Arley Hall Circular Walk

The URL for this route is http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5908360.

Today's 5.5035 mile walk

We started early today, from the Free Walkers' carpark in Arley Road (in the village not at the Hall). Arley village is a nice little village with houses, I assume, built for the Estate workers and their families.

Arley Village

From the carpark we headed towards Arley Hall but took the first byway on the right, along a track.

The red top appears again!

Crossing a "Bridle Bridge"...

Lever that can be used when on horseback.

...we headed up to Hollie's Farm where we turned left along Hollins Lane.
The next part of the walk caused, I think it is fair to say, panic for my better half. 
A field full of skittish,  inquisitive, head-butting, loopy heifers decided to hassle us. Keeping calm and standing ground where appropriate, we made our way out onto Knutsford Road.
The panic, apparently warmed Chris to such an extent that gloves came off and coat was opened.
Turning first left, we walked along Quebec Road to the T-Junction at the end.

Looking back down Quebec Road

The footpath continued straight on from Quebec Road.
Our path brought us out onto the road in the Village of Great Budworth.

Great Budworth

It was here that we made two errors...

We were too early Grrrr!

1. We missed the footpath sign in front of the church; yes it was there but, we were looking at the George & Dragon Pub. Thinking that, if only we hadn't set off so early, we could have had a drink; and
2. Having corrected our direction, the sign for the North Cheshire Way was missing.

Retraced our steps to get back on track!

We ended up walking up to the road and then, returning to where we should have turned left. As you can see, it was a beautiful avenue of trees and spring flowers.
At the next junction we went straight on up Heath Road.
Annoying effect of starting early, we missed out on the Ice Cream Farm and cafe.

North Cheshire Way signs

Following the signs, we made our way to Knutsford Road. Crossing straight over, we continued along a concrete road to eventually cross Arley Brook.

No, not this one.

I'm pleased to say the original bridge has been replaced by a metal one!
About 1km on, we reached a junction with the tarmacked driveway to Arley Hall.
To complete the loop all we needed to do was take the first left to return to the carpark.

Seat in Arley Hall Gardens

We decided to visit Arley Hall and gardens. If you haven't been, they are well worth a visit. The gardens have recently been voted in the Top 50 in Europe and in Britain's Top 10.
More information available at http://www.arleyhallandgardens.com/.