Chehel one

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Chehel here.

A very mixed bag! Some 5 star sections and a couple of points that were a whisper away from failure. I started from Helsby and all was well. A bus stop and nearby railway station to start from. A few shops to stock up from. The first section of the walk follows the pavement of the busy Chester Road and then a turning left through a residential area sets you on to a quiet lane with farmland and then Helsby Golf Course, either side of you. I turned right into Peck Mill Lane and passed through the yard of Peck Mill Farm. The route had been flawless until now. Normally, a footpath along a major walk equals well maintained and used paths but this was not the case for the North Cheshire Way. I contended with fallen trees, overgrown paths and many many hawthorn bushes growing over the stiles. This clearly doesn't get used much. The pub on the Warrington Road, marked on the OS map has clearly been shut for a while and looks like it might be set for demolition. Heading through Dunham on the Hill, things picked up majorly and would have stayed that way had I been able to stay on the quiet and pretty Village Road and then the peaceful Barrow Lane as far as Morley Lane. Instead I was taken on a dogleg through some fairly unremarkable farmland, contending with uneven ground, a swarm of bees adjacent to the stile and a protective mare in a horse field. Morley Lane required caution as it there is some road walking needed but sightlines are clear and I was not the only road user on foot. And so I came to another unenjoyable section. Crops had been planted across the right of way in the first field. The rights of way were a bit vague in the other fields and I had to rely on my GPS to navigate. The stile at the end was yet another tribute to hawthorns which they seem to specialise in around here. There was another brief bit of road walking on the B5182, but this was brief. Then there was a sudden upturn as I joined Wildmoor Lane. The walk became a joy again as I crossed the plain. Passing the church and then St Plegmunds's Well in Plemstall, all was set for an easy navigation to the greenway into Chester. Except it wasn't. The slow way uses a fenced in footpath under the railway to enter Mickle Trafford. Sadly it seems that none of the locals do. I trampled my way to get through the horrendously overgrown strip of land. I gave up at about 5m from the turn into the tunnel under the railway, failure seemed certain. I retraced my steps and made my way via Plemstall Lane and Plemstall Way. Having traced the footpath from the other end I realised that if I'd trampled for just another couple of metres I would have broken through to the walkable footpath under the railway. So I haven't failed this route. But should I expect any other walker to do what I did? You only get to see a residential side to Mickle Trafford and it's a nice one. I even encountered a horse rider (well it wouldn't be a walk in Cheshire without one). Much like the swarm of bees earlier, cyclists seemed to gather in Station Lane to join the Chester Millennium Greenway. And so I started another 5 star section of the walk which took me to the destination in Chester. In summary, there is clearly potential for a superb Slow Way between these settlements, but this is certainly not it. I can post an improvement, but I can't help feeling that a fresh look would be helpful.

Since last reviewed, the broken bridge has been restored, so this walk is now possible.

Starting in Chester, it is well-paved and lit, with good crossings, ramps or low kerbs. Once at Northgate Ponds, the route is now on tarmac footpaths for some miles. Running along an old railway, ot is sometimes embanked but mostly through cuttings.

The path gets increasingly rural until we reach the end. There's an odd little bump in the route that takes us to Meadow Lea Farm, but it's only necessary if you plan on visiting its café.

The road is unpaved until the railways bridges, before we enter a housing estate. From there, footpaths to another unpaved road, although this one serves only one house and ends at Plemstall church. The footpath and bridges from there are now all open and restored.

Into Little Barrow, yet another short stretch of unpaved road, albeit with wide verges, before crossing more fields. Another stretch of quiet unpaved road follows, before using footpaths through fields of cattle to Dunham-on-the-Hill. The village is paved throughout, apart from brief section near Dunham Hall. More fieldwalking follows, through rough horse paddocks, before following a quiet road past the golf course and into Helsby itself, paved throughout.

A good rural wander, although only foot-only; stiles, gates and footbridges exclude wheeled users, and livestock also makes it not suitable for dogwalkers.

Chester to Northgate Village: pavements and city streets, busy with plenty of cafes
Northgate Village to Mickle Trafford: car-free greenway shared with cyclists, good accessibility; refreshments available at Meadow Lea cafe, just off route
Mickle Trafford to Plemstall Church: quiet roads, some with pavements
Plemstall churchyard- worth a visit
Plemstall to Little Barrow: fields and footpaths; currently (June '21) closed due to a footbridge collapse. There is a map showing an alternative route over the Gowy River.
Little Barrow to Dunham and Peck Mill Lane: fields and footpaths mainly, some cattle on the route. Several stiles and quite overgrown in places
Peck Mill Lane to Primrose Lane: a quiet lane next to a golf course
Primrose Lane to Helsby: pavements, initially on quiet roads then alongside the very busy Chester Road.

The route was walked from Chester (The Cross) to the Helsby (row of shops on the Chester Road including Post Office) on Friday 18.06.2021 (late morning/ afternoon) – joined by two friends for the whole route. It was undertaken using the downloaded gpx file, which was then uploaded on to OS Maps. The weather was dry but mostly cloudy for the entire walk.

The Slow Way passes Chester Town Hall and proceeds through the city’s Georgian Northgate. It incorporates a section of the Greenway along the disused railway line between Northgate Ponds (small urban park) and Mickle Trafford. At Mickle Trafford there is the option of resting and taking refreshments at Meadow Lee Farm Coffee Shop on Station Lane. Beyond Mickle Trafford the route largely crosses farmland with a key landmark being Plemstall Church with its interesting graveyard. In addition to crossing fields there are some stretches of road. This includes a short section along the B5132 from Wildmoor Lane to Rose Farm which has no pavement and requires crossing a narrow road bridge. The section along Morley Lane also has no pavement and was fairly busy. The Slow Way passes through the village of Dunham-on-the-Hill (with seating on the triangular village green) to return to farmland after the village. It then proceeds to lanes (without pavements) after Peck Mill Farm but on to pavements on reaching the outskirts of Helsby (at Primrose Lane). The final leg follows the pavement next to the busy A56 (Chester Road).

Many users - mostly walkers and cyclists - were encountered on the Greenway but no users on the farmland beyond Mickle Trafford and before Peck Mill Lane. Several fields had livestock - horses, cattle and sheep.

This Slow Way is mostly on the level with no major gradients. It was felt that the section between Chester and Mickle Trafford is accessible to most users being city streets then purpose-built greenway with no obvious barriers. Crossing Chester’s Inner Ring Road to access Victoria Road can be achieved via a subway or via a traffic light-controlled crossing (adjacent to each other). Notably, after Mickle Trafford there were numerous stiles (some of which were poorly maintained and distinctly wonky), extremely overgrown footpaths, narrow kissing gates and rough ground. One stile between Morley Lane and Dunham-on-the-Hill was completed inaccessible (overgrown with hedging and other vegetation) and the adjacent gate had to be climbed over. Part of the route follows the North Cheshire Way and several sections along this felt - surprisingly - poorly maintained. Approaching Peck Mill Farm the path was particularly overgrown and the footpath was only located with difficulty. In wet weather many sections across the farmland are likely to be muddy – especially near to gates and stiles. On the day (after a prolonged dry spell) the only problematic (deep) mud encountered was adjacent to the narrow footbridge over the River Gowy (near Plemstall Church).

Importantly, currently the Slow Way cannot be followed as mapped because a wooden footbridge over a major ditch (not the River Gowy) is broken and has been taken down and put along the bank (what3words: swift.braked.chaos). Signs near to Plemstall Church and at the entrance to Wildmoor Lane (from the B5132) explain this and provide a diversion via Little Barrow.

Notably, the Greenway is a shared space with cyclists - some travelling a fast speed. The end of the route lacked a landmark, and an alternative could be to extend the Slow Way to Helsby Railway Station. In the row of shops that mark the end of the current Slow Way on Chester Road (Helsby) there was a café (The Old Bank Tea Rooms) which although closing, once they realised that we had walked from Chester, very kindly kept open and provided hot drinks and cakes. The walk along the Chester Road (A56) in Helsby felt unpleasant and a possible alternative could be to follow Robin Hood Lane northwards from Latham Avenue to emerge at the Chester Road closer the row of shops/ Post Office and tea rooms. Also, following a well-defined North Cheshire Way just south of Dunham-on-the-Hill (next to Barrow Lane Farm) might be better than negotiating the many stiles and fields with livestock otherwise encountered after walking along the busy Morley Lane (and therefore also avoid this lane).

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