At 9.30am we met in Gough Lane, Knutsford where two cars can just be parked in a lay-by at the end of the lane which connects to the A50 Knutsford to Holmes Chapel road. Our walk started by crossing the A50 road and taking the footpath past the old school house and on to the Toft Estate.  It had been very cold overnight and the frozen ground meant we could easily cross fields which would otherwise be very muddy.  With just wispy clouds in the sky and virtually no wind conditions for walking were excellent.  Initially a good footpath and then a track provided good walking but shortly after passing the main estate farm we were walking across a grassy field where cattle had grazed and now pitted with water filled holes. Toft Hall looked very attractive in the low winter sun but we were spending most of out time watching where we were putting our feet.  After passing Plumley Lane Farm we reached the B5081 Middlewich road where we turned right and walked down the road to Smithy Green.  This area of Peover looked  quite unusual with the local green festooned with bird boxes and bird tables which were up for sale.  The lower part of the Peover signpost was covered in plaques informing us that Peover had won the best kept village award over many previous years. Leaving the Middlewich road behind we walked down Broom Lane and and then over fields again as we crossed Red Brook then Peover Eye on the way to Lower Peover.  The first building which came into sight was the church which looked very attractive in the winter sun.  Passing the Parish Church of St Oswald, which dates back to 1269, we came to the Church of England school which was founded by Richard Comberbach in 1710.  A right turn down a cobbled track brought us the the Bells of Peover pub where both British and American flags were being flown.  In the second world war General Patton’s HQ for the US Third Army Group was based at the nearby Peover Hall and he often had lunch at The Bells of Peover his guest once including General Eisenhower.  Leaving the Bells behind we crossed Peover Eye stream and then a field before reaching Smithy Green again.  Here we turned into a small lane which followed by some fields and another small lane took us past Hucknall Farm and then Ullardhall Farm before we reached the same track on the Toft Estate where we had walked along earlier in the day.  Now walking back in reverse direction we came to a break in the wall on our right which led into a compound whish resembled a large junk yard.  One tractor on top of a pile of wood chippings and a large horizontal tree saw looked like they had been used in the not too distant past but the other machines had not seen use for many years.  Though very untidy places like this give a fascinating look back into previous times and it would be a pity if they were all cleared up. Now only a few minutes more walking brought us back to our cars.  It had taken us just over three hours to cover 6½ miles.

INDEX PAGE for the THURSDAY GROUP WALKS