Bulkeley Hill Wood, Bickerton, Burwardsley & Raw Head, Sandstone Trail, Cheshire

Introduction

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.

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.

Bulkeley is a 65 minute drive from Cheadle Hulme.

The walk is 7.4miles and 1260ft of ascent. It took almost 4 hours, plus a lunch break.

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!

I walked in an anti-clockwise direction.

The walk is mainly on OS Explorer Map 267, but if you’re using the paper maps, about 20% of the route is on Map 257.

I parked on the pub car park, postcode SY14 8BE.

Bickerton To Pennsylvania Wood

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.

At the top of the hill, I had the first of numerous encounters with juvenile pheasants.

The views to the east and northeast, across the Cheshire plain are superb.

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!

The view north to Peckforton shows how steeply the sandstone ridge rises from the plain.

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.

I continued north along the woodland edge of the Peckforton Hills estate.

A posse of young pheasants were trcking my movements here!

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

Pennsylvania Wood To Raw Head

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!

It was pretty muddy now that I was on the minor paths, but I made it to the bridge over Crimes Brook.

Now I had to cross a field of very wet thick grass, and, unsurprisingly, my old walking shoes were finally breached.

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

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

I was now crossing fields to head steadily uphill so as to rejoin the Sandstone Trail.

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.

The noise they made attracted the farmer, who came up on his machine and drove at them, and shouted at them to scare them back down into the lower part of the field, as seen in this second video.

I met a young couple coming the other way, with a dog, as I left the scene, and they took my advice not to go down near these cows. This was definitely a situation that you would be in serious peril in that field on foot.

Moving on, I was soon making the spectacular traverse of Raw Head with views north to the Mersey estuary and Liverpool.

I kept to the Sandstone Trail, the higher of the two paths available. It’s beautiful here, with abundant wild raspberries as you pass through the long disused quarry.

The overhanging rock formations are reminiscent of Alderley Edge.

The views keep coming through the trees.

Here’s one to Beeston Castle, a short distance away to the north.

There’s a trig point at Raw Head, the highest point on the Sandstone Trail.

Raw Head To The Bickerton Poacher

At Raw Head, the view takes in the Clwydian Hills in nearby Wales. I must come back some time when the trees are devoid of leaves!

The next section has a short, steep flight of steps followed by a fairly narrow cliffside path with sheer drops, and much care has to be taken.

Nature has been hard at work, and the rowan berries add a great splash of colour to the green scene.

Nature’s been working in other ways too. This is a recent large tree fall.

And just when I thought it was all over…..

Here they were again!

The path to the left as the descent leaves the wood enabled me to avoid the main road before rejoining my outward route back to the pub. As I’d used their car park, it was only fair that I give them some custom. A fine pint of Theakston’s Lightfoot!

This is a truly memorable walk, and one I hope to repeat many times in the future, as it’s one of the best spots in the county of Cheshire.

And Finally….

I may have only recently discovered her music, but I love Lucinda Williams. Her new album is Stories From A Rock n Roll Heart and this track is New York Comeback.