{"id":1007542,"date":"2023-07-27T20:43:48","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T19:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.half-daywalker.com\/?p=1007542"},"modified":"2023-07-27T20:43:51","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T19:43:51","slug":"bulkeley-hill-wood-bickerton-burwardsley-raw-head-sandstone-trail-cheshire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.half-daywalker.com\/?p=1007542","title":{"rendered":"Bulkeley Hill Wood, Bickerton, Burwardsley & Raw Head, Sandstone Trail, Cheshire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Today, I intended heading to the moors of Rochdale and Calderdale, but that was scuppered by the lingering rain. So I headed southwest to a walk I know well, but one you can never tire of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was raining cats and dogs all through the journey, but the rain magically stopped as I pulled into the car park of the Bickerton Poacher. It was dry, warm, and very humid for my walk, and very wet underfoot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bulkeley is a 65 minute drive from Cheadle Hulme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The walk is 7.4miles and 1260ft of ascent. It took almost 4 hours, plus a lunch break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For dog walkers, most of the walk is excellent, but there are a ew minor roads, some dangerously steep cliff edges, and I encountered some cattle, of which more later!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I walked in an anti-clockwise direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The walk is mainly on OS Explorer Map 267, but if you\u2019re using the paper maps, about 20% of the route is on Map 257. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I parked on the pub car park, postcode SY14 8BE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bickerton To Pennsylvania Wood<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The path up Bulkeley Hill is directly opposite the car park, and rises quickly, soon joining the Sandstone Trail. The heavy rain had left an exceptionally verdant landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At the top of the hill, I had the first of numerous encounters with juvenile pheasants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The views to the east and northeast, across the Cheshire plain are superb.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The large ancient trees have had their roots protected from erosion by humans with natural barriers. The photo below shows remains of the low cloud that had engulfed the hill ; it was quite eerie, as no-one else had yet ventured out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The view north to Peckforton shows how steeply the sandstone ridge rises from the plain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My route meandered back down to the low level, where the lodge in my header picture stood out as typical of the sandstone buildings in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I continued north along the woodland edge of the Peckforton Hills estate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A posse of young pheasants were trcking my movements here!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reaching a cross path, I turned left into Pennsylvania Wood, where the bridge over a small stream was in serious need of repairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pennsylvania Wood To Raw Head<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I don’t know how it got its name, but they say everything is bigger in America, and I must admit that this horse chestnut(?) leaf was huge!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It was pretty muddy now that I was on the minor paths, but I made it to the bridge over Crimes Brook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now I had to cross a field of very wet thick grass, and, unsurprisingly, my old walking shoes were finally breached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ravens and buzzards were very active here, no doubt due to the huge number of seemingly rather dim-witted juvenile pheasants on the menu!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I soon reached Outlanes Farm, resisted a stop off at The Pheasant (great pub), and made my way to the village of Burwardsley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was now crossing fields to head steadily uphill so as to rejoin the Sandstone Trail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A hedge obscured my entry to the last field, and as I went through the gate, I immediately noticed it was full of dairy cattle. They were clearly, immediately interested in me, so I climbed the farm gate on my right to make it into the safety of the adjacent field. I’d say there were at least 150 of them, and I felt lucky to have a fence between me and them. Here’s a 30 second video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n