Cheshire Dreams

To the south of Manchester is a wide suburban belt that lies between the city and the country.

There are pockets of the countryside, as here, near the Brooklands district of Sale off Brooklands Road. We are looking across Fairywell Brook towards Timperley and Altrincham.

The wooden footbridge on the right is a recent addition. This spot is close to the boundary between the City of Manchester and the Borough of Trafford. I believe that in the past, the boundary ran along this brook, but now runs along nearby Brooklands Road.
Click to view this location on Multimap (centred on nearby Larch Close). This location is about 5 1/2 miles south of Manchester, and about 1 1/2 miles south of the River Mersey, Cheshire’s northern boundary.

Cheshire is criss-crossed by miles and miles of narrow lanes, some winding, some straight.

It’s possible to drive from one side of the county to another avoiding the main roads. This lane is near Lower Peover and is part of the ’secret’ route from Wilmslow to Middlewich. I stopped the car to view the effect of the golden sky, the silhouetted trees and the sun about to set in the west.

These lanes remain virtually unchanged. At sunset, they seem to capture something timeless, intangible and quintessentially Cheshire. Driving along these quiet back roads can seem like a journey back in time, especially when driving a classic or vintage car.