Helsby Hill

(S/E) From the front entrance, turn left and walk down the A56 towards Helsby. Ignore Primrose Lane on the right, keeping along the main road for a further ¼-mile to the next junction. Turn right and follow Robin Hood Lane uphill for ¼ mile, crossing a disused railway before reaching a junction with The Rock. Bear left along Robin Hood Lane, passing Newfield Terrace, Marlborough Drive and Windsor Drive on your left.

(1) Just before the footway ends, turn right up Robin Hood Lane, also signposted to Helsby Quarry and Sandy Lane. Bear right
to a gate and then left through the short sandstone tunnel into Helsby Quarry. Shortly after the tunnel, go up some steps on your right, and head straight on through an open area on the quarry floor to reach a fenced-off rock face. Bear left and follow the obvious path to the car park.

(2) Exit to the road, turn left and then right into Hill Road South. At the end of the road proceed past two gateways into woodland and continue on the obvious path uphill. Keep left at the junction with the path to Harmer’s Pond to emerge into the open country before reaching the trig point on Helsby Hill. Having admired the views and the impressive sandstone crags, bear right, directly away from the edge, to join a sandy descending path alongside a field.

(3) At a T-junction of paths turn left past Harmer’s Pond, and beyond the gate bear right along the lane. Shortly, take a left turn into Harmer’s Wood. At a fork after 100 yards or so bear right, heading downhill and passing to the left of a fenced and overgrown quarry to re-emerge on the lane at a layby with a picnic table (there are several paths within the wood; if in doubt, bear right and downhill and you are sure to emerge on the lane).

(4) From the layby, turn left and then leave the lane on the right through a metal gate with a Longster Trail waymark. Pass two wooden kissing gates then follow the left-hand edge of the next field to a third. Follow the obvious path beyond, bearing right at a further Longster Trail waymark to a road.

(5) Turn left (downhill) and pass the delimit signs, then join a footpath through a kissing gate on the right just before a road junction. Follow the field edge then turn right through a kissing gate and over a footbridge, then bear left and continue in a similar direction with the field edge now on your left.

(6) On reaching a narrow lane, turn right (uphill). Beyond a property on the right, turn right over a stile and follow a footpath along the hedge to a wooden footbridge. Turn left along the field edge and then bear right to a kissing gate above some steps. Follow the uphill path beyond, before crossing the field to another road. Turn left then right through a metal kissing gate, still following the Longster Trail waymarks. Pass discreetly in front of the thatched Commonside Farmhouse and keep left of a horse-riding menage to a stile, then skirt a further paddock to a second. Follow the fence to a projecting corner, then keep straight on across the field to a kissing gate. In the next field aim just to the right of an isolated tree and continue to a stile, with Alvanley Hall away to your left. Cross a couple more fields to reach another road.

(7) Cross over and turn left along the pavement, then turn right beyond a postbox into a farm drive; keep along the hedged track beyond a gate, bearing right as you reach open fields. When the track bears right again, turn left and leave it to pass an electricity pylon. Follow the field edge with views to your right, then bear right at the end of the field to a waymark and pass through a belt of trees. Bear left and drop down a scrubby bank to a double stile and footbridge. Climb the hill opposite to an obvious stile into a farm track; cross straight over and follow the fence to another stile and track. This time turn right and follow the track as it skirts to the right of a farm. Beyond an area of hard standing, bear right along the bottom of the wood, then pass between two posts and along a hedged path. Cross a perpendicular track to a gate into a damp corner of a field. Aim slightly away from the right-hand field edge and at the far side of the field drop down to a concealed footbridge. Bear right up the far bank to a stile by a barn and turn left and right through the farmyard. Follow the farm drive out to the road.

(8) If the path opposite is under crops it may be prudent to follow the road left, turning right at a junction and rejoining the printed route beyond the golf course at step. However, if all is well straight ahead, cross the field to the left of a pylon to a footbridge. Cross the next field, keeping to the right of a clump of trees concealing the remains of a pond, then bear left to find an old bridge over the disused railway. In the golf course beyond, pass a pond on your left then bear right, keeping to the right of a line of old trees, to reach the road near the club car park.

(9) Turn right. Follow Towers Lane to its junction with Primrose Lane, where you turn left. At the main road, cross carefully then turn left to return to the Hornsmill.(S/E)

Several steep climbs; beware sheer cliffs if venturing off the path on Helsby Hill. Some paths may be overgrown or muddy depending on the season. Some road walking at the start and end.