Short-ARS on Saturday

A Short-ARS walk is planned for this coming Saturday, 29th September.

The scheduled route is from Loggerheads with a 6 – 7 mile circuit taking in woodland, open fields and quiet country lanes. This walk passes near the site of the battle of Blore Heath in 1459. 

In September of that year, the armies of the House of Lancaster and the House of York met on a damp Sunday morning at Blore Heath and fought the battle which would begin the English Wars of the Roses.

Thousands of men from across England fought and died in a bloody battle, which lasted for the rest of that day.

It has been suggested that Woodhouse Lane in Kinsey Heath was originally called Widows Lane as many women that had watched their Lancastrian husbands lose their life in the battle retreated northwards along that lane. 

Legend has it that Queen Margaret of Anjou watched the battle from the nearby Mucklestone church tower, only to flee when she realised her army had lost. 

When she fled, and to disguise her route, the local blacksmith was ordered to turn the shoes backwards of her horses, and those of her entourage. For his troubles, he was killed so as not to give away this cunning plan.

A stone cross still stands on Blore Heath to this day, to mark the spot where the Lancastrian leader is said to have been killed.

A recce of the walk had been planned for Monday which was postponed, and then again yesterday, as the continuous heavy rain hardly made this an enticing prospect. It is likely that some of the fields will now be badly waterlogged.

A further attempt at a recce is being made on Friday to see if the planned route is still in reasonable condition. If not, a decision will be made to transfer the walk to a section of the Sandstone Trail that is normally fine underfoot, whatever the weather.

The Sandstone Trail doesn't offer such history but is a very popular walk with fine views across Cheshire and North Wales – assuming the rain has stopped!

More on a final decision on Friday. Walkers will gather on Audlem car park at 9.30am on Saturday. 

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.