mysterious Cheshire'. Tony had asked me to review the routes in this book, but nothing has come of what I've sent him, so I assume I'm not needed. Perhaps my editing suggestions were a little harsh.

Anyway we chose Walk Number 3, and whilst Tony's description has mostly stood the test of time, there are a couple of major flaws in his 1990 descriptions. I'll come to them, but I'll say now that the 14km route I followed with Sue and Paul on 27 September 2019 is superior to the one we went on today.

We parked opposite the church in Tarvin, where there is plenty of on street parking. Eschewing the attractions of  the George and Dragon, we soon reached Hockenhull Lane, and the main A51 road was safely negotiated. We had joined the route of a long-distance path known as the Baker Way.

We soon reached a junction with a rough track coming from the east.

This was Platts Lane, which narrowed after we turned right along the lane. The next picture looks back along this ancient way that is shown in Ogilby's 1675 Britannia Roadbook. That shows the route and the location of a nearby hangman's gibbet. There's evidence that Platt Lane was an ancient route, even in 1675.

The Platts Lane path descends to the River Gowy. This area used to be marshland but the land has been drained and the river is contained within high banks. The days of otters in this neighbourhood are long gone.

A sandstone edged causeway carries the track over boggy surroundings. This is the area known as Hockenhull Platts. Three packhorse bridges lead across it. The bridges probably originated in the 14th century but the current bridges are likely to be 18th century replacements.

Each bridge is less than 4 feet wide, so they were not suitable for wheeled traffic. This is clearly an area of great historic interest, not least as a haunt of highwaymen.

Tony Bowerman's book provides much more information about this area and the 'Roman' bridges.

After crossing the three bridges the path led up to a tarmac lane. Here, Tony's route goes right over a stile and along a permissive footpath created under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme. Today the remains of the stile are wound with barbed wire, and there is no sign of the footpath. We chose therefore to continue ahead, as far as Cotton Lane, down which we turned right towards Cotton Hall.

Shortly after Cotton Hall we regained Tony's route description. A signed path pointed across a field in which crop spraying was taking place. We avoided any confrontation and stuck to the route of the path indicated by both sign and map (but not on the ground), eventually reaching a small footbridge.

Here, Tony's route would take us through the farmyard at Stamford Mill, but we were drawn instead to a footpath sign on a more substantial metal footbridge, the steps of which offered a good site for a tea break. After this we stayed on the right of the river and made our way past the mill, where the water flows down to the pond pictured below.

The route described by Tony from the mill to the main A51 road is clear, and we followed that. The alternative would be to continue along Cotton Lane and turn right along the A51. The reason an alternative may be needed is the condition of two footbridges that cross deep ditches that can't be avoided. The 'footbridges' now comprise two sets of narrow iron girders. I've come across similar river crossings on the TGO Challenge. Sue and I crossed them with relative ease, but they aren't for everyone!

Some new looking concrete steps led up to the A51. Once we had crossed that and made our way to the Stamford Bridge Inn, our route back to Tarvin was exactly as described by Tony.

First we walked along Lansdowne Road along a loop of the old Manchester-Chester main road. Then when the houses ran out we turned left for a kilometre or so along the route of one of the many Roman roads hereabouts.

Then we turned right onto what Tony describes as 'the old footpath used for centuries by local people taking the shortest walking route between Great Barrow and Tarvin'.

After that, paths along hedges beside a couple of fields took us back to the tarmac of Tarvin.

Tarvin looked to be a nice village with the path to the church lined by daffodils, sparkling in the afternoon sunshine..

Here's our route - about 9km, with very little ascent, taking a couple of hours.

Then we went to the Wildlife Photography exhibition at Chester Zoo, which was excellent.