Although we ship our products nationwide, Healthful Pets are based in the beautiful county of Cheshire. So whether you are local or planning a visit, we thought we’d share one of our favourite local walks with you...
This walk starts and finishes at a local country, The Plough, a very dog friendly pub, so you can be sure of refreshment after your walk.
This walk takes in The Whitegate Way which 100 years ago was a branch line connecting the Winsford Salt Mines to the main Chester to Manchester line at Cuddington; now it is a gorgeous country path about 7 miles long.
You will also see some of the areas many lakes and meres, farming landscapes, woodland, and streams. It’s a walk for everyone and the scenery is constantly changing, so it doesn’t even seem like a long walk. There aren’t any steep climbs either so it’s suitable for all. We’ve also added an alternative return for those who fancy something a little shorter – the entire walk is about 8.5 miles and the shorter one about 5.
The Route:
Start at The Plough Inn – Postcode CW8 2BP
Turn left out of the car park and head down to the bottom of Beauty Bank, at the end where it bears to the right you'll see a gap heading straight on into some trees. Follow this path, cross the footbridge and turn left up the gravel track.
Follow this track round first to the right and then to the left. You'll pass a gate on your right, shortly after this and before you get to entrance gates to the farm house, there is a stile on your right. Climb over the stile and up the short path to a second stile and climb over this one too. You'll see a kissing gate diagonally to your right, go through this, across the field and through another kissing gate, and then proceed across the next field to a big staircase type stile. Turn right after this and then left down the steps to the Whitegate Way.
At the bottom of the steps turn left and follow the Whitegate Way for about 10 minutes, until you drop down to a road - Grange Lane. Turn left and follow this old road for about 15 minutes until you come to a fork, where it becomes a path to the left and a track up to the farmhouse on the right.
Take the left hand footpath and after about 10 minutes you'll appear in Whitegate Village. Turn right up the hill and after the pavement fizzles out, enter the field on the left through the gate or over the stile and head along the hedge towards the trees.
Enter the woodland through the gate and follow the clearly defined path through the woods. Shortly you'll come to a fence where the only way you can go is right.
Follow the fence around the stunning grounds of Monksmoor Cottage and then as soon as you enter the field turn left and follow the line of the hedge until you come to a footpath sign resting in the bushes. Cross the field to the right as indicated by the sign, past the tree in the middle of the field and then into the woods on the other side.
Take the path to the left and follow it as it winds through the woodland over an old and now, not so ornamental bridge and you'll exit onto the drive from the blue bridge to Vale Royal Abbey. Turn left and then immediately right, crossing the drive and entering another path to your right. This takes you through some woodland with a field on your right. Ensure you keep the field on you're right and when you come to a stile on the right, ignore it and carry straight on. There's a path to the left with a footbridge too, do not take this, it is straight on that you need.
Eventually you'll come out on the Vale Royal Abbey golf course. The official path skirts the perimeter fence for a short distance across the course. Then you're back into the trees for a bit, following a path that runs parallel to the main road for quite some distance. Ultimately you'll exit the path through an opening by the main entrance to the Vale Royal Abbey estate. If you look across the road to the left a bit, you'll see another gate, to the left of this gate, which is usually shut is some pedestrian access.
(At this point it is possible to take a shorter return to the Plough. Keep walking past the church on the right and follow the road up the hill until you come to a cross roads. Left here and then you’ll see the path fork left under some trees. This brings you back to the car park.)
Follow the drive down and pick up the path through the kissing gate, and follow the path around the left hand side of the lake - New Pool.
The path will take you through some woodland, following the course of a stream. Keep with this path, over a wooden bridge and continue until after another bridge the path becomes a wooden boarded route through the trees.
At the end of the boardwalk there's a gate into a field which sometimes contains livestock. Turn right out of the gate, over the stile and left towards the little thatched building.
Follow the path round the back of this building and keep close to the fence on your right hand side until you emerge in another field. This field can be occupied by cattle too sometimes and if so it's possible to skirt around near the edge of the lake to get to the stile on the other side. If it's cow free, which it usually is, just cross straight over and over the stile, following the path along the banks of Petty Pool.
Toward the end of the lake the path bends round to the left, follow this bend and continue on the wide gravel track for about half a mile.
You'll eventually come to a gate, just before you reach Daleford's Lane so a good idea to put any dogs on a lead here, and turn left and cross Daleford's Lane; a few yards down there's a track going off to the right - take this. After a short walk down the track you'll see a stile to your right, climb over this, then the next one and follow the path until you come to a large field.
Cross this field and then follow the wide track until it brings you onto a gravel road called Overdale Lane. Turn left onto this and virtually immediately turn right through a gap in the hedge, indicated by a public footpath sign. The path forks shortly after this, follow the right hand fork, and after the path drops down a steepish descent, turn left and keep following the path round the banks of the lake. Before you know it you will pop out through a gate onto the Whitegate Way.
Turn left onto the Whitegate Way, past the delightful Whitegate Station cafe and through the car park. About 250 yards after you start the footpath out of the other side of the car park, there is a stile to the left. Take this and head across the field toward the gate. Go through the gate and drop down the field to the left. Bear right along the edge, and over the stile onto the lane. Turn left up the hill and then right. Straight across at the crossroads and you'll be back at The Plough.
If you do the walk please let us know, we’d love to see your photos.
Roger Westwood August 2018
