Some Photographs taken on the November Walk

B Party on Raw Head, the highest point.

354 November Walks from Burwardsley

Our next walking will be on

Saturday 8th November

and will be from 

Burwardsley, Cheshire

the home of the Candle Factory

 

Albert leading the way along the Sandstone Trail

Cheshires sandstone edge strikes down the heart of the county like a clenched fist. Great knuckles of rock and steep, wooded slopes rise steeply from the lush pastures of the Cheshire Plain. Here you follow a glorious section of the Sandstone trail, passing the ramparts of Iron Age Maidon Castle. This hillfort crowns Larkton Hill. Raw Head is the highest point and gives vast views that take in part of Wales and seven English counties.
  
Burwardsley is a small village known for the Candle Factory which has been operating there for some 50 years. It is alsoclose to the Sandstone Trail as it passes over the sandstone hills of Peckforton and Bickerton, raising us over the Cheshire plains and hopefully giving us drier walking for this time of year.

Beeston Castle and Bunbury are nearby and the Cheshire Workshops provide interest and refreshments for after our walks.

We will be in 'winter time' which means it could be getting dark by 4pm and the cafe in the Workshops could close a bit earlier.

There will be three walks;

• A Walk led by; Stuart Smith
• B Walk led by; Clair McNabb
• C Walk led by; Joan and Shirley

 

Beeston Castle

A Walk from Burwardsley 2014

Walk Leader: Stuart Smith
Total Distance: 10+ miles app
Total ascent/descent: 1660/1300 ft

A route starting at Tatternhall

The bus will drop us off at Tattenhall. We will head South east towards Harthill mostly through fields. The route takes us easterly towards Bulkeley hill, picking up the Sandstone Trail north along side the Peckforton Hills. Towards the end of the hills there is the stunning Peckforton Castle which is actually a country house built in the style of a medieval castle now used as a luxury hotel. We head North East towards Beeston Castle which is huge and well preserved standing 350 feet above the Cheshire plains. The castle dates from 1226 and forms a good backdrop for the lunch stop. After lunch we head south easterly towards Beeston. Then westerly crossing the Peckforton hills with good views. After crossing the hills and clearing the wooded area we head southerly towards Burwardsley stopping off at the Pheasant pub which it's self is lovely with great views. The total assent is 507 metres decent is 396 and the total distance is 10.23 miles. For an A walk it is relatively easy suitable for all A walkers.

B Walk from Burwardsley 2014

Walk Leader: Clair McNabb
Total Distance:  6 miles app
Total ascent/descent: 1020ft

B Route clockwise

Leaving the Cheshire Workshop the route takes us along country lanes and through fields to join the Sandstone trail. Looking back, the edifices of Beeston and Pickforton castles may be seen. In fact the whole walk provides a succession of superb views across Cheshire for relatively little effort as most of the climbing is steady rather than strenuous.  

view from Bickerton Hill

C Party Walk from Burwardsley 2014

Walk Leader: Joan and Shirley
Total Distance: 6 miles (ish)
Total ascent/descent: 900 ft

Raw Head Summit: 746 ft.

We start our morning with coffee at the candle factory, though we may have to wait for them to open if we arrive early.  This is an undulating walk with some short inclines punctuated with level stretches through wonderful woods and panoramic views of the Cheshire Plain.  The last part of the walk is on a quiet road which unfortunately is uphill, but there is no other way back to the candle factory and our cup of tea.

Photo's taken on Walks at Burwardsley

Albert leads the way to the top

Ruth looks back to check John

B Party stop for an early drink.

C party stepping out in the country lanes

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Get your own

Our May Walk to Burwardsley

Our next walk will be to the Cheshire village of Burwardsley and the Sandstone Trail and will be on;

Saturday May 9th 2009
The coach will leave the car park at the back of Iceland at 8.00am

Burwardsley is actually mentioned in the Doomesday book as having a population of 9 and many of it's fields have Norman names dating from that time. It is thought that the people settled there because it was a natural clearing in the forest and there was plenty of water from wells and springs. During the 19th Centuray many of its cottagers were involved in glove making at home and there were no fewer than five shoemakers.


Click on any picture to view an enlarged version.

from Raw Head, pause to look back over the
beautiful sandstone countryside to Harthill.

Weather Forecast for area

Three Walks from Burwardsley

A' Walk
Leader: Jenny Matthias
Distance:10 Miles

This is really a B+ walk but it is like an A walk in that there are no toilets en route! It is challenging in the length and number of stiles to be climbed, so many we lost count.

We leave the car park and head for the Eddisbury Way traveling along it for about two miles where we go under the railway and join Bishop Bennet way. This ends at a road we must walk along a short distance to find a foot path that will take us to The Sandstone Trail. Walking in the woods at the edge of Penkforton Estate we eventually climb Bulkeley Hill. If the weather is fine we may see Liverpool as well as the Cheshire Plain. We will leave the Sandstone Trail for a footpath which will bring us to Sarra Lane then back to the Candle Workshops along a road once more.

B Walk
Leader: Keith Scott
Distance:8.5 miles
Total Ascent/descent: 1570 ft

Cheshires sandstone edge strikes down the heart of the county like a clenched fist. Great knuckles of rock and steep, wooded slopes rise steeply from the lush pastures of the Cheshire Plain. Here you follow a glorious section of the Sandstone trail, passing the ramparts of Iron Age Maidon Castle. This hillfort crowns Larkton Hill. Raw Head is the highest point and gives vast views that take in part of Wales and seven English counties.

Starting from the Candle Workshop car park, the walk includes wooded slopes and rocky outcrops giving excellent views across the Cheshire Plain. This walk is a gentle undulating walk as it meanders through tiny villages and along the most spectacular stretch of the Sandstone Trail and although the highest point at Raw Head (see picture below) is only 746 ft, giving vast views of parts of Wales and seven English counties on a fine day, the ups and downs will give us that 'B Walk' type of ascent and prepare us to enjoy the refreshments at the end.

Some sections of the walk are on public roads,but only for short distances. There are not many sections where mud s a problem.

B Walk route (anti clockwise)

Admiring the views over the Cheshire plains

John views the memorial plaques on the trail

John at Raw Head, the highest point on the undulating walk.

C Walk
Leader: Rod Sellers
Distance: 6 Miles
Ascent: 300Ft

This walk takes us over farmland to Peckforton Gap, thence onto the wooded slopes of Bulkeley Hill. Here are dramatic views of the flatland at the foot of the escarpment. The path drops, leaves the woods and crosses fields until it climbs again to Raw Head, where we lunch at the highest point of the trail.
We return downhill, through a pine plantation, over fields and back along the road to Burwardsley and afternoon refreshments.