Cheshire walk: Churton and Farndon and the River Dee

But there’s something else that adds to the lawless, liminal feel: this is plotland. Dotted around the fields and overlooking the river are around 50 or so makeshift dwellings that seem to stretch the boundaries of convention and legality.

Some are tidy and well looked after, some are appealingly makeshift, and some are abandoned and falling apart.

It’s a quiet and attractive piece of countryside otherwise, but there’s an unworldly air to the place.

The plotlander movement sprang from an arcadian impulse – the desire of ordinary people for a rural idyll, or at least a holiday bolthole, of their own – allied with the landowner’s natural desire to make a bob or two from what was mostly marginal land.

This was, of course, before the strictures of the Town and Country Planning Act came into effect in 1947.

City-dwellers, often outsiders with artistic or bohemian leanings, bought or leased small plots of land – often through unorthodox, quasi-legal mechanisms – and then built their own homes from scratch.

Here along the Dee, there are glorified sheds, log cabins, mobile homes and even an old box van on stilts.

Many of the cabins have their origins in the 1930s, though ownership has of course been regularised over time and some are now considered rather desirable residences. But there’s still something subversive about them.

It’s no surprise to learn that Ricky Tomlison of Brookside and The Royle Family fame – a man with a rebellious streak a mile wide – is said to own one of them.

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But there’s much to see on this walk besides this curious social experiment. We start in the more conventional village of Churton and walk along the Dee through the plotland to Farndon.

An (optional) extension then crosses the medieval bridge into Wales through Holt village and past the scant ruin of its castle.

We then cross back into England and follow boardwalks below the striking red-sandstone Dee Cliffs, a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest.

After a pleasant wander through Farndon village, we head out past a notable memorial to an aristocratic soldier before returning to Churton and a well-deserved pint at the popular and award-winning White Horse pub.

The River Dee here divides England (left) and Wales (right). Image: David Dunford The Walk

1. From the crossroads by the White Horse, follow the narrow Hob Lane to the left of the pub. At the junction with Stannage Lane, go straight ahead down Knowl Lane. Continue beyond the last house as the lane becomes a farm track. The hedged track winds its way to a junction, where you turn right, then immediately left. Beyond a gate, cross the end of a field into a wood. A slightly indistinct path shortly departs on the left and passes diagonally through the wood to meet the River Dee, with your first glimpses of the plotland dwellings.

2. Turn left through a kissing gate and walk along the riverside edge of two fields. Beyond another kissing gate, above a wide bend in the river, the path leaves the river to reach Townfield Lane, the main access for the plotland settlement. Continue beyond it through a kissing gate opposite on a path (which may be muddy) that returns shortly to the riverbank, though you leave it again briefly as you wind through chalets and outbuildings. Eventually, a kissing gate returns you to riverside meadows.

3. Follow the field edge around a long curve in the river to another gate and another pocket of plotland dwellings. A further field follows until the next gate. Follow a track, then keep right past more chalets. As you approach Farndon, you pass the first of the impressive sandstone cliffs on your left.

Farndon Bridge: medieval masonry. Image: David Dunford 4. When you reach the road by Farndon Bridge, a possible shortcut heads left, up the High Street (to Churton Road, where you turn left to step 6). Otherwise, turn right over the bridge into Wales. The bridge (also known as Holt Bridge) was built in the mid-14th century and once had a gate and tower at the Welsh end. Continue uphill into Holt and pass the church (and the Golden Lion pub, formerly the Peal O’ Bells) on your left. When the road bends right (towards Cleopatra’s café and the war memorial and market cross), turn left into Dee Side and immediately right into School Lane. Bear left in front of the old school and follow a footpath that emerges by the river. Turn right past Holt Castle. This was a major 13th-century stronghold, built on a plug of bedrock sandstone to prevent undermining, but it was much reduced by Sir Thomas Grosvenor, who used much of the stone to rebuild Eaton Hall after the Civil War. Beyond the castle, continue to a lane beneath the bridge carrying the A534 over the Dee. Turn right then left through a kissing gate and up a flight of metal steps to the main road. Turn left to cross the bridge then step (rather awkwardly) over the crash barrier on your left to another set of steps leading back down to the river.

5. Turn right along the riverbank, now heading downstream, with views to the castle and church in Holt. More or less opposite the church, turn right across a field to meet a hedged footpath, and turn left then left again onto a boardwalk. This leads through damp woodland beneath the impressive Dee Cliffs. The pebbly sandstones here were laid down by a sandy, braided river that flowed into the Irish Sea in the Early Triassic period, around 250 million years ago. At the end of the boardwalk, turn right and climb the cliffs via steps with a handrail. Continue into a driveway and follow it out to the road. Turn left into Church Lane and pass to the right of St Chad's Church. The church has a rare window within, depicting Civil War soldiers. Cheshire forces loyal to the king attacked the church in 1643 when it was being used by Parliamentarians as a barracks; the damage from musket bullets is still evident, as it is on the church at Holt. On leaving the church, walk out along Church Street to the High Street. Turn left to the junction with Churton Road, where you turn right.

The Barnston Memorial: monument to a major. Image: David Dunford 6. Follow Churton Road past Farndon Primary School on your right (opposite the end of Townfield Lane), then turn left into Brewery Lane. Beyond the last of the houses, and after a gate, the track leads below the Barnston Memorial, commemorating Major Roger Barnston, who died in 1857 from wounds sustained during the Indian Rebellion. The track continues to a mobile mast with wide views left over the Dee Valley. In the next field, the definitive line crosses the field diagonally to the right, but the de facto route seems to be to continue along the track to a junction, then head right up to a waymark post then left from there. Either way, you end up in the top right-hand corner of the field, after a rather tiresome trudge across arable land. Continue to the left of a hedge until you reach Knowl Lane by a noticeboard you passed earlier. Turn right and follow the track back up to Churton.

The White Horse at Churton. Image: David Dunford Watering hole

The White Horse had been shut for more than two years before the Elite Bistro Group owner Gary Usher bought it in 2022 and reopened it a year later. His exploits, and those of the community-minded villagers who chipped in with the crowdfunding and even the hands-on work of refurbishment, were highlighted in an inspiring feature in the April 2023 edition of Cheshire Life. I’m glad to report the place is thriving.

The pub describes its food offering as 'uncomplicated, unpretentious, delicious', and with an offer of £22 for two courses it won’t break the bank either. The White Horse is open and serving food seven days a week and I was pleased to see a selection of small plates on offer too, as sometimes you don’t want a big meal when you’re about to set off on a walk…though the chicken, mushroom and tarragon pie did sound tempting.

The pub is dog-friendly, and there’s plenty of room in the car park. Landlady Jo Williams tells me the pub is very popular with walking groups and dog-walkers. As always, though, it’s courteous to repay the generosity of the hosts by popping in for a drink or even better a meal. If you’re a dedicated foodie, you might be interested in the pub’s popular guest chef series, though you’ll need to book a place in advance as they inevitably sell out. March’s visitors are Tom and Robert Aikens on Tuesday 18th and Tom Parker-Bowles on Wednesday 26th

Compass Points

Area of walk: Churton and Farndon

Start point: White Horse, Churton CH3 6LA

Distance: 6½ (or 5) miles

Time to allow: 3 hours

Map: OS Explorer 257 Crewe & Nantwich

Refreshments: White Horse, Churton thewhitehorsechurton.co.uk

Cleopatras II coffeeshop and bistro, Holt

The Raven, Farndon theraven-farndon.co.uk

Practicalities: Riverside and cross-field paths may be muddy. Three flights of steps. Churton is served by the hourly No. 5 Chester–Wrexham bus.