Introduction
For those not familiar with this area, Peover is pronounced “peever”.
The walk is bisected by the A50 as it runs south from Knutsford to Holmes Chapel.
Over Peover, to the east, is in the parish of Peover Superior, whilst Lower Peover, to the west, is in the parish of Peover Inferior!
I chose a lowland walk due to today’s forecast of strong winds. It was very wet first thing, with sunshine and heavy showers expected all day. With an optimistic outlook, I was banking on more of the former.
It is an easy half hour drive from Cheadle Hulme. It was raining hard all the way!
At just 8 miles, this is an easy 3 hour walk, with a few alternative paths and lanes available to shorten it if you wanted to. In addition I took half an hour for lunch, as I had a chance to shelter from a rainstorm!
The walk is great for dogs to be off the lead, with lots of enclosed tracks, a nice woodland and large area of parkland at the end.
I parked on an easy pull in on Stocks Lane at the junction of Stocks Lane and Grotto Lane – use postcode WA16 9HH.
The walk is on OS Explorer Map 268.
Over Peover To Great Wood and The A50
The heavy rain eased slightly as I left the car and headed down Grotto Lane, but it was very wet all around!
Turning righht, I came to the entrance to Peover Hall.
It’s a fine ancient hall, which I passed close to on the return part of the route, so more details later.
As I walked on I saw a pure white bird in a field, and can only think it was an egret, but it seemed an odd location. Then it ran and called loudly, and I realised it was a pheasant. A bit of googling, and I’ve learnt that it is probably not an albino, but a less rare, but also white, leucistic pheasant.
Turning off the track, towards the woods, the rain had stopped, and I loved these massive logs.
As I reached the woods the sun was breaking through.
It’s a handsome woodland with some fine trees.
It was pretty muddy down here, but just about passable with care.
Here, I also came to the Peover Eye, a brook which I would follow all the way to Lower Peover.
I took a lot of pictures – here’s a few more!
Eventually, I reached a tributary with a bridge and steps up to a large array of glasshouses.
Some farm drives took me to the A50, which has a proper footpath for the short stretch I needed it, down and over the “Eye”, then off to the right over some fields and then paths.
A50 To Lower Peover
The brook was never far away, and the weather was pleasant.
It was very quiet here, just the brook and the birdsong. After about 20 minutes, I was approaching civilisation!
Suddenly, the skies were darkening, and, as rain approached me, I was approaching sanctuary.
It was raining hard now, the church was open, so I spent sometime looking round. It was first built in 1269!
The pews date to 1620.
It had these “bread shelves” dated 1720 and 1739, where the parish priest left “bread charities” for the parishoners. Now there are stone loaf sculptures. The font is believed to be the original one, brought from Norton Priory in 1322.
Just the 700 years old then!
It was still raining so I stood in the lobby below the bell tower and ate my lunch below this modern stained glass window.
The clock struck noon as I was there – LOUD!
It’s a lovely building, and looked splendid when the sun returned as I was leaving.
I rounded the well known hostelry The Bells Of Peover and out along a narrow lane.
Lower Peover To Peover Hall
At the junction of three lanes is the unexpected delight of The Tree of Imagination.
The Tree was dedicated in 2015 to all children and those still young at heart.
A pair of jackdaws were flushed from the nest box in the tree as I perused it!
Just along the road, this eagle is a more traditional tree sculpture.
A short section of road walking brought me to Free Green Farm. The once prosperous-looking farmhouse is looking rather forlorn these days.
From here, a long hedged track leads across farmland back to the A50 by the Barclays Technology Centre at Radbroke Hall, and another well-known pub, The Whipping Stocks. Sadly, the pub is closed at the moment, and has been since Christmas. Its Facebook site says “closed for an undisclosed amount of time”.
To the right of the pub car park, a driveway leads back into the Peover Hall estate.
It was now raining hard again, too.
The track leads down to some ponds then up to the right, through a gate in the hedge and out of the parkland. Soon, the path comes to St Lawrence’s Church, Over Peover.
Next door to the church is the Elizabethan Peover Hall, built in 1585.
The Hall is still lived in by the Brooks Family. It is open to the public on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from May to October. Cal and I visited it, probably 10 years ago, and I really liked it. It’s well worth a visit.
Famously, it was requisitioned as the HQ for General George Patton of the United States 3rd Army to train for the D-Day landings in 1944.
Here’s a link to its website.
My route took me across the parkland, down to a bridge over the water.
Another driveway then led me past the Village Hall, back to the road, and the car.
This is a really interesting walk, and easy walking, apart from the muddy sections in the wood.
If you want to tackle it, and can do a summer or Thursday, why not combine it with a lunch at The Bells Of Peover, and an afternoon visit to Peover Hall.
Sounds great to me!
And Finally…..
Tears For Fears may evoke the 80s, but they’ve just released a new album.
From “The Tipping Point”, this is “No Small Thing”.