While the north is famed as a rich-person’s crash-pad, southern Cheshire has a beautifully rural heart, where the walker can find much to fall in love with. That said, you’re never too far away from civilisation, be it the market town of Macclesfield, Chester or even Manchester. Most of this county’s attractions lie in the south and east, where – respectively – the rolling sandstone of the mid-Cheshire ridge is at its most interesting, and the western spill of the Peak District creeps over the border. In central Cheshire, attractions are manifold, with the Crusade-era Beeston Castle commanding a view over the Cheshire Plain from its sandstone promontory. This forms a part of the Sandstone Trail, a superb cross-county walk from Frodsham to Whitchurch, which takes in some quintessentially Cheshire scenery on its 30 mile North-south meander along the Ridge. The countyt has more canals than any other, and has many small villages are squirreled away which offer engaging country walks, especially near the villages of Burwardsley and Tattenhall. Further north, Delamere Forest is a paradise for mountain bikers and walkers who prefer to remain under cover. And if you’re after something a little different, small hills such as Frodsham offer strangely beautiful views of the huge, fairy-lit refineries along the Mersey. Climb at night for the full effect!
