Part of Bradt's distinctive, award-winning series of 'Slow' travel guides to UK regions, the new, thoroughly updated second edition of Cheshire (Slow Travel) celebrates this charming, popular English county. Written with intimate detail and insider tips by two authors raised in Cheshire, it remains the only standalone guidebook to provide in-depth coverage of the county.
Already renowned for an abundance of black and white timbered buildings, Cheshire was put firmly on the map in the 2000s thanks to then-resident stars David and Victoria Beckham. The county confounds expectations with its surprisingly varied and dramatic landscapes, ranging from the Cheshire Plain to the wild hills and windswept moors of the Pennines and Peak District in the east, and the upstanding sandstone ridges of the west - not to mention the moody coastal marshes of the Wirral Peninsula, flanked by the major estuaries of the rivers Mersey and Dee, which flow into the Irish Sea.
Home to Premier League footballers it may be, but this is also a largely rural landscape that abounds in farm shops and forests, and meres and marinas. Alongside pretty lowland villages lies ample industrial, cultural and scientific heritage, ranging from Bronze Age mining sites and medieval castles to Victorian mills and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Jodrell Bank, home of the mighty Lovell Telescope.
Then there's the county town of Chester with its fascinating Roman history, unique double-decker medieval shopping arcades and the most complete city walls in Britain. Delve deeper into local culture by visiting engaging museums, grand stately homes and formal gardens; by exploring literary connections to Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll and Elizabeth Gaskell; or by gawping at the World Worm Charming Championship (held annually in Willaston).
Recuperate by indulging in local artisan food at one of many spruced-up village inns (including Britain's 2023 Pub of the Year), then lay your head in country-house hotels, characterful B&Bs or self-catering estate cottages. Or, for a truly slow experience, profit from Cheshire's canal network, which is perfect for waterside strolls or pootling along in a narrowboat. Whatever floats your particular vessel, Bradt's Cheshire (Slow Travel) guides your way.
Kate Simon (traveltappers.co.uk) grew up in a small town in southern Cheshire that, to this day, is fondly known to locals as 'the village'. She caught the travel bug early with pedal-powered expeditions to the rural outposts of Oakhanger, Barthomley and Hassall Green. Then, when her family delved deeper into the county, moving to the hamlet of Hough, she discovered the charms of the historic market town of Nantwich and the headier delights of urbane Chester. In 2010, she accepted an invitation from Visit Cheshire to truly rediscover her home county and write a guide to the area's food and drink. The experience sparked Kate's desire to champion Cheshire through her journalism - and to write this book. Kate has been a writer and editor since the 1980s. A former travel editor of the Independent on Sunday, she contributes to a variety of national newspapers and magazines.
Suzanne King grew up in northeast Cheshire: in Poynton (source of her earliest childhood memories, a hazy mix of bluebell woods, blackberry picking and agricultural shows); Cheadle Hulme (where the story of her own school - founded in the 1850s to educate orphans - sparked an interest in local history); and Alderley Edge (spending several years working in the village nightclub, then a favourite haunt of the 'Cheshire set'). After working as a journalist in London and abroad, she returned to her northwest roots in the late Noughties. King is now a freelance travel writer, contributing to a range of publications including the Telegraph, for which she reviews Cheshire's best hotels, inns and B&Bs. Co-authoring this guide has provided the perfect excuse to spend every free moment pootling round the local countryside, revisiting old haunts, discovering new ones and sampling as many of the regional cheeses, brews and ice creams as possible.
