Category Archives: Seasonal weather

Half timbered magnificence – Little Moreton Hall near Congleton

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The Close oblique view from the Newcastle-Congleton road of the absurd half-timbered structure, crowned by an  unbroken length of gallery window like some fantastic elongated Chinese lantern, and toppling, if not positively  bending over the tranquil water of a moat, the whole an ancient pack of cards about to meet from the first puff of the wind its own reflection, is something which once seen can never be forgotten.
James Lees-Milne, “People and Places,” 1992

 

The half-timbered moated Little Moreton Hall shows to particular advantage against a blue sky, and with spring daffodils and violets dotted around its gardens, and a neatly clipped knot garden, it was looking particularly fresh and sparkling on Wednesday last week.  It seems more than a little miraculous that it is still standing, as parts of it tilt away from other parts, and there are bends and kinks where no building should have them.  But at the same time it is so beautifully cared for that it looks pristine, as though it was designed to be like that.  As the guide book says, it looks as though it is defying gravity.  The impression is misleading and it has taken many different phases of restoration work to keep the building in once, secure piece.

The visit to the house is self-guided and is split between the ground floor, entered on one side of the courtyard, and the first floor,  via the staircase opposite.  The house is entered via the bridge across the moat, which leads through the first set of buildings into the courtyard.  The courtyard itself is a multi-textured vista of architectural features, carvings, mouldings, decorative shapes and tiny panes of window glass known as quarries, all forming different, mind-bending geometric patterns.  There is so much to take in that it is difficult to know where to start looking.

The Tudor reigns produced a wide variety of architectural styles, and the half-timbered manor house was a particular feature of this part of the world, with good examples still remaining at, for example, Speke Hall in Liverpool, Pitchford Hall in Shropshire and the smaller Churche’s Mansion in Nantwich.  Today the oak timbers are usually painted black, but this was not how they would have appeared in the Tudor period, when the oak would have been allowed to fade to a silvery colour.  It was a Victorian idea that the timbers should be preserved that led to them being painted black.

The house was built and owned by the Moreton family who passed it down through generations until it was handed over to the National Trust in 1938.  The Moretons were not landed aristocrats, and seem to have been both farmers and property speculators, buying land when it became available (most notably after the Black Death of 1348 and the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII in the mid 1500s), accumulating some 1360 acres (550 hectares) by the mid-6th century, most of which they rented out.

The prosperity of the Moretons was reflected in many additions to the house as a much-valued status symbol.  Joan Beck in Tudor Cheshire comments that contemporary writers “wrote almost exclusively about the gentry and the farmers, for, with due respect to the nobility, these were the folk who mattered and who were responsible for all the improvements.  There was a remarkable amount of new building and, where houses remain, the style of architecture and the size corroborate the story of wealth spent in this tangible way.  This was an age of materialism.”   This prosperity lasted until they declared in favour of the Royalists during the Civil War in 1642, after which the house was no longer expanded and began to deteriorate.  Sadly there are only a few surviving records of the Moretons and their activities, most of them legal.

The Great Hall

Four members of the Moreton family were responsible for the establishment and development of the Hall from the early 16th century until the mid 17th century.  William Moreton I (d.1526) had married into the prominent local Brereton family, and it was he who began to build the house.  It was made up of timber frames that were pegged together.  Thin sections of wood linking the panels, which were plastered and whitewashed, and brick fireplaces and internal staircases helped to give the whole structure stability.

William Moreton II (c.1510-63) was responsible for the north-west wing, the porch and, later, adding a first floor and the twin bay niches in the courtyard.

John Moreton (c.1541-98 followed, and it was he who created the delightful paintings in the ground floor parlour and the chapel (with the text in English rather than liturgical Latin, a significant sign of the religious times).

The painted parlour

The painted parlour

The greyhound was part of the heraldry of the Moreton family

The greyhound was part of the heraldry of the Moreton family

William Moreton III’s (1574-1654) contributions were more prosaic, adding the brew and bake houses.  He seems to have lavished most of his income on members of his extended family.  He was arrested during the Civil War and although he was released, his estate was confiscated in 1643 to be used as occasional billeting for the Parliamentarian soldiers and horses.  With their finances in tatters and their home deteriorating, the house remained in the family, but they no longer lived there and chose instead to rent out it out.  In  the 18th and 19th centuries the house became an object of curiosity, visited like so many other distinctive and ruinous buildings by artists looking for romantic subjects.

The best way to understand each of the rooms in the house is to to buy a guide book. The current version is excellent, and provides much of the information in this post, but the previous edition by a different author is also very good as well.  However, there is one room that should be highlighted – the Long Gallery.

An inventory of 1601 suggests that it was build before that date.  A casual glance at it from the outside shows that it has a dog-leg part way along, implying that it has slumped.  The problems lie in the way in which it was built contrary to the convention of placing an upper room directly over the frame of the room below, ensuring that the existing structure provided the new level with as much support as possible.  The gallery, however, is much narrower than the room beneath, perhaps to give provide a greater impression of length.  The result is that it has no direct support and is additionally weighed down by the stone slabs that cover the roof.  Repairs began almost as soon as it was built.  In the 1890s iron tie-rods were added and in the late 1970s and 1990s steel was used to improve the structural stability.  It is a glorious feature, with panelling, decorative woodwork in the ceiling, cross beams and banks of windows with tiny quarries.  At each end is a painted plasterwork frieze showing excerpts from The Castle of Knowledge.

In the parlour off the Long Gallery is a striking and elaborate stone fireplace overmantel.  Appearances are deceptive here.  The fireplace is level, but the rest of the room is askew!  It shows Justice and Prudence, popular 17th century Protestant themes, flanking the central panel, which would have been brightly painted (much like Plas Mawr in Conwy today).  The coat of arms celebrates the marriage in 1329 of John de Morteon to Margaret, an heiress and daughter of John de Macclesfield.  The leaded quarries in here are particularly pretty, and there is one that contains a piece of 1642 graffiti.

The fireplace in the Great Parlour, showing the coat of arms of Elizabeth I

The fireplace in the Great Parlour, showing the coat of arms of Elizabeth I

The home farm was established at the same time as the house, just across the moat in a neighbouring field, complete with the surviving cruick barn, as well as structures that are now lost, including stables and a dovecot.  At the rear of the house the knot garden, based on a 17th century design and planted in 1972, is flanked by a gorgeous yew tunnel.  To the side of the house, tables and chairs provide a lovely location for café users (excellent coffee and a fab bacon bap).   A walkway follows the line of the towpath from one side of the bridge to the other.  The plants in the garden have been chosen to reflect Tudor choices – many of them not only ornamental but useful too.  I had never heard of skirret (a white fleshy root vegetable like parsnips, a favourite of Henry VIII.  I had also never come across tussey musseys – posies of flowers and herbs carried as protection against disease.  Wild strawberries were not merely delicious but were used to treat cuts and bruises.

There is a viewing platform beyond the moat, which provides a slightly elevated view (the photograph at  the very top of the post).  A shop sells National Trust products and has shelves full of second hand books (with proceeds going to charity).  This is a National Trust property, with plenty of parking.  Visitor details are on their website.

With many thanks to Helen for the great company on a day that was both satisfyingly cultural and, over coffee and a bacon bap, profoundly lazy 🙂

 

Little Moreton Hall by George Theaker, c.1886

Little Moreton Hall by George Theaker, c.1886

 

Sources:

Beck, Joan 1969. Tudor Cheshire. Volume Seven of a History of Cheshire.  Cheshire Community Council.

Stubbs, Susie 2015. Little Moreton Hall. The National Trust

Rowell, Christopher, revised by Jeremy Lake 1984. Little Moreton Hall. The National Trust

Hillforts and amazing views, and why is there an Egyptian temple on the top of Moel Famau?

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The Jubilee Tower

The Jubilee Tower

It was something of a surprise when I walked up to the top of Moel Famau during the week and found myself face to face with a building that was clearly based on an ancient Egyptian temple, the Grade II listed Jubilee Tower.  People talk about the views, the hillforts, the heather, the bilberries and the bird life, but no-one had mentioned that there was a rather unexpected slice of Egyptomania on the peak.  One would certainly, thankfully, not be permitted to build on a national beauty spot these days, but I suppose that it could be a lot worse, like the hideous, overpriced café on Snowdon.  The Jubilee Tower is not elegant, it is not authentic, and it is anything but pretty, but it did make me smile, and other walkers were clearly enjoying it too.  Heritage comes in various forms, some of them most unexpected.  The Egyptian Revival produced some splendid buildings and monuments, and although this one is not amongst the most accomplished, its location singles it out as a fairly remarkable example, a genuine curiosity.

 

Map of Moel Famau footpaths

Map of Moel Famau footpaths, as well as the locations of Moel y Gaer and Foel Fenlli hillforts. Source: Nearly Uphill

Moel Famau, on the Clwydian Range, is lovely.  It is the highest peak on the Clwydians and a very popular destination for hikers and dog walkers alike.  I don’t really remember my first visit, so it was very much like visiting for the first time.  There are a number of different approaches to the peak. I went along the Bwlch Pen Barras road, a pass through the Clwydian Range where there are two official starting points with car parks.  one of which takes you through the coed (wood), but it was far too gloriously sunny to be under cover, which means that that the best starting point was the large amount of lay-by parking (which I believe is free) or the Bwlch Pen Barras car park (payment required) .  The What3Words address for the Bwlch Pen Barras car park is ///hobble.passwords.device.  You are already very high up at this point, with terrific views over the Vale of Clwyd before you even start, and the footpath that I took (the purple track at far left of the above map) provides superb views over the Vale of Clwyd.

The walk, along a wide, well maintained path, starts very gently and for the first 20 minutes or so is very easy.  It becomes much steeper for a fairly short section leading up to the peak, but people of all levels of fitness seemed to be tackling it, some stopping frequently for a breather.  It’s worth that last push because the 360º views are breathtaking.

 

 

If you climb up the steps to the top of the Egyptian Revival “temple” there are metal plaques explaining the building.  It turns out that what we see today is just the stump of a much more ambitious project, the Jubilee Tower, which included an obelisk.  It was designed by architect Thomas Harrison, and was built to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of George III in 1810, paid for by public subscription, with Flintshire magistrate Lord Kenyon laying the foundation stone in October of that year.  Harrison’s buildings in Chester are far less frivolous, with most of his work in the Neoclassical style, including the Grosvenor Bridge and the Propylaeum (monumental gateway) into Chester Castle and the Neoclassical building that is now owned by the university but was previously occupied by the council as its Shire Hall.  The building materials were taken up by horse and cart. The design of the obelisk was modified during construction, with a shorter and stumpier version being completed in about 1817 after a break in work due to financial difficulties and a dispute between Harrison and the builder. Unfortunately the obelisk soon started to deteriorate, and eventually collapsed in a storm in 1862.  The rest of the structure continued to decay until 1970 when it underwent restoration, and in 2013 it again required significant restoration work.  Here’s the Coflein description of the Jubilee Tower:

The Jubilee Tower in the Edwardian period

The Jubilee Tower in the Edwardian period. Source:  BBC News

The monument now survives as a battered plinth, 12-15m diameter, of roughly coursed rubble stone. Located on a mound which may be artificial. Each face has a central blind doorway of dressed stone, in simple Egyptian style, under a roll-moulded lintel; roughly hewn cornice or hoodmould.  Above these blind openings are broad rectangular panels of dressed freestone with roll-moulded surrounds. The corners of the monument have stone and concrete steps, starting from low square projections, which lead to the centre of the monument. Inside are the circular rubble stone footings of a former higher section of tower, 6m in diameter.  Around the outside of the monument is a renewed retaining wall 0.5-1m high, open at the corners. A plaque reads ‘Cefn Gwlad award 1970’, with Prince of Wales emblems.

The Egyptian Revival followed Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798.  He took with him over 100 specialists, the “savants,” amongst whom were artists and draughtsmen who recorded the ancient Egyptian temples.

One of the first and very popular books to publish these images was Dominique Vivant-Denon’s “Journeys in Upper and Lower Egypt” published in 1802.  Even before Jean-François Champollion’s translation of hieroglyphs in 1822, and over a century before Howard Carter’s discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922, Egypt had wriggled its way firmly into the British imagination.  Even so, I would love to have been at the meeting where plonking a pseudo-Egyptian monument on the top of a remote beauty spot in honour of the king’s jubilee was presented as a such a good idea that people invested in it.

 

Also on the top of the temple are plaques showing the names of the hills all around, with Cadair Idris and Snowdonia visible as silvery silhouettes through the slight haze, and the Moel Arthur hillfort next along on the Clwydian Range.

Looking northeast towards Prestatyn across Moel Arthur and Penycloddiau hillforts from the top of Jubilee Tower

Moel y Gaer hillfort

If you are a fan of the Iron Age this is a terrific walk.  The path passes Moel y Gaer, which sits on a spur of the hillside, and is a piece of absolute perfection.  It is not on a public footpath, but it is clearly visible from the main route up Moel Famau.  Its banks and ditches form an elegant tiara, and its position overlooking the Vale of Clwyd is superb.  Once you have reached the peak of Moel Famau, the hill housing the Moel Arthur hillfort is clearly visible, with Penycloddiau beyond.  Foel Fenlli is a walk in its own right, but it is an important part of the walk back down from Moel Famau, because its vast banks and ditches are clearly outlined against a bright sky, yelling its late prehistoric credentials, a far more aggressive and prominent statement than Moel y Gaer.

Impressive fortifications of Foel Fenlli

The impressive fortifications of Foel Fenlli, as seen from the Moel y Gaer path

Apart from the acres of dark brown heather and the bright spring green of the valley below, there is not a lot of plant life to see at this time of year, although it is very striking without a floral contribution.  The heather, dark chestnut brown and lifeless at this time of year, has been cut into a peculiar pattern of rectangles to encourage new growth, apparently for the benefit of wildlife.  There is not much in the way of shrubs and the trees in the wood are conifer plantations. There are plenty of birds of prey if you have equipped yourself with binoculars.  I look forward to visiting again when the heather is in flower in late summer, which should be stunning.

It is about a 40 minute walk up, although I forgot to take a note of the times in either direction and have the impression that it took me only about half an hour back down, with extra time added for pausing to enjoy the views and for lazy mellowing and exploring the monument at the top.  I am something of a route-marcher, so that needs to be taken into account.  You can walk on beyond Moel Famau in various directions on public footpaths.  Most obviously the path continues, in a much narrower form, across the Clwydian Range, which looks like an absolutely splendid option.  If you have the energy, you can walk to the village of Bodfari, in another pass through the Clwydian Range, whilst the Offa’s Dyke Trail goes all the way to Prestatyn.  In the opposite direction, you can follow the route over Foel Fenlli all the way to Chirk, skirting the dramatic Eglyseg Mountain and passing Castell Dinas Bran and the Pontcysyllte aqueduct.

It was one of those spring days when everyone looked as though they had been released from a cage, shedding winter like a bad memory.  Super.  To read more about the environment and archaeology of the Clwydian Range and Llantysilio Mountains see the PDF produced by the Heather and Hillforts project. 

 

Aerial view of the Clwydian Range. Coflein image 662395. Source: Coflein

 

The three official first days of spring: astronomical, meteorological and phenological

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Bryn Celli Ddu

Bryn Celli Ddu, southeast Anglesey

 

Bryn Celli Ddu

Plan of the Bryn Celli Ddu Neolithic tomb on Anglesey, by Steve Burrows, showing a section through the tomb and marking the line of the mid-summer solstice (typically on or around the 21st June), the longest day of the year, with the sun rising to filter through the passage, lighting up the chamber (see video at end). Image source: medievalheritage.eu

Today, 20th March 2026, is the Vernal Equinox which, astronomically speaking, is the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere.  As my birthday, which falls towards the end of March, is usually accompanied by wind, rain and, on one memorable day on the M25, a snow blizzard that stopped traffic in its tracks, it usually takes me a while to accept that the longed-for spring really has actually arrived, in whatever guise it chooses to present itself.  Fortunately, this year we have had some glorious spring days, two of which were spent with a happy heart at Little Moreton Hall and Moel Fammau, and the daffodils and hyacinths are fabulous.

Although there is plenty of evidence of archaeological sites being aligned to take advantage of specific astronomical events in Britain, particularly during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, most notoriously aligned to the mid-summer solstice, the phenological signs will have been of greater significance for the annual cyclical activities of hunters, farmers and traders, a period of evaluation and preparation following the completion of the winter’s work-streams.  Marking multi-textured passages and cycles of time at different scales would have been of critical importance for making decisions and minimizing risk in seasonal livelihood management, but it was clearly incorporated into more spiritual and funerary aspects of life.

Section of the Iron Age hillfort Moel y Gaer Rhosesmor, on the Clwydian Range in northeast Wales, showing the orientation of roundhouses in Phase 1, with the majority of entrances with porches facing to the southeast. Although this orientation could be due to avoidance of prevailing winds, or to permit views across to the main hillfort entrance, it has been suggested that southeast roundhouse entrances may have allowed early morning entry of the sun into the house, moving around the interior to mark the passage of time throughout the day. Image source: Guilbert 2018

I have been reading throughout the winter about Britain’s Iron Age and, as always with archaeology and early history, the sense of different perceptions and experiences of linear, cyclical and punctuated time all working in complex relationships with one another, has been striking.  The Iron Age does not provide as many hints about the ways in which communities connected with the cosmos as earlier periods, particularly in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age.  In spite of the lack of funerary and ceremonial data, however, in many parts of Iron Age Britain indications can be found that mark the passage of time.  The agricultural basis of its livelihoods and the ideological and religious ideas that flowed around seasonal variations suggest two of probably multiple temporal schemes, the cyclical arrival and departure of seasons and the more cumulative course of those cyclical seasons every successive year as one generation eventually succeeded the next.  More punctuated events are captured too, in the form of individual acts captured in the archaeological record, which themselves become part of how life was experienced.

 

Iron Age Roundhouse conceptualizations

Alternative theories of roundhouse use by Parker Pearson and Sharpies 1999: “Interpretations of the use of space in British Iron Age roundhouses: (a) Fitzpatrick’s sunwise scheme (Fitzpatrick 1994); (b) an extension of Fitzpatrick’s scheme in the light of wheelhouse layout; (c) the sunwise pattern of movement within the house, including the metaphor of the human life cycle round the house; (d) the organization of seniority around the central hearth).” Source: Parker Pearson and Sharpies 1999, image drawn by Adrian Chadwick)

Farming Year Cunliffe 2005 p419

The farming year: a reconst5rcution based on evidence from settlements at Iron Age Danebury and region. Source: Cunliffe 2005, p.419, fig.16.5

There are three ways of defining seasons that are officially recognized as valid measurements of seasonal episodes:  astronomical, meteorological and phenological.  The technical, astronomical measurement of the seasons, based on and solstices.  The equinoxes are the times of year when the sun appears directly over the equator, resulting in nearly equal proportions of day to night, and during the March equinox the sun appears to rise precisely in the east.

Where astronomical seasons are based on the strict observation of the arrival of equinoxes and solstices, meteorological seasons simply divide the year into four handy chunks of three months each, with  spring occupying March, April and May.  This means that whilst astronomical spring begins on 20th March, meteorological spring starts even earlier, on the 1st March, which seems ridiculously counter-intuitive, given that many of us are still shuddering from February’s machinations in spite of some of the pioneering courage of the brave early spring bulbs.

Phenological seasons are far more a matter of the senses, based on the observation of the natural world, with new shoots and bright new leaves accompanying bluebells, camellias and early blossom to give a finger-in-the-air impression of seasonal transformation.  This year my early-flowering dwarf daffodils, crocuses and dwarf irises were even earlier than usual, arriving at the same time as the snowdrops in mid February, but all of them looked a little self-conscious and rather put out, surrounded by the decaying brown stems of last summer’s offerings, left as they were to shelter insect life.  Spring felt more present when the camellias came into flower, and the rest of the daffodils decided to join their tiny relatives. The feeling that spring has or has not arrived is a phenological response to the eventual arrival of spring, and in the past had a direct impact on how people responded in every aspect of their lives.

It is interesting (and rather a relief) that even today in the modern west, where so many aspects of our existence are so standardized, regulated and thoroughly systematized we have three officially recognized ways of marking seasonal transitions, acknowledging their essentially liminal character.

 

 

The orientation of Iron Age roundhouses, showing that the majority are orientated between the east and southeast. Source: Oswald 1997

Sources:

Books and papers:

Cunliffe, Barry 2005 (4th edition). Iron Age Communities in Britain. Routledge

Fitzpatrick, A., 1994. Outside in: the structure of an Early Iron Age house at Dunston Park, Thatcham, Berkshire. In Fitzpatrick and Morris (eds.), p.68-72.

Fitzpatrick, A. and E. Morris (eds.) 1994. The Iron Age in Wessex: Recent Work. Trust for Wessex
Archaeology.

Guilbert, Graeme. 2018.  Historical Excavation and Survey of Hillforts in Wales: some critical issues.  Internet Archaeology 48. https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue48/3/toc.html 

Oswald, A., 1997. A doorway on the past: practical and mystic concerns in the orientation of roundhouse doorways. In Gwilt, A. and Haselgrove, C. (eds.), Reconstructing Iron Age Societies: New Approaches to the British Iron Age. Oxbow Monograph 71, p.87-95

Parker Pearson, Mike 1999. Food, Sex and Death: Cosmologies in the British Iron Age
with Particular Reference to East Yorkshire. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 9:1, p.43-69

Parker Pearson, Mike and N. Sharpies, with J. Mulville and H. Smith, 1999. Between Land and Sea: Excavations at Dun Vulan. Sheffield Academic Press

Websites:

Met Office
Understanding equinoxes and solstices
https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/learn-about/weather/seasons/equinox-and-solstice

RCAHMW
Anglesey’s Neolithic tomb with a solar secret: ‘Here Comes the Sun’!
https://rcahmw.gov.uk/angleseys-neolithic-tomb-with-a-solar-secret-here-comes-the-sun/

Royal Museums Greenwich
What and when is the Autumn equinox?
https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/time/what-when-autumnal-equinox?_gl=1*1hixw7w*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTExMTQ1NTc1LjE3NzEwNzc4NDY.*_ga_4MH5VEZTEK*czE3NzEwNzc4NDYkbzEkZzEkdDE3NzEwNzc5NTgkajE3JGwwJGgw*_ga_7JJ3J5DBF6*czE3NzEwNzc4NDYkbzEkZzEkdDE3NzEwNzc5NTgkajE3JGwwJGgw

 

The Great Pyramid in the Giza suburb of Cairo

It is not much of a surprise that the pyramids of Egypt, together with the later obelisks, were pointing unambiguously at the sun, whatever the time of year.

 

A sunny spring canal walk south from Waverton to Golden Nook Bridge

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Waverton to Golden Nook Bridge

Waverton to Golden Nook Bridge

In late October last year I took advantage of a beautiful sunny day to walk the towpath along the Shropshire Union canal from Waverton towards Chester, which I posted about here.  A couple of days ago the sky was clear and the sun was out, so I grabbed my rucksack and some damp-proof footwear (needed, as it was distinctly soggy underfoot) and headed out to do the section of the canal between Waverton and the wonderfully named Golden Nook Bridge, near the village of Hargrave, to its south. It took about an hour and a quarter each way at a brisk pace, stopping to take photos and chat to other walkers.  It was a rewarding walk, even at this time of year when there were only a few signs of spring beginning to make its mark.  Because of the season, the light meant that the walk provided two different experiences, there and back, with a silvery, ethereal light on the way out and a much more colourful walk on the return leg.  The birdsong was particularly lovely, and I have added a 36-second video at the end that was done purely to catch something of that sound.  I was lucky enough to see a kingfisher, a flash of bright orange as it settled on a branch followed by a flash of bright, electric blue as it took off.  It was too fast for me to photograph, but an absolute treat to see.

Waverton is just off the A41, so very easy to reach.The car park is quite small, with a capacity for about 20 cars, but at 11am there were only a few other cars parked up.  The What3Words address for the car park is ///fingertip.snored.deals.

To start the walk walk from the car park to the canal, just a few steps away, and turn right, heading south.  During the first couple of minutes the canal passes homes on the other side of the canal.  There is a section where it passes a golf course on the opposite side, but it is soon a very rural route with open fields flanking the canal.  Long Lane suddenly appears to the right as you walk south, the quiet stretch of road running parallel to the canal.  Shortly after this, official moorings begin on the other side of the canal, with a line of narrow boats and small cruising boats as far as the eye could see.  I stopped at Golden Nook Bridge and turned back, but the moorings presumably continue all the way to Tattenhall Marina.

St Peter's Church, Waverton

St Peter’s Church, Waverton

In total, there and back, the walk took about 2 1/2 – 3 hours, all on the flat.  Unlike the section towards Chester this part of the towpath is not metalled, and can be very uneven underfoot with tree roots and stones poking through.  It was also quite muddy after several weeks of rainfall.

 

View from Golden Nook Bridge and beyond to the sandstone ridge

View from Golden Nook Bridge and beyond to the sandstone ridge

 

Golden Nook Bridge, looking from the south and returning towards Waverton

Golden Nook Bridge, looking from the south and returning towards Waverton

 

36 seconds of birdsong from one of the canal bridges, taken on my smartphone.  There is a little interference from the breeze, but you can hear the birds giving forth wonderfully.

 

 

 

A stunning late autumn sun-filled walk at Bickerton Hill, with lovely views

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On Tuesday I took advantage of the beautiful sunshine, wrapped myself up like the Michelin Man, and went on an Iron Age hillfort hunt – Maiden Castle on the National Trust’s Bickerton Hill, to be precise.  The hillfort is, as they often are, rather easier to get to grips with from the air and in plans and illustrations, but it was still really good to see it on the ground.  I have written up Maiden Castle on a separate post here.  The real joy of the day were the deep blue skies and the slanting late autumn sunshine as it cut through the spectrum of reds, copper-oranges and yellows, and put a great golden spotlight on the bright, emerald green of the Cheshire plain below.  Utterly stunning.

The walk leads from the car park up to the ridge that overlooks most dramatically across the west Cheshire plain towards the Clwydian Range, with views too across east Cheshire.  I walked up from the Goldford Lane car park, a gentle slope across red sandy soil and sandstone slabs to the ridge, and then walked first in one direction towards and beyond the hillfort, and then retraced my steps to go along the ridge in the other direction, before returning to the car.  An alternative is to do one of a number of circular walks, one of which is shown below.  Whichever route you take, it is really spectacular on a sunny autumnal day.  Visiting details at the end.

 

 

 

Click to enlarge

Google Map of Bickerton Hill and Maiden Castle

Google Map of Bickerton Hill and Maiden Castle

The hill was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1979.  Interestingly (and unfortunately) the former heathland environment underwent ecological change when cattle and sheep ceased to be  grazed on the hill during the 1950s, allowing birch, oak and endless swathes of bracken to gain a foothold, killing off the natural bilberries and heather.  Although very beautifully copper-coloured in the autumn sun, the bracken, Pteridium aquilinum, has a number of worrying ecological downsides to it, described here on the “Moorland Association” website.  Most of the silver birches and oaks are still very young, but in places the silver birch in particular forms dense clumps.  The National Trust has now initiated a project of long-term work to re-establish large areas of heathland on the hill.

 

Bickerton Hill nature conservation

Bickerton Hill nature conservation

Visiting is easy.  The hill is just south of the main Wrexham-Broxton-Nantwich road (the A534). There are two car parks, one on either side of the hill.  I used the one off Goldford Lane, which is a large free parking area, with a shallow slope uphill towards the ridge.  The What3Words location is ///device.emulating.upwardly.  The National Trust page for the site can be found at: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cheshire-greater-manchester/alderley-edge-and-cheshire-countryside/things-to-do-at-bickerton-hill#rt-visit-maiden-castle.

You can download a leaflet about the hill and the hillfort here, including what looks like an excellent walk taking in Brown Knowl, on the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge website: https://www.sandstoneridge.org.uk/lib/file-323329.pdf

The geology of the sandstone trail can also be investigated on the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge website at: https://www.sandstoneridge.org.uk/geology.html

My video from the top of the ridge:

 

Cheshire Proverbs 7: “Rain has such narrow shoulders . . . “

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Rain in Churton

Rain in Churton

 

Rain has such narrow shoulders it will get everywhere

J.C. Bridge no.274, page 105

 

Beeston hill, seen from Churton, under a very black cloud

Beeston hill, seen from Churton, under a very black cloud

And oh boy.  When it rains around here one is left in no doubt on the subject.  It comes down in  dense sheets of uncompromising verticality, bouncing when it hits pavements, roads and patios and it pools morosely wherever it gets the opportunity, seeping into every nook and cranny. The river Dee builds ominously between its banks, eventually overflowing into its floodplain, drenching footpaths and edging its way ominously towards the little hairdresser at the foot of Holt and isolating the new house above the footpath on the Farndon side of the bridge.

I lived in Aberdyfi on the mid-Welsh coast for two years immediately prior to coming to West Cheshire after leaving London, and I thought that I would never see such thoroughly determined rainfall ever again.  But most Aberdyfi houses are on the side of a steep hill, mine included, and all the rainwater had the courtesy to run downhill and deposit itself into the sea.  Cheshire, being flat and often poorly drained, is different.  The wellington boots that I bought for mudlarking on the Thames foreshore when I lived in London have come into their own for use on what I once thought of as dry land.  In west Cheshire, dry land is a very movable feast.

Joseph Bridge offers no comments about this proverb, presumably believing, very justifiably, that this one speaks for itself.  Not all of them do, even when Bridge seems to think that they are perfectly transparent, but this one is completely unambiguous to a resident on the Welsh borders.

I started this series on Cheshire Proverbs a couple of years ago and then, during a big rearrangement, lost the Joseph Bridge book on which it was based: Cheshire Proverbs and other Sayings and Rhymes Connected with the City and County Palatine of Chester.  I found it the other day, and even though there has been a big gap between the previous proverb in the series and this one, it seemed worth reviving.  If you would like to know about his proverbs, sayings and rhymes, you can see the Introduction to the series here. Other proverbs in the series are listed here, at the very end of the Archaeology, Heritage and Art page.

 

Ewloe Castle in Wepre Park, near Connah’s Quay

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Artist’s reconstruction of Ewloe Castle. Source: Renn and Avent 2001

The ruins of the 13th century Ewloe Castle, one of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd’s more puzzling constructions, is located in the public Wepre Park, near Connah’s Quay and not far from Chester.

Visiting details are at the end of the post, including information about car parking, the visitor centre, an excellent downloadable guide to the routes through the park and its key features, as well as where to find out more information about the castle.
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Wepre Park

Wepre Park map in the Explore Wepre Park PDF by Denbigh County Council online.  The Main Trail leads from the car park all the way to the foot of Eweloe Castle.  The Boardwalk is also reached from the car park, and is shown at bottom left.

Wepre Park is a woodland valley, largely deciduous, that flanks the Wepre Brook, and is very popular with dog walkers, joggers, and families. According to the park’s literature, it is a remnant of the great hunting forest of Ewloe.  More recently it was the site of Wepre Hall.  On a sunny day in the autumn, with the light filtering through the trees, this should be a wonderful display of illuminated colour.  The autumnal display was very fine, with the light filtering through the multi-coloured leaves and the woodland floors carpeted with bright yellows and oranges.  The woodland contains a wide mixture of different trees, shrubs and vegetation and is home to varied wildlife, including aquatic species, insects, birds, bats, badgers and a lot of very busy squirrels.  There is also a small wildlife meadow, although there is not much to see at this time of year.
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The valley was owned in the 11th century by St Werburgh’s Abbey in Chester.  In the mid 12th century it was the site of a major confrontation between Henry II and the forces of Owain ap Gruffydd, ruler of Gwynedd in west Wales, during Owain’s campaign to extend his territories to the east. In 1157 Henry II took an army into northeast Wales to subdue Owain, but was ambushed by Owain in the Ewloe valley.  Although Henry escaped, and defeated Owain at Rhuddlan, Owain later regained much of the lost territory.

Wepre Hall, first built in 1788. Source: RCHAMW

A house is recorded at the site from at least the late Middle Ages.  During the Civil War a house at Wepre belonged to Royalist supporters who, in 1645, supposedly hid in the cellars a Royalist sympathiser who was a participant in the the Battle of Rowton Moor.  It was rebuilt as a 2-storey Georgian house in 1788 by Edward Jones, the owner of a local lead mine, with outbuildings and later extensions.  It was demolished in 1960.  There is nothing remaining of Wepre Hall except for the cellars.  The visitor centre sits on part of the Wepre Hall site, and the gardens here and nearby are designed to echo the formal gardens of the Hall.

There are a number of routes through the park.  From the car park, the Main Trail is a wide metalled track that leads from the car park past the visitor centre nearly as far as the castle (after which there are wooden steps leading up to the castle).  It follows the line of the brook, which drifts in and out of sight and is constantly audible.  The most notable feature on the Main Trail, apart from the lovely woodland, are the outcrops of Hollin Rock, a 320 million year old red sandstone, popular as a building material.  Towards the end of the trail is a small and attractive bridge, Pont Aber, that was once located further upstream but was moved here in 1800 to improve access to Wepre Hall.  There is a delightful small waterfall on the other side, which used to be the location of the Castle Hill Brewery that used the water from a natural spring.
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The second significant route is a boardwalk, which leads from the car park along the brook and connects to the Main Trail about half way way along.  The main feature of the Boardwalk route is the waterfall, actually built as a weir to power a small hydroelectric plant, but it is a very attractive feature.  The plant used to provide electricity to the Hall before mains electricity arrived in the area in 1925.  There is a variety of aquatic vegetation flanking the boardwalk, and information boards indicate the different wildlife, including birds, that can be spotted on a walk.  The boardwalk follows the brook closely until it slopes up slightly to meet the Main Trail, and the “bubbling brook” phrase never seemed more apt.  This is a very audio-visual walk.
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Some of the other footpaths are just well-worn tracks, very muddy at this time of year, but follow lovely winding routes through the woodland.  I tried the track from the bridge to the Devil’s Basin, supposed to be a short set of very pretty falls, but after five minutes or so the deeply churned mud made it completely impassable in ordinary hiking boots. It would have required wellies.

Near the visitor centre there is a small lake called the Rosie Pool that was created in the late 19th century for fishing and is now managed by the local angling club.  Immediately behind the visitor centre is a small but very attractive formal garden with a small pond, a nod to the former hall.  Even at this time of year, fuchsia, hydrangea and sedum still have some flowers.  There is a small pet cemetery located at its edge.  For more about the park download the Explore Wepre Park guide (in Sources at the end of this post).

Ewloe Castle

Ewloe Castle from the air. RCHAMW 6463845. Source: RCHAMW

There is some discussion about who built the castle. It was certainly either built or rebuilt in c.1257 by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (also known as Llywelyn the Last), but he may have been restoring a castle originally built by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great).  The D-shaped keep has been seen as characteristic of Llywelyn the Great, and differences in the stonework of the upper and lower wards have been used to argue for a two-phase construction.  If this was indeed the case, it is argued that the upper ward would have been contemporary with the keep built by Llywelyn the Great and the lower ward built by his grandson Llywelyn the Last.  On the other hand, there is an early 14th century document that states that the entire was built by Llywelyn the Last.  The question remains unresolved, but it is not doubted that whoever built the castle, Llywelyn the Last certainly carried out extensive building work here.

Plan of the castle. Source: Lloyd 1928

Although it is built to a fairly standard Welsh plan, it is something of an oddity in strategic terms, not being built high on a hill but on the edge of a small valley.  Although the sides slope steeply away from the castle on three sides, it was actually overlooked from the south, so required quite extensive outer defences on that side, consisting of a ditch, the digging out of which would have provided a bank.
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The keep sits within a small upper ward.  A larger lower ward was added, possibly at a later date, with a tower at its furthest extent from the upper ward and both were provided with curtain walls, some of which remain.  The D-shaped (or apsidal) keep has a small footprint with its semi-circular end overlooking the defences, whilst the tower in the lower keep overlooks both the southern aspect and the valley below.  The lower ward would have been provided with timber buildings for domestic functions and storage.

On the former ground floor of the keep, to which the steps at the back of the upper ward lead, the former hearth is still visible, and there are windows set in the thick walls.  Looking at the keep today, the lowest layer was a basement with no lighting.  The keep had an outer stone staircase at its south, and this is still in use for accessing the inner staircase that leads up inside the walls of the keep to a viewing platform at the top of what remains of the keep’s walls.

Two entrances, one into the upper ward and one into the lower ward would have been approached by bridges over the defences.  The lower ward’s tower was probably accessed from the curtain walls of the lower ward.

In 1257, when the castle was either built or rebuilt, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd was on the offensive, attempting to retake Perfeddwlad, otherwise known as the “Four Cantrefs,” which incorporated the cantrefs of Rhos, Rhufoniog, Dyffryn Clwyd and Tegeingl, a constant bone of contention between the Welsh princes and the English crown.

The problem of the poor strategic location could be explained by suggesting a different intention for the castle as more of a political statement than a fully functional military outpost.  Its location on the edges of disputed territory, not far from older English castles and the site of Owain Gwynedd’s defeat of Henry II may simply have been a statement of a Welsh return to land that they claimed as their own, and a useful staging point for any future negotiations, given its proximity to the Anglo-Welsh border.  This is supported by its probable use first in November 1259 and again in December 1260 when English ambassadors were sent to meet with Llywelyn at a place identified as Wepre, which must have been the castle.  There is no record of the castle’s involvement in 1276 and 1277, when war between England and Wales reignited, which may give added weight to this castle being a political gesture rather than a strictly military base, but could also reflect the necessity of Welsh retreat to safer ground.

Ewloe Castle by Moses Griffith (1747-1819) NMW A13529. Source: National Museum of Wales

Edward I does not appear to have felt that Ewloe Castle was worthy of his interest.  Although he restored other castles for his own use, this was probably too small, too badly sited and too difficult to defend.  Instead, in 1277 Edward began to build at Flint (posted about on the blog here), Rhuddlan (posted about here) and Denbigh (posted about here).  Owain Glyndwr’s rebellion in 1400 found no use for it either.
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Visiting

Access to the castle, managed by Cadw, is free of charge and open all year round, as is the entire park, but you will need to be confident with stairs, as they are the only way in and out of the castle.  There are new metal stair cases with handrails, and original stone ones, including a small flight in a stairwell in the keep leading up to a viewing platform at the top.  None of the stone staircases have handrails.

Parking is straight forward for both castle and park.  If you only want to see the castle there is a lay-by on the side of the B5125 that looks as though it will take about 8 cars, maybe a couple more.  I didn’t try the route from there to the castle so have no idea what the footpath is like underfoot, but the What3Words address for the lay-by parking is ///follow.beauty.mistaking.  The official car park is a large one near the visitor centre on Wepre Drive. Ewloe Castle is about a mile away from this car park along a very easy and attractive trail. The What3Words address is for the main car park is  ///contrived.writing.mailers

A circular walk taking in the boardwalk and returning to the car park via the Main Trail would be suitable for unwilling legs, as would a walk along the boardwalk to the bridge and then back along the main route.  The castle is not suitable for those who cannot manage steps and stairs, as this is the only way of getting into the castle, from whatever direction you approach.

The visitor centre is closed at this time of year (November) but its cafe was open on my visit.  The public toilets are also open nearby.  There’s a substantial play area on the edge of the car park.  There are a small number of good information boards throughout the park, including one at the castle, but the Cadw official guide to Flint Castle also has a section on Ewloe Castle.  Other sources are listed below, including castle information and an excellent guide to the park, together with a footpath map.


Sources:

Wepre Park

Flintshire County Council
Parks and Countryside
https://www.flintshire.gov.uk/en/LeisureAndTourism/Countryside-and-Coast/Parks-and-countryside.aspx
Discover Wepre Park Booklet
https://www.flintshire.gov.uk/en/PDFFiles/Countryside–Coast/Discover-Wepre-EnglishWEB.pdf

A different map that may be slightly easier to follow is on the following link:
Potty Adventures
Wepre Park
https://pottyadventures.wordpress.com/2016/07/16/wepre-park-our-local-8th-wonder-of-world/

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Ewloe Castle

Books and papers

Davis, Paul R. 2021.  Towers of Defiance.  The Castles and Fortifications of the Princes of Wales. Y Lolfa

Lloyd, J.E. 1928.  Ewloe.  Y Cymmrodor, vol.39 (unnumbered)

Renn, D.F. and Avent, R. 2001 (2nd edition). Flint Castle – Ewloe Castle. Cadw

Websites

BBC News
13th century castle to be sold (18th November 2009)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/8364611.stm

Cadw
Castell Ewloe
https://cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/castell-ewloe

Coflein
Ewloe Castle
https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/94447/
Wepre Hall
https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/36307/

Wales Online
Ewloe Castle has sold to farmer at auction (9th December 2009)
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/local-news/ewloe-castle-sold-farmer-auction-2770922
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An autumnal stroll from Churton to Aldford, pausing for lunch at The Grosvenor

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Autumn sun and brightly coloured leaves are always a joy at this time of year, right up until the point that they drop in huge numbers and need clearing off the garden lawn 🙂

Because it was so warm, my destination was The Grosvenor pub, a self-indulgent extension to my terrific short break in the Ironbridge area of Shropshire last week.  It is always such a treat to be able to sit outdoors at this time of year.

The map of this walk is at the end of the post, and is a very simple one.  It takes around 40 – 45 minutes to walk through the fields to Aldford from Churton, so it is a short walk, and always a good fall-back when I don’t want to be bothered with the car.  The harvested fields, mainly used for growing corn, can be very soggy at this time of year with nothing but wet earth under foot, but it is always an easy and attractive option on a sunny day when the leaves are changing colour.  It was fine on the field edges, although distinctly squelchy underfoot crossing diagonally from footpath FP7 to FP6.  Half of the route is the metalled B-road Lower Lane, which gave the hiking boots a bit of a break from the sludge.

Irritatingly, I did not have my camera with me, so these were taken on my iPhone and many don’t bear close scrutiny.
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After a very enjoyable lunch in the sun at the Grosvenor Arms, I had a wander around the village and returned back to Churton using the same route.  Normally I go back via the well-signposted FP8 footpath, but having investigated on my way to Aldford, deemed it far too muddy and waterlogged to make the attempt in anything other than wellies.  In the dry, this is a nice return route and takes in a chunk of the Roman road that once ran east of Churton (about which I posted here).

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Cheshire West and Chester Public Map Viewer, annotated

 

A walk from Waverton towards Chester along the Shropshire Union Canal

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I have driven over the canal bridge on Eggbridge Lane in Waverton so many times thinking that I really must take advantage of the little car park just before the bridge to go and take a stroll down the towpath.  Having woken up early on a sunny morning I decided to investigate. Waverton is just off the A41, so very easy to reach. The car park is quite small, but it was not full even on a bright and warm morning.  The What3Words address for the car park is ///fingertip.snored.deals

Victoria Mill, Waverton

Immediately opposite the car park, as you walk to the towpath, is a very attractive canal building, the Grade 2 listed, a mid-19th century Victoria Mill, a former steam-powered canal-side corn mill, with bays for loading and unloading narrowboats, and now converted for modern use. The Historic England description is here.  This is part of the heritage of the Shropshire Union Canal, which if you keep walking north eventually ends up at Ellesmere Port.  To the south, it eventually connects up with the rest of the main canal network at Hurleston Junction.  The Shropshire Union has quite a complicated history, as does Chester’s canal heritage as a whole, and was not completed until 1835.

As with most canal walks, there’s always a choice to turn right or left, and as I had no idea what to expect from either direction I decided to head north, leaving the walk south for another occasion. Out of the car park I turned left under the unprepossessing bridge no.119 and headed up the towpath.  This section is metalled, so it avoided the mud and sludge that I had been half expecting.

If you take this route you find yourself walking along a short row of houses with canal gardens along a metalled pathway.  Canal-side gardens are always fascinating.  I used to live on a narrow boat many years ago, and it is always a lot of fun to see how different minds have dealt with a garden that opens directly on to a canal.  These are always hugely individualistic and personal.  There is always much to see in the way of garden furniture, garden ornaments (someone will always have gnomes, and there is usually at least one example of traditional canal painting), sheds in various states of repair, a wide range of summer houses, varieties of approaches to terracing, often some very interesting specimen trees and shrubs, and different attitudes to garden seclusion, along a spectrum from solid barriers of hedging or fencing to a complete lack of interest in any form of privacy.  A real cultural treat.

After just a minute or so the towpath enters a more rural section, and in the late season sun it was a real pleasure to take in all the autumnal colours on trees and shrubs that flank the canal.  I’ve posted some of the photos below. It’s a well-used section of towpath, with joggers, cyclists and plenty of dog walkers, but everyone is very civilized about moving over to make passing easy.  There was not much in the way of canal traffic, with just two narrowboats on the move, but I expect that it is much busier in summer.

Keep an eye out on your left as you leave the housing on your right and reach the more rural section.  Partly concealed by the grass next to the towpath, there is a short inscribed red sandstone Parish Boundary Marker. This section of the canal passes through the parish of Rowton, famous for the Civil War Battle of Rowton Heath (see the Wikipedia entry on the subject and a more detailed analysis by Historic England).  King Charles I is said to have watched his army lose that battle from the Phoenix Tower that still stands on Chester’s city walls. The stone marks the boundary between the parishes of Christleton (CP on the stone) and Rowton (RT).  The date commemorates the date of the battle in 1645 and, below the level of the grass, 1995, the 250th anniversary of the battle.
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After this more countrified section there are more houses, all interesting, with some lovely weeping willows and other water-loving species, and a very attractive hump-backed bridge, that I have since discovered carries Rowton Bridge Road into Christleton.  I walked up as far as The Cheshire Cat, which sensibly has a gate onto the towpath, and carried on just a short way beyond it, but at that point the canal converges closely with the A41 (Whitchurch Road) and it becomes quite a noisy experience with the unremitting traffic, especially during the week.

Checking the map later (for example see the plotaroute.com website), I note that by coming off the towpath at Rowton Bridge it is possible to walk into the attractive village of Christleton, with its marvellous pond, and I would have done this had I realized.  Another time.  had to be somewhere else in the afternoon, so it was a short walk, probably an hour and a bit there and back at strolling pace, with pauses to let bicycles pass, and to take photographs.

For those with unwilling legs (see the blog’s Introduction for details about what this refers to), the towpath heading north from Waverton is metalled, but quite uneven.  No problem for most people, I would have thought but do keep an eye on it.  There are places where the edges of the surface are particularly uneven, but this just means that if you are with someone else you need to go in single file for short sections.  Otherwise, it’s on the flat and very enjoyable.

On the way back I followed the towpath beyond the car park for a few minutes to see how far the housing that backs onto the canal extended.  This part of the towpath is not metalled, was muddy and is single-track.  These houses and gardens are another interesting mixture – each of the sections of housing and gardens has its own personality, presumably reflecting both when it was built and the pricing.  These look as though the garden-canal margins were all designed with narrowboats or other canal vessels in mind. There was indeed one narrowboat moored up at a garden.  The housing stops after a couple of minutes and the towpath reverts to a far more rural appearance.  I’ll investigate further on another day.

A very autumnal walk taking in Churton fields, Townfield Lane, the speedy Dee – and a cormorant.

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After all the rain last night, which was truly torrential, I was somewhat surprised to wake up to bright sunshine and a topaz sky this morning.  A treat for mid November. Planning to walk through the fields behind Churton towards Farndon, before turning right down Townfield Lane to the Dee, I decided that it was a moment for seriously waterproof footwear.  Not walking boots but welly boots.  It was a good instinct.  The fields were sodden and marshy, the tracks muddy and mired due to tractors, and the picturesque but unadopted Townfield Lane was a series of lane-wide pools.  The short section of footpath leading north from the lane along the river bank to the field next to the river was only just clear of the flood waters, which were moving fast and forming fascinating eddies.

I always like the Churton-to-Farndon fields following harvest, because of the linear stubble that draws the eye into the distance and focuses attention on individual trees that, at this time of year, are full of bright warm colours.  The deep chestnut brown of the fields provides a beautiful foil for the silvery stubble, the blue skies and the autumnal leaves.  The mirror-like reflections in the standing water were a pleasure in their own right.  Today really was a water walk.

The biggest surprise was spotting a cormorant (or is it a shag?) at the very top of a tall tree by the side of the river (see photo at end of post).  Cormorants and shags are right at home on the coastal estuaries of mid-Wales, and are frequent visitors to the Thames and its former docks in London, both places where I used to live, but I never did learn to tell the difference between them, and I have never seen one this far inland.  It seemed right at home.
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View from the Dee at the end of Townfield Lane across the fields to the Barnston Memorial.

It would have been good to turn this into a circular walk by continuing north along the side of the Dee and taking the footpath from the Dee straight through the plantation onto the track extending directly from Hob Lane in Churton, but the footpath back to Hob Lane through the plantation of trees is usually bad news in even averagely showery weather, with seriously thick, sometimes impassable mud, so I simply retraced my steps on this occasion.  The circular walk is very much a summer activity after a period of very dry weather.

If you don’t like squelching through wet mud and soggy grass, or paddling through big areas of standing water, this is not a good walk following heavy rainfall, even on a beautiful day.  On the other hand, it cast a very familiar local walk in an entirely new light.  After heavy rainfall I would advise that this is not a walk for those with unwilling legs, although my father (he of a notably unwilling leg) had no problems with it in dry periods in the spring and summer.  Today it was far too slippery and sludgy.