A short but satisfying walk featuring good views, quiet lanes and tracks, and sunlight-dappled woodland.
(D/A) From the entrance to the Pheasant Inn, with the pub behind you, turn right and walk down the no-through road (Barracks Lane). After a series of white-painted cottages on the right, go through a gate beyond which the lane becomes a track.
(1) At the top of a rise, where the track emerges from a hollow way, take the path on the right (with a Sandstone Trail signpost to Bulkeley Hill). Follow the path, stepped at times, uphill through woodland to a bench and kissing gate at the brow of the hill. Go through the kissing gate ahead of you (leaving the Sandstone Trail) into cleared and replanted woodland. Follow the path until you emerge onto a track (Hill Lane).
(2) Turn left. When the track widens, take a track on the right. Shortly afterwards, just before a gate, turn right onto a signposted footpath. Follow the path through brackeny woodland, skirting to the left of the open pasture when you reach it, until you drop over a stone wall into a crossing path. Turn right through a wooden kissing gate and into a field. Continue along the right-hand edge of the field until you reach Hill Lane again.
(3) Turn left (signposted Pheasant Inn and Beeston). Walk downhill, ignoring two turnings to the right. At the crossroads at the end of Rock Lane, turn right to return to the Pheasant Inn. (D/A)
Waypoints :
D/A : km 0 - alt. 133m - Pheasant Inn
1 : km 0.81 - alt. 143m - Sandstone Trail
2 : km 1.37 - alt. 178m - Hill Lane
3 : km 2.53 - alt. 171m - Hill Lane
D/A : km 3.11 - alt. 132m - Pheasant Inn
No major difficulties, but one steep climb and some sections may be muddy after rain.
Visorando and this author cannot be held responsible in the case of accidents or problems occuring on this walk.
Beeston Castle was built in the 1220s by Ranulf, Earl of Chester, on a rocky sandstone crag 250m above the surrounding Cheshire Plain. It’s well, over 100m deep, is one of the deepest in any English castle and is said to contain treasure hidden by Richard II.
Peckforton Castle is a mansion built in the style of a medieval castle by John Tollemache, a local landowner and MP, between 1844 and 1850. It is now used as a hotel and wedding venue.
Peckforton Mere is passed on a footpath from the gatehouse to Peckforton Castle.
A fine scenic walk with views of two castles, one an authentic medieval fortification, the other a Victorian country house now used for weddings and conferences. Much of the walk is wooded. The walk can be extended to include the climb up to Beeston Castle (English Heritage: admission charge).
Enjoyable farmland and woodland walking with superb views over the Peckforton Hills and the surrounding Cheshire Plain.
A steady climb through heath and woodland to the Sandstone Trail and Maiden Castle, an Iron Age hillfort.
An extended walk along the Sandstone Trail, giving fine views and including highlights of the mid-Cheshire ridge.
Fairly level, with several stiles. Two busy road crossings; may be muddy in places after rain.
Field paths and canalside walking with views of Beeston Castle. May be muddy in places after rain. Multiple stiles.
Field and golf-course walking to a pretty village. May be muddy in places; several stiles.
Gentle green lanes to an attractive area of lowland heath and woodland designated an SSSI.
For more walks, use our search engine.
The GPS track and description are the property of the author.