The Sandstone Trail is a long-distance walkers' path, following

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

ridges running north–south from

Frodsham Frodsham is a market town, civil parish, and electoral ward in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Its population was 8,982 in 2001, increasing to 9,077 at the 2011 Census. It is s ...

in central Cheshire to Whitchurch just over the

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

border. The path was created in 1974 and extended in the 1990s. Much of the route follows the

Mid Cheshire Ridge The Mid Cheshire Ridge is a range of low sandstone hills which stretch north to south through Cheshire in North West England. The ridge is discontinuous, with the hills forming two main blocks, north and south of the "Beeston Gap". The main mas ...

but in places the trail also passes through the

Cheshire Plain The Cheshire Plain is a relatively flat expanse of lowland within the county of Cheshire in North West England but extending south into Shropshire. It extends from the Mersey Valley in the north to the Shropshire Hills in the south, bounded b ...

, including farmland, woodland and canal towpaths.

Route

The trail is divided into three sections of about 18 km (11.3 mi) in length: the northern portion runs from

to Willington, the central section covers Willington to Bickerton, and the southern part is from Bickerton to Whitchurch.

Information and waymarking

The trail is marked with signposts and yellow discs inscribed with an 'S' in a footprint. Stone distance markers and blue information boards are also located at intervals, usually before or entering a new area of the trail. The information boards generally give details of local history while the stones give the distance in kilometres to the ends of the trail at Frodsham and Whitchurch. In some parts of the trail, it intermingles with the Baker Way in

Delamere Forest Delamere Forest is a large wood in the village of Delamere in Cheshire, England. The woodland, which is managed by Forestry England, covers an area of making it the largest area of woodland in the county. It contains a mixture of deciduous and ...

for several hundred metres, which may cause walkers to accidentally follow the wrong trail by mistake without careful observation of the waymarks. Distance Marker Sandstone Trail

These stones are at: *Ridgeway Wood, Helsby (5 km to Frodsham, 50 km to Whitchurch) *Manley Common, New Pale Road, Manley (9 km to Frodsham, 46 km to Whitchurch) *Barnsbridge Gates, Ashton Road, Delamere Forest (12 km to Frodsham, 43 km to Whitchurch) *Willington Road, Willington (18 km to Frodsham, 37 km to Whitchurch) *Wharton's Lock (26 km to Frodsham, 29 km to Whitchurch) *Coppermine Lane, in between Rawhead and Bulkeley Hill (33 km to Frodsham, 22 km to Whitchurch) *Bickerton (37 km to Frodsham, 18 km to Whitchurch) *Bickleywood (45 km to Frodsham, 10 km to Whitchurch) *Grindley Brook (51 km to Frodsham, 4 km to Whitchurch) The ends of the trail are also marked with a sandstone

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...

outside the Bears Paw Public House at Frodsham, and a 2m high sandstone archway at the entrance of the car park at Jubilee Park, Whitchurch.

Sights

Points of interest travelling from

to Whitchurch (north–south) include: * Woodhouses hill fort, an Iron Age fort *Alvanley Cliffs *

and Eddisbury Hill *

Beeston Castle Beeston Castle is a former Royal castle in Beeston, Cheshire, England (), perched on a rocky sandstone crag above the Cheshire Plain. It was built in the 1220s by Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester (1170–1232), on his return from th ...

Peckforton Castle Peckforton Castle is a Victorian country house built in the style of a medieval castle. It stands in woodland at the north end of Peckforton Hills northwest of the village of Peckforton, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Herit ...

in the

Peckforton Hills The Peckforton Hills are a sandstone ridge running broadly northeast–southwest in the west of the English county of Cheshire. They form a significant part of the longer Mid Cheshire Ridge which extends southwards from Frodsham towards Malp ...

* Burwardsley village * Bickerton Hills and Maiden Castle, an Iron Age fort *Wharton's & Willeymoor locks on the Shropshire Union Canal * Grindley Brook, staircase lock on the Llangollen branch of the Shropshire Union Canal On the clearest of days sights such as the

Liver Building The Royal Liver Building is a Grade I listed building in Liverpool, England. It is located at the Pier Head and along with the neighbouring Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building is one of Liverpool's '' Three Graces'', which line the ...

and Anglican Cathedral in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

and the Shell Stanlow Oil Refinery at

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south of ...

can be seen from many different locations including Bickerton Hill. Other famous landmarks visible from the trail include the

Jodrell Bank Observatory Jodrell Bank Observatory () in Cheshire, England, hosts a number of radio telescopes as part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio astro ...

, which can be seen from Bulkeley Hill.

Races

For many years the Fire Service organised a full traverse of the trail in a day, enjoyed by walkers and runners. In May 2011 the event was revived by Helsby Running Club as an

LDWA The Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA) is a British not for profit, volunteer-led association whose aim is "to further the common interests of those who enjoy long distance walking". The LDWA is an association of people with the common inte ...

event. The current record for the full traverse is held by Duncan Harris of Chester Tri, in 4 hours, 10 minutes. The women's best time is held by Caroline Hall of Wirral AC, in 5:04. The full race deviates slightly from the official route of the Sandstone Trail by finishing at Frodsham Community Centre, located about 0.25 mile from the obelisk at the Bear's Paw, and shortening the route by just 0.1 mile. Part of the path is used for the Sandstone Trail Races in early October organised by Deeside Orienteering Club; the longer race has been run since 1977. The longer race (, of climbing) starts from

Duckington Duckington is a small village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is situated some 10½ miles (17 km) south-east of Chester, 10 miles (16 km) east o ...

(), climbs to the ridge's high point at Raw Head (227 metres) and runs northwards to Barnes Bridge Gates in

. The shorter race (, of climbing) starts near

, finishing in the same place.

References

External links

Cheshire West and Chester Council - Sandstone TrailWalking Cheshire's Sandstone TrailDiscovercheshire website (Sandstone Trail).Long Distance Walkers Association
{{coord , 53, 7, N, 2, 42, W, type:landmark_dim:55000_region:GB-CHS, display=title Footpaths in Cheshire Long-distance footpaths in England Footpaths in Shropshire