A Bickerton Hills, Maiden Castle, Raw Head and Bulkeley Hill Round 17th February 2024

The wrong way!

The right way.

At the edge of Miden Castle.

The memorial on Bickerton Hill.

Hazy views from Bickerton Hills / Maiden Castle.

A delightful path on Bickerton Hill.

A magnificent chair created in the Bickerton Chhurch Cemetry.

Another good section of the Sandstone Trail.

The Sandtone layers around Raw Head made clear.

At the trig point on Raw Head.

The Sandstone trail beyond Rawe Head.

Jodrell Bank from Bulkeley Hill.

Beeston Castle?

A deightful path walking on Beech mast on the way to Harthill.

Snowdrops just outside Harthill.

Mike and Nigel's lunch spot at Harthill.

Ed' lunch spot at Harthill.

The old school at Harthill.

A stick insect?

A notice that Jean ad Phil will remember well.

The Methodist church at Brown Knowl.

Descending to the car park at the end of the walk.

Walk Stats:
Distance: 9.0 miles. Climb: 1496’.
Time: 5 hours 3 minutes.
On the move walking average: 2.4 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 1.8 m.p.h.
Temperature: 10.2 – 13.5 Celsius.
Beaufort Wind Force: 2-4, mainly a Light to Gentle breeze, but a few times it gusted to a 4
Group: Martyn, Ed, Nigel and Mike.
This was a good day for walking, not too hot and not too cold with the sunny intervals. We just about escaped the rain expected to arrive in the late afternoon.
Surprisingly the muddiest part of the walk was along sections of the Sandstone Trail across the Bickerton Hills and some parts of the trail are in need of attention to remove very awkward / unpleasant parts easier to get round.
Distant views were rather limited due to their misty / hazy nature.
Bickerton Hills and Raw Head were always going to be the best sections of the walk, but a bonus was continuing on the Sandstone Trail over Bulkeley Hill (not on the original planned walk).
Lunch was eventually taken at Harthill, where some of us used seats at the church and others found suitable perching spots opposite the church.
The return route on paths on the west side of Bulkeley Hill and the Bickerton Hills was relatively low level and the only climb involved was as we re-entered the Bickerton Hills area on the way back to the car.
Birds seen or heard today included: Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Common blackbird, European robin, Woodpigeon, House sparrow, Common buzzard, Common chaffinch, Great tit, Goldfinch, Common pheasant and Raven. Overall an enjoyable walk, arriving back at the car a little earlier than expected, which meant we could all enjoy a drink at the Edgerton Arms at Broxton, Mike still got home in plenty of time before setting off to Liverpool for a concert. Big Hand’s Seren Bitter was the beer of choice.