After enjoying our time in Chester, Cheshire Cycleway Day 3 would take us to Whitchurch and would be our longest and hilliest day so far. Thankfully, it was another cool but dry and cloudy morning.

So, we picked up the Shropshire Union canal again and headed out of the city.

We left the canal at Christleton and cycled through the village.

Sarah, Andy and I remember cycling this section of Regional Network 70, from Christleton to Huxley, when taking part in an Artist on a Bike session a few years back.

From Huxley, we made our way around Beeston Crag, and of course, Beeston Castle on top of it.

Next came our major climb of the day, through Burwardsley and up to the village of Harthill.

Then, it was down the other side of the hill and on towards Bickerton.

Eventually, we reached Tilston. Here the Cheshire Cycleway includes a little loop.

The loop seems designed primarily to take us past Stretton Watermill.

Following our trip around the loop and back to Tilston, we cycled on to Shocklach.

In Shocklach, we stopped for some lunch at The Bull.

It was a tasty meal and a welcome break.

Back on the road, we very briefly crossed over into Wales. However, before we were spotted, we made it back across the border and back into England 🙂

Our next few miles took us around the edge of Malpas.

Then on towards Marbury.

However, before reaching Marbury, we turned off and cycled over one final hill of the day on our way into Whitchurch.

We were staying in an Airbnb place.

For a change, after our usual ‘perfect’ pint at a nearby pub, we spent the evening in the accommodation. Nicholl had joined us for a second night and cooked us a lovely meal. One of the advantages of this local route (to us) has been that we have been able to invite Nicholl to be part of the team for a couple of days.

For our Cheshire Cycleway Day 3 we had cycled nearly 44 miles. You can view our route from Chester to Whitchurch below:

Tomorrow we are off to Astbury.