Waterloo Gate and North Delamere Forest Circular

Philip Ingram

You need to log in as a member of Walkingworld to access the details for this walk and have an active subscription. Please join, or log in above if you are already a member.

This walk combines fields and forest, giving a good mix of habitats for plants, animals and fungi. The route passes mosses and meres, rare habitats for which Cheshire and North Shropshire are justly famous. In Delamere, the meres are home to a wide range of insects including some very rare dragonflies.

Early in the walk there are superb views on clear days. Manchester and the Peak District are visible to the east and the Cheshire Plain and the Shropshire Hills to the south.

The wooded section of the walk passes areas where the early 19th Century drainage works by French prisoners-of-war are being reversed to convert low-quality forest land back into meres and mosses. While not as large as the similar area at Blakemere in the south of the forest, these areas show the process at an earlier stage.

There are notes on the history of the area in the 'Additional Information' section.

England - North England - Cheshire - Woodland or Forest

Features

Birds, Butterflies, Flowers, Great Views, Industrial Archaeology, Wildlife, Woodland

5/7/2020 - Philip Ingram

From point 12 to point 15, much of the route is on a new access road. Point 15 is recognisable but shortly after leaving the road, turn left on to an all-weather footpath/cycle track which was not there when the notes were written. This curves sinuously through the forest until a bend to the left leads to a dead straight stretch. At the bend, head right to find marker post 34 as in the original notes. If you get to the straight, you have passed point 16 so backtrack and fork left to find post 34.

5/3/2020 - Pauline Jones

It was a bit tricky finding the start of this walk, because google did’nt recognise Waterloo Lane. There were lovely views in the first part of the walk. We couldn't find our way at instruction 16 and so we had to improvise the way back from there. Not made any easier because there is development taking place in Delamere Forest, which prevents access to a large area where we needed to be!