Astbury Mere Country Park and More 4th March 2026

The notice on arrival.

First view of the mere.

The "enclosed" woodland path around the mere.

Another view of the mere.

A pause in the woods.

Canada geese on the mere.

A male Tufted duck on the mere (1 over 50 reported on the sightings board).

Mute swans by the mere.

Another view of the mere.

On the path to Lambert's Lane.

The enclosed path from Stony Lane to Lambert's Lane.

Strolling along Lambert's Lane.

The "roving" bridge over the Macclesfield Canal.

Heading along the Macclesfield Canal towpath.

St. Mary's Church Asbury from Dodd's Lane.

A better view of St. Mary's church, Astbury.

Elaine at the main gate to St. Mary's Church, Astbury.

The daffodils of Astbury.

This wasn't a path we expected to use, but it kept us of the main road alternative.

Distance: 6.3 miles.
Climb: 525’. Wind assisted GPS reading)
Time: 3 hour 47 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.4 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.6 m.p.h.
Temperature: 10.5 Celsius to 17.8 Celsius at lunch sitting in the Sun.
Beaufort Wind Force: 0 - 2, often no wind at all, but at one point in the afternoon, it gusted to a 4.2 m.p.h. Light breeze.
Group: Martyn, Sue and Michel, Elaine, Fran and Mike. Unfortunately Nigel wasn't able to join us because he was still suffering from an infection.
The weather forecast for today was looking good, good enough to tempt me to wear my shorts again.
In fact, we were in warm sunshine all day, walking with blue skies above, probably the best day for walking this year.
Today, this was a very popular place to be, and we had a job to find a parking place. It is now a Pay and Display car park (£1-50 for all day parking).
We set off, following the route description, but missed the exit from the wood onto the minor lane, and ended going round the mere back to the start. The second time round, we managed to find the minor lane, but decided to have a lunch stop before embarking on the rest of the walk. At this point, there was two benches overlooking the mere, just enough seating for the group, and pleasant view of the mere as well.
The afternoon part of the walk wasn’t that inspiring, but a least we were able to explore parts of Cheshire that most of us hadn’t visited before.
After a pleasant stroll, we decided to cut the walk short by following Dodd’s Lane to Astbury village where the village green had an impressive display of bright yellow daffodils.
St. Mary’s Church, Astbury was impressive too, but unfortunately it was closed.
Birds seen or heard today included: European robin, Common blackbird, Herring gull, Black headed gull, Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Raven, House sparrow, Woodpigeon, Black billed magpie, Mallard, Dunnock, Common buzzard, Song thrush, Blue tit, Great tit, Tufted duck, Moorhen, Common coot, Mute swan, Dunnock, Winter wren, Canada goose and Chiffchaff.
Overall, an enjoyable walk that may become one of our regular short walks.