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Cheshire Attractions Salt Museum Anderton Boat Lift, Jodrell Bank Centre Arboretum Tourist Informat
Cheshire has much to offer by way of diverse attractions, from canal features - most strikingly the Anderton Boat Lift now fully restored and working - to the enormous Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank. Discover the history of the silk industry at Macclesfield, or hobnob in the gardens at Arley Hall and Gardens near Northwich. Cheshire is prime walking country - pick up the 'Walking Cheshire' brochure from tourist information points and discover the beauty of the Dane Valley near Congleton taking in villages like Swettenham and Swettenham Mill on Midge Brook. Cheshire is famous for it's fruit growing and dairy farming. Move into Cheshire heartland around Utkinton and you'll see old Iron Age Hillforts at Eddisbury and Kelsborrow Castle. There's an ancient manor house of utkinton Hall
Although parts of Cheshire are well-known for silk, they are lesser known for salt. Don't miss the fabulous Salt Museum, the only one in the country, in Northwich and discover the stories of those who worked in the industry. Find out about the hazards of mining salt and the subsidence resulting to buildings on weak salt seams.
Anderton Boat Lift, Anderton, Cheshire
Why is the Anderton Boat Lift here you may ask. Well, navigation was crucial up the River Weaver and the Trent & Mersey Canal for the Salt Mining and Pottery industries. However, a slight hiccup was the 50 ft height difference between these two waterways. For quite a while they just transferred cargo from ship to canal boat, but in 1875 Mr Edwin Clark designed and built the Anderton Boat Lift
Anderton Boat Lift, Lift Lane, Anderton, Northwich, Cheshire CW9 6FW T: 01606 786777
Jodrell Bank Science Centre & Arboretum, Macclesfield, Cheshire
The Lovell Telescope here at Jodrell Bank is of great astrological importance globally, and has become a pretty famous landmark in the Cheshire countryside. It's a mammoth sight, well worth a look, with Science centre on-site and 35 acres of country surrounds.
Jodrell Bank Science Centre & Arboretum, Lower Withington, near Macclesfield, Cheshire SK11 9DL T: 01477 571339
The Salt Museum, Nantwich, Cheshire
Did you know that salt was widely used by people to clean their teeth, long before toothpaste appeared on the scene or that in 1732 79% of all the cargo on the River Weaver was salt. Just two of the 'Salty Facts' listed on the website. Salt has been mined in this area for nearly 2000 years. This museum offer a fascinating opportunity to explore the little known history of Salt Mining and the lives of those who worked in the industry.
For those who don't know, rock salt occurs naturally in Cheshire and was laid down during the Triassic Period, 255-190 million years. Several mines were worked in the Northwich area and they really started to take off after 1670, and it was exported to home and international places. Perhaps one of the most intriguing facts about the history of salt mining in this area is the resulting dangers of subsidence to buildings resulting from the mining and buildings being built on weak beds of salt.
Various photographs of subsided buildings exist in the exhibition - health and safety in the 19th century must have been horrendous and no doubt the death toll was high in the industry. Find out more in this - the only Salt Museum in the country with the Lion Salt Works, demonstrating the Open Pan method of salt making.
The Salt Museum, 162 London Road, Northwich CW9 8AB T: 01606 41331
Declassified Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker, Nantwich, Cheshire
Kids get ready to find those spy mice. There is something somewhat surreal about this attraction, as it skirts it's way through the history of the Second World War and the Cold War, as experienced through the eyes of the nuclear bunker!
£32 million pounds spent on this - learn all about secret plans and the clinical 'kick in' that would have taken place had the bombs been dropped. Then pop into the 'Bunker Bistro' for a radio active burger - crazy but intriguing nonetheless.
Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker, PO Box 127, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 8AQ T: 01270 629219
