Keith Carter explores the Peckforton Hills on a route around Higher Burwardsley
Higher Burwardsley shelters on the west side of the Peckforton Hills in south west Cheshire and is known to walkers as a conjunction of two trails, the Sandstone Trail and the Eddisbury Way.
The Sandstone Trail is the finest longer walk in the county and an absolute must for anyone interested in the art of pedestrianism. It runs north to south from Frodsham to Whitchurch in Shropshire, a distance of 34 miles that can be covered quite easily in three days. Having walked it with three companions a couple of years ago I can vouch for it.
As for Eddisbury Way, this is shorter at about 16 miles and links Frodsham with Higher Burwardsley, but I haven’t walked it, although it’s on my list. I like these trails which often follow well established routes across the landscape, many of them following the ways used by drovers bringing cattle to market.
On reaching the village of Burwardsley, take the left fork by the village hall and follow the lane up hill to a junction beyond which cars are discouraged from going, in fact a sign advises you not to rely on Satnav beyond here and the best thing is to park just before the junction. There is space at the kerbside.
Having parked, walk on the lane to the right and take the first left on Rock Lane where a sign points the way to the Sandstone Trail. Rock Lane rises and bends and at the next T-junction, where two neat sandstone-built cottages stand, the first of the trail signs is seen.
The smaller cottage has the curious name Elephant Track Burwardsley but we find no clue as to how it got the name. You are unlikely to go wrong here thanks to the timber fingerpost pointing the way left to Beeston Castle. The Sandstone Trail is well way marked throughout its length and credit is due to Cheshire County Council for seeing that it is well managed.
In 100 yards a second sign appears, followed by two gates leading to a grassy path bordered by an old sandstone wall. At a third gate we enter woodland and soon find ourselves descending on a well-made path that drops down to meet a rough track where we go right.
At a junction of paths, signs inform us that we are in the Peckforton Estate. The conifers hereabouts were first planted in 1922 and the area is a site of Special Scientific Interest. Keep ahead and we soon come to a metal gate leading to a lane opposite a double garage. Turn right here and walk along the lane past Moat House Farm, a lovely half-timbered Cheshire farm house with converted outbuildings.
Beyond these the Sandstone Trail leaves us and heads for Beeston Castle whose battlements we can see atop an isolated pyramid-shaped outcrop.
Stay on the lane which leads to a T-junction with a busier road called Stone House Lane where we turn left, cross the road and walk on the pavement for 200 yards until we see a stile and fingerpost in the right hand hedge. Cross this stile into a field and follow the left-hand boundary to where a second stile stands beside a lone oak tree and then a third one which leads us into Willis’s Wood.
The path through the wood is not obvious but by keeping parallel with the left-hand fence you should manage to find a fourth stile, one with two directional arrows on it, neither of which is ours. Instead, don’t cross the stile but turn right and follow a much clearer path through the trees to where a rather decrepit gate leads us into a field.
Our way forward is actually across this field but it is likely to have growing crops in it and we are best to skirt the edge of it where the cultivated land and an uncultivated area meet. The uncultivated area is probably too wet due to the fact that it borders Peckforton Mere.
Make for a small wood ahead and when you reach it keep round to the right of it, still on the field edge, to reach a concealed stile that leads onto Stone House Lane again nearly opposite the gatehouse to Peckforton Castle. The castle is Victorian and has been converted into a hotel and conference centre. Built by the same architect as built Windsor Castle and the Tower of London (hang on, I thought Julius Caesar built that!) Anthony Salvin, it was the brainchild of the First Baron Tollemache between 1842 and 1851.
The name Tollemache has some resonance for me since when I was growing up in Essex (where is that land of lost content, I see it shining plain) my father drank beer from the Tollemache Brewery and at an age he judged suitable, I was introduced to it too. ‘It’s an acquired taste,’ he assured me when I pulled a face. Fortunately it’s a taste I have now acquired as my waistline can demonstrate.
Turn left on emerging onto Stone House Lane and walk along the verge for about 600 yards until you spot a stile in the right-hand hedge with steps leading up to it. Once over this stile we go through a galvanized metal gate into a field. In this case the field can be crossed diagonally, the path clearly defined by the passage of numerous walking boots.
On the far side we cross a stile and follow a grassy path uphill to a second stile leading into woodland. A narrow path leads through bushes to a track where we turn left and then the next right onto a track with a locked barrier across it. This is laid with old setts or cobbles and would be worth a fortune if an architectural antiques firm got their hands on them.
This must be an ancient thoroughfare which has carried the iron-shod hooves of horses and feet of men for centuries. Pass under an ornamental bridge and cross an area of cleared forestry and once through a gate we join a metalled lane that brings us downhill to reach our starting point.
A sortie into the Pheasant Inn should not be spurned. Walkers are welcome, along with the owners of the top of the range cars parked in the car park. The view from the terrace over the Cheshire Plain is superb and they have installed a telescope to help you pick out the Anglican cathedral in Liverpool 25 miles away. I must come back to recce the Eddisbury Way, any excuse to revisit this enchanting area.
Compass points
Area of walk: Higher Burwardsley and the Peckforton Hills.
Map: OS Explorer 257 Crewe and Nantwich
Distance: 4.2 miles
Time to allow: Two hours
Refreshments and toilets: Pheasant Inn, 01829 770434
Further reading: Walking Cheshire's Sandstone Trail by Tony Bowerman,Northern Eye Books 2008.
