Sandstone Trail

After a rest yesterday we set off on the Sandstone Trail where we had left off on Monday. The early part of today's walk was dominated by views of Beeston castle set on its rocky outcrop in the distance. The castle was used for the filming of Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves.

We stopped at Wharton's Lock on The Shropshire Union canal and watched a few barges go through and the farmers taking in the harvest. While we were standing at this point we saw a kingfisher fly by and a kestrel in the distance.

We climbed up to Beeston Castle and stopped there to have our packed lunch before heading off on the next section of the walk. This took us towards Peckforton Castle, built in the mid 19th century in the style of a medieval castle. It is now a luxury hotel that hosts weddings and other events. In 2011 a bridegroom admitted starting a fire at the hotel which caused £6 million pounds worth of damage following a disagreement with them about his bar tab.

From Peckforton we headed towards Bulkeley Hill wood and Raw Head, the highest point on the Sandstone Trail. The views from these two points were simply superb. We could see for miles and miles. From Raw Head we dropped down to finish our walk at Bickerton church which was originally built as a chapel of ease for those who those who found it difficult to travel to the parish church at Malpas.

That leaves us with two stages of the walk to complete. The plan is to do another one on Thursday and the final stage at the weekend.