Burwardsley and Beeston Castle

Turn left out of the Cheshire Workshops (Candle Factory) car park and straight on at the junction into Pennsylvania Lane.  Passing by the Pheasant Inn, follow the lane to its end where there is a gate leading to a woodland path.  Take the path – part of the Sandstone Trail – and follow the waymarks for Beeston Castle along the route.

At the end of the path, you will find a kissing gate leading on to a lane.  Turn right along the lane.  After approx. 300 yards, pass through another kissing gate on the left and take the track across the field.  Beeston Castle can be seen ahead.

At the far side of the field, go through the kissing gate and follow the path signposted Beeston Castle.

When you reach some steps down to a bridge over a brook, look behind for a view of the tower of Peckforton Castle.  Cross the bridge, on to another kissing gate and follow the path through a field to the next kissing gate and onto a lane.  Turn left, then immediately right onto woodland track following signpost for Delamere/Frodsham.

At the end of the track, turn left onto a lane passing Beeston Castle entrance on the left.

Walk around the outside walls of the castle grounds, pass two road junctions, then at the next road junction turn right – signposted Burwardsley/Tattenhall.  Take care along this road as there may be a fair amount of traffic heading to/from Beeston.

After just over ½ mile where the road bends sharp left, take the lane to the right (No Through Road sign) marked Bishop Bennett Way.

Within five hundred yards, the lane becomes more of a farm track. Ignoring another track to the right, continue straight on over a railway bridge.  Now the track becomes grassy and narrower.  Continue on, crossing a footbridge and stile; turn right to the next stile.  After about ¼ mile you reach a junction, head left towards and under the railway bridge..
Immediately after the railway bridge, take the stile on the left – marked Eddisbury way.  Ignore the direction pointer, instead bear slightly left over a stile in the hedge by a pond.  Now, head towards the 3 rightmost trees and gate in the far corner of the field and step over a tree trunk stile.  Take immediate left over another stile following way pointer to far left corner of the field and over a stile made of breeze blocks and a large wooden slab.

Turn left over a double stile, then right following hedgerow to another double stile, then over a single stile on the right. At the road, turn left. At the T junction, turn left then immediate right on to Wood Lane.

Continue along Wood Lane for about a mile until the road turns sharp left, at which point, continue straight on, along a lane which soon turns to a cobbled farm track.  Take the wall stile, and head straight along the edge of a field across to a double stile in the hedge.  Head straight on passing 2 oak trees in the recently ploughed field towards 2 further oak trees (the second is hidden behind the other at first) and over a stile at the edge of the field.

Follow the track down to a bridge over a brook, through the gate posts and immediately turn right – still following the Eddisbury Way markers.  With the farm buildings and subsequent hedgerow on the right hand side, you will reach a stile leading onto a farm lane. Turn left and after about 180 yards look for a stile on the left which is set back from the lane.  Go over this and follow marker direction over a field to a stile in the hedge.  Turn right taking a path by the hedge to a lane.

Cross lane, over a stile and up slope in woods to the stile at the top leading into a field.  Go straight across to a kissing gate and onto a lane. Turn left, going up the lane to a junction. Turn left again following signs for Bulkeley Hill.

(For those wishing to shorten the walk turn right here – the Pheasant Inn is just a few hundred yards down the lane.)

About 50 yards up the lane, turn right through a kissing gate into a field.  Follow the path along the edge to a gate; carry straight on through 3 kissing gates to a lane. Turn left, then immediately right.  After 200 yards or so, turn left into the wood and follow the trail to the top of the hill.  The track now continues along the crest of Bulkeley Hill where, on a clear day, views of Cheshire and beyond can be seen through the trees on the left.

On exiting the wood through a kissing gate, follow the path to the right through a field to a road junction.  Walk straight on – following the sign for Rawhead Farm until just before a house where a stile can be found on the right.  Take this and walk along the edge of the field and take the next stile in the hedge on the left.

Follow the footpath along the edge of the maize field, over a stile, through the next field crossing a stile to a stile leading into a copse. Enter the copse – crab apples here – and exit over a makeshift bridge and a stile into the next field.  Follow the path over the field to the next stile (the LAST one) which brings you out onto a lane.  Turn right and follow the lane up the hill.  Continue along the lane passing the Cheshire workshops and on to the Pheasant Inn.