This is the view north over Rostherne Mere from Rostherne Parish church, near Tatton park.
Rostherne Mere is one of the more enigmatic of Cheshire’s many meres, lakes formed during the last ice age.
You can only gain fleeting glimpses driving along the surrounding lanes. From the busy A556 to the west, you can just see it over the hedge tops.
Rostherne Mere is not open to casual visitors as it is a nature reserve, a fragile haven for ducks and other birds, as well as harvest mice. Access is possible only with a permit from English Nature.
More info the website www.english-nature.org.uk.
View this location on Multimap.
Most of the northern boundary of Cheshire* runs along the River Mersey. Palatine Road in Manchester is so called because it links the two county palatines of Lancashire and Cheshire, crossing the River Mersey here at Palatine Road Bridge. As palatines, both counties have special historical privileges, some of which continue to this day.
The name Northenden comes from the location of the village on the northern boundary of Cheshire, though in recent times the City of Manchester has spilled south over the Mersey, taking in Northenden and nearby Wythenshawe.
Despite absorption into the city, this scene retains a rural charm. On the left, overlooking the Mersey, is the Tatton Arms and in the centre right, St Wilfrid’s parish church. Passing just overhead is the thundering M60 (former M63) motorway. (A version of this photo features in the book ‘Around the M60, Manchester’s Orbital Motorway’).
*By Cheshire I am referring to the ancient county of Cheshire, not the post-1974 Cheshire County Council area. Northenden is in Cheshire but not within the Cheshire County Council area. The county boundary is at this point unmarked, and most people, even local residents, don’t realise they are crossing between two ancient counties at Palatine Road Bridge.
Trees and woodland are a key part of the identity of Cheshire, and feature in many place names: Cheadle (from Welsh coed or ‘wood’), Hazel Grove, Woodley and here, Woodford.
It’s autumn and the leaves of the trees are brown, the hedge is brown too.
Cheshire has a similarity in appearance with New England. But in the United States and Canada, they make a lot more of this time of year. They even have their own word for it: the Fall.
In New England, the colours - or should that be colors - are purer, the seasons clearer, the leaves browner and the skies bluer, as depicted in the pictures of Maxfield Parrish, who lived in Vermont.
This scene reminded me instantly of his pictures. I would like to develop a vision of Cheshire as pure and quintessential as his vision of New England.
More about Maxfield Parrish.
