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Macclesfield to Crewe 2 - Congleton to Sandbach

Difficulty Leisurely

Walking time 5 hours 07 minutes

Length 16.5km / 10.3mi

Route developer: Geoff Arnfield

Route checker: David Gylee

Start location Astbury Street, Congleton
Route Summary The second section of the Macclesfield to Crewe linear route passes along quiet paths and lanes via a number of farms and through the hamlet of Brereton Green.
*move mouse over graph to see points on route
Getting there

Public Transport: The 38 bus runs from Macclesfield via Congleton and Sandbach to Crewe and provides a useful link. Other more local buses also cover the area.

 
Bus Stations are at: Congleton: The Fairground, Market Street; 800 metres from the route. Sandbach: The Commons; 200 metres from the route.  

Congleton and Crewe-Sandbach are not directly linked by rail. The nearest link station is Cheadle Hulme. Sandbach and Congleton railway stations are each over 1.6 Km from the route.

 

Description

[1] After walking the to the end of Astbury Street, a footpath leads around to the left of Astbury Mere.

(A) Astbury Mere is a worked out sand quarry used for a mixture of water sports and conservation.

Take the left fork to the houses at Bankyfields Crescent. Go forward at the crescent to Waggs Road. Turn right and walk along Waggs Road, which shortly becomes Fol Hollow, to the junction with the A34, the Congleton to Newcastle road. Turn left at the main road and walk along for about 300 metres.

[2] By the car park of the Egerton Arms, cross the road and enter a narrow farm lane (Bent Lane) which carries a ‘No Through Road’ sign. In about one kilometre the lane leads to Bent Farm. The route is now part of the Dane Valley Way (DVW). From Bent Farm a bridleway winds around the edge of a working sand quarry and out onto a lane. Turn right on the lane and in a short distance it leads to the main A534 road between Congleton and Sandbach.
Turn right along the main road for about 500 metres and turn left into a minor road (Sandy Lane).

[3] About 200 metres along the minor road turn off left onto a public footpath. This leads in about a kilometre to Lower Medhurst Green Farm. Turn right onto a farm road which leads past the farm buildings. Take the footpath which goes off to the left shortly after the farm. This footpath follows field boundaries and leads directly to Home Farm and a minor road.

[4] Turn right onto the road. It leads past Smethwick Green Farm to a sharp right-hand bend with Smethwick Hall Farm on the left and a footpath straight ahead across the fields. Take that footpath. It leads across the fields to the right of Bag Mere, a floating peat bog with only a very small area of open water. Shortly after Bag Mere the path leads onto a minor road close to a junction of three roads and a bridleway, the latter to the right of a house.

[5] Take the bridleway. It leads past Bagmere Bank Farm straight to Brereton Church and Brereton Hall. Opposite the church cross a stile and take the footpath across a stream and fields to a minor road.

Turn left on the minor road. After about 800 metres, just after the road junction by Lightfoot Green Farm, take the footpath on the right which leads in almost a straight line to the A50. Turn left along the A50 for about 100 metres, then take the footpath on the right to Taxmere Farm and follow the path diagonally right through two fields and then via a wooded footpath to Brickhouse Farm and the A534. Please note that the high embankment on the left which guards the sand quarry, is private land.

[6] Cross the A534 and turn right to cross the M6 by Junction 17. Continue down the A534, ignoring a road to the right opposite the petrol station. Cross the A534 again and keep to the right-hand verge. Shortly there is a footpath. Follow this footpath round to a track which skirts a lake on the left and leads into the old part of Sandbach town. At the end of the track turn right for Scotch Common where there are bus stops for the K38 bus. 

POI information

St Oswald’s church was thought to have been founded in the reign of Richard the Lionheart as a thanksgiving offering by one of the Breretons who had safely returned from the Crusades. The present building is later but has a richly carved roof and a font dated 1660 which replaced one thrown out by the Roundheads in the Civil War.                                                                                                                                            Brereton Hall is a twin towered Elizabethan building. The Queen laid the Hall’s foundation stone and has been a frequent visitor.

Notes

Map: OS Explorer 268

Meals and Accommodation: The towns on the route all have cafes and restaurants. Most public houses these days sell food as well as drinks. In addition to accommodation in the towns, there are several B&B houses and farmhouses on or near the route. There are no Youth Hostels convenient to the route.
 
Local Information Offices: Congleton 01260 271095; Sandbach 01270 763231.
Acknowledgements

Route 2 from - A Celebration Walk - Macclesfield to Crewe.   Published by the South and East Cheshire Area (1995).

This linear walk of about 60 Km or 37 miles, was one of very many projects organised throughout Britain by members to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Ramblers. The route linkis towns within the three Groups of the South & East Cheshire Area and is possible to go by quiet paths and lanes along the way, visiting the towns of Macclesfield, Congleton, Sandbach and Crewe.

 

  • Brereton Church
    Brereton Church
    By - David Gylee
  • Sandbach
    Sandbach
    By - David Gylee
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