Discover the countryside: Cheshire

PLACE TO EXPLORE: Discover the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge

Jonathan Clarke, Chair of CPRE Cheshire, recommends the Sandstone Ridge, stretching through the heart of the county from the Bickerton Hills to Frodsham Hill.

Less well known than the nearby Peak District, the ridge holds spectacular sandstone outcrops, ancient woodland, rare heathland and caves including Mad Allen’s Hole, alongside small lakes and ponds formed at the end of the last Ice Age. The ruins of Beeston Castle stand guard over the surrounding landscape.

LOCAL SECRET: Uncover Cheshire’s hidden peatlands

Many people know about Britain’s upland peatlands, but Cheshire’s lowland peatlands are less familiar, including Lindow Moss, where the remarkably preserved body of Lindow Man was discovered.

Peatlands like these store twice as much carbon as all of the world’s forests combined, and support wildlife found almost nowhere else. CPRE Cheshire works to protect sites such as Danes Moss near Macclesfield, where new development has threatened this valuable habitat.