Astbury Mere is a lake and open area in West Heath, a suburb of Congleton, Cheshire, England, in an area formerly quarried for silica sand. [1] [2] Part of the area is accredited by Natural England as a country park, Astbury Mere Country Park. [3] The country park has an area of 14 hectares (35 acres) and the lake covers 43 acres (17 ha). [1] The park is owned by Astbury Mere Trust, and the lake and its banks by Stoke-on-Trent Angling Society. [1] [4]
Extraction of silica sand occurred at the Congleton West Heath quarry from around the 1930s until 1984. [2] The sand was used for making glass and for precision casting of metal. [5] After the closure of the quarry, the site was divided into housing (Ennerdale Drive estate) and open space. A trust was established in 1989 to manage the open land. [2] The park first opened to the public in 1991. [6] In 2002, the Stoke-on-Trent Angling Society acquired the lake. [4] By 2008 the Astbury Mere Trust had acquired the majority of the land. [2] The park was accredited by Natural England as a country park in 2012. [1]
The park is located at around SJ846627 on Sandy Lane, off the A34 (Newcastle Road). [7] The Fol Hollow road adjoins the park. [8] The area forms a shallow bowl, centred on Astbury Mere, with surrounding grassland, woodland and plantation, as well as a community orchard, originally planted by local schoolchildren. [2] [9] The lake has an area of 43 acres (17 ha) with a maximum depth of around 50 feet (15 m). [1] [4]
Activities in the park include walking, orienteering and running. [1] [7] Two walking trails are available, each a mile long; one is suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs. Dogs are permitted. Seats are placed every 100 metres along the lake circuit. A permanent orienteering course is available. A parkrun is organised on Saturdays at 9am. [1] [2] [8] Various watersports occur on the lake, including fishing, sailing, windsurfing, canoeing and kayaking; swimming is not permitted. [1] [7] Fishing is organised by Stoke-on-Trent Angling Society; the lake is stocked with carp, perch, pike and roach. [1]
There is a visitor centre with car parking. Snacks and drinks are available. [1] [7] The park is managed by Cheshire East Council Countryside Ranger Service for the Astbury Mere Trust, with a single part-time ranger. [6] [7]
Congleton is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Dane, 21 miles (34 km) south of Manchester and to the west of the Macclesfield Canal. At the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 26,482.
Stoke-on-Trent is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of 36 square miles (93 km2). Together with the neighbouring boroughs of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands, it is part of North Staffordshire. In 2016, the city had a population of 261,302.
Alsager is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, to the north-west of the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and east of the railway town of Crewe. The town has a population of 11,775. The civil parish is bordered by the parishes of Betchton to the north, Church Lawton to the north-east and east, Kidsgrove in Staffordshire to the south-east, Audley Rural, in Staffordshire to the south, Barthomley to the south-west, Haslington to the west, and Hassall to the north-west. Despite Alsager's Staffordshire postcode and Crewe dialling code, it is its own town, and is not part of Crewe or Stoke-on-Trent.
Biddulph is a town in Staffordshire, England, 8.5 miles north of Stoke-on-Trent and 4.5 miles south-east of Congleton, Cheshire.
Congleton railway station is a mainline station serving the Cheshire town of Congleton. It lies on the Manchester to Stoke-on-Trent branch of the West Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom.
Delamere Forest or Delamere Forest Park is a large wood near the village of Delamere in Cheshire, England. The woodland, which is managed by the Forestry Commission, covers an area of 972 hectares making it the largest area of woodland in the county. It contains a mixture of deciduous and evergreen trees.
West Heath is a suburb to the west of Congleton, in Cheshire, England. It is the site of Astbury Mere Country Park. The West Heath area has three schools, with one of Congleton's two secondary schools, Congleton High School being based there.
Mow Cop is a village on the Cheshire–Staffordshire border, divided between the North West and West Midlands regions of England. It is 24 miles (39 km) south of Manchester and 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Stoke-on-Trent, on a steep hill of the same name rising up to 335 metres (1,099 ft) above sea level. The village is among the westernmost hills of the Staffordshire Moorlands, with the Cheshire Plain directly to the west. For population details taken at the 2011 census, see Kidsgrove.
Sideway is an area of Stoke-on-Trent, approximately one mile south west of Stoke-upon-Trent, Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England. It is located on the junction of the A500 and the A50 adjacent to the Britannia Stadium.
Church Lawton is a small village and located in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire in England. Its location is such that its eastern boundary forms part of the county boundary between Cheshire and Staffordshire and, because of its close proximity to Stoke-on-Trent, the parish has a Stoke postcode. In addition to ribbon development connecting Kidsgrove with Scholar Green, the parish also contains the hamlets of Lawton Gate, Lawton Heath and Lawton Heath End, and the Lawton Hall estate. According to the 2001 census, the population of the entire parish was 2,201.
Bradwall is a small village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, about 2 mi (3.2 km) northwest of Sandbach in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, and about 20 mi (32 km) south of Manchester. According to the 2011 census, the population of the entire parish was 182. The area is predominantly agricultural, with no manufacturing or retail outlets.
Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council.
Hatchmere is a small mere and nature reserve in Delamere Forest, southeast of Frodsham, Cheshire, England. It is also the name of a hamlet near the village of Norley.
Tegg's Nose is a hill east of Macclesfield in Cheshire, England. It has a short ridge with a high point of 380 metres (1246 feet) at SJ947725, terminating in a promontory at the southern end. It lies on the western edge of the Peak District, although outside the boundary of the national park. Much of the hill's area falls within the Tegg's Nose Country Park, managed by Cheshire East Council Countryside Management Service; Tegg's Nose is also part of the Environmentally Sensitive Area Scheme.
The Churnet Valley line was one of the three original routes planned and built by the North Staffordshire Railway. Authorised in 1846, the line opened in 1849 and ran from North Rode in Cheshire to Uttoxeter in East Staffordshire. The line was closed in several stages between 1964 and 1988 but part of the central section passed into the hands of a preservation society and today operates as the Churnet Valley Railway.
The Stoke-on-Trent Green Belt is a green belt environmental and planning policy that regulates the rural space throughout mainly the West Midlands region of England. It is contained within the counties of Cheshire and Staffordshire. Essentially, the function of the designated area is to prevent surrounding towns and villages within the Stoke-on-Trent conurbation from further convergence. It is managed by local planning authorities on guidance from central government.
The Biddulph Valley line was a double tracked line that ran from Stoke-on-Trent to Congleton. The line was named after the town of the same name as it ran via the Staffordshire Moorlands and covered areas of East Staffordshire and Cheshire.
Shakerley Mere is a lake and recreation area near Allostock, Cheshire, England. The mere is a former sand quarry, which flooded after extraction ended in the 1960s. Roughly triangular in shape, it bounded to the east by the M6 motorway and on the other two sides by the B5081 and B5082 roads. The site is managed for recreation by Cheshire West and Chester Council. There is a small amount of heathland, a designated site of biological importance, in the southeast corner, and a circular path runs around the perimeter of the lake, a distance of 0.9 miles (1.4 km).
