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A very English walk around Shocklach

By Cheshire Life on January 2nd 2011

The part of Cheshire to the east of the winding River Dee was at one time disputed territory, claimed by both Wales and England and for a period before a border acceptable to both became established it remained a kind of no-man's land under the jurisdiction of neither.

One consequence of this was the arrival of various fugitives from justice who felt beyond the reach of the authorities and could settle here undisturbed. A problem arose when someone died. Who was to bury them? A way of getting round this dilemma was to carry the coffin of the deceased to a location that had traditionally been regarded as sacred and bury it there. To this day there is a farm in Threapwood called the Holy Land which seems to fit the belief that there was consecrated ground that could be used.

Today places such as Threapwood, Shocklach and Malpas are firmly in England and couldn’t honestly be more English. They are typical English villages, the houses clustered round a crossroads leaving one with the impression that nothing ever really changes or is likely to as long as village life continues.

The pub, The Bull, is a perfect example of the traditional local, one upon which all other locals should be modelled. Sturdy beams, open fires, tiled floors, hand-drawn beers and locally-sourced food all go to prove that the local is not dead as some would have you think. You could spend years trying to find a pub that is the equal of The Bull and never find it.

The car can be left in the pub car park to do this walk. It would be a natural courtesy to pop in for a swift half either before your walk or on your return. Turn left out of the car park and walk along the Horton Green road, leaving it after passing the opening to Moore Farm on the right where a footpath sign and stile offer a way forward.

Follow the left hand hedge line through the field and coming to a gate, go through it and turn left. There’s no sign of a stile in spite of this being a right of way but to reassure yourself that you are on the right path there should be a pond directly opposite to the gate. Follow the left-hand hedge and cross the next stile you come to which should have on it a way mark for the Marches Way, a 200-mile trail from Chester to Cardiff.

The next obstacle is a ramshackle arrangement of two gates and a bridge across a ditch, a fine example of improvisation. Once through this, keep on the same line along the remains of an old hedge line, the hedge now disappeared except for some remnants of hawthorns still showing where the boundary once was.

Cross the next stile and the plank across the ditch and look ahead to a bank of trees to the right. We need to head to the top end of this wood and go right when we come to a muddy area with a fairly redundant stile in the corner.

We now cross the top end of the narrow wood and come to a hand-gate and stile which take us into a meadow across which we strike at ten o’clock. In the top far corner a number of paths intersect but we need to go right, crossing a stile into a field. Cross the next stile you come to and emerge on a lane near Hawthorn Cottage, a child’s drawing of a house.

Opposite it, enter a field and keep ahead along the left-hand boundary to where a stile leads onto a road. Turn right and walk into the small settlement of Chorlton Lane. At the junction, turn right and as the road swings left, keep forward on a bridleway past a smallholding, passing through two gates through a wooded area to a further gate fitted with one of those clever fastenings that allow riders to open the gate without dismounting.

On reaching a junction of footpaths, go through the left of two gates and take the stile on the immediate left. Cross the field and go over a stile into a lane and turn right. This is Purser Lane. Go along it, keeping forward when it bears right and come to a T-junction by a half-timbered house called The Purser. Turn left and walk on the verge of what is a much busier road than the quiet lanes we have enjoyed so far.

We soon leave it by a stile in the hedge on the right where the road bends and cross the field to a metal gate but don’t go through it, rather on reaching the gate go right along a left-hand hedge line to where a plank bridge and stile lead into the next field. Keeping forward we meet a track by a cottage and barn and beyond these come to a meeting of paths where we go right. This is the tiny hamlet of Shocklach Green. Take the next left then look for a stile in the right-hand hedge just after a run-down place called White Cottage.

Enter a field and keep along the right-hand boundary but aim for a water trough in the crossing hedge. There’s a stile here which we cross.

Continue through the next field maintaining the same direction and climb a further stile in a fence. After one more stile, beside an old metal gate, we emerge in the driveway of some tidy houses and then find ourselves on the road in Shocklach village with The Bull to the left, our journey’s end.

This varied and enjoyable five-mile walk should take about three hours or so and follows mainly field paths and quiet lanes. It’s practically dead flat but there are more than enough stiles and many of them need the surrounding vegetation clearing. If I’d brought my secateurs with me my companion Jim assured me that he would have done it himself. When it comes to pruning, Jim’s the man for the job.