About

The Mid-Cheshire Footpath Society is a friendly walking group, founded in 1961 to protect our footpaths and other public rights of way.

Enjoy walking in the beautiful Cheshire countryside by joining us on one of our regular walks – good company and gentle exercise while keeping an eye on the state of our paths.

Our area of operation covers the west and central parts of Cheshire. It stretches from the Mersey and Manchester Ship Canal in the north to the Shropshire border in the south and from the Welsh border in the west to just east of the M6 motorway.

It includes Runcorn, Warrington (south of the Manchester Ship Canal) and Lymm; Ellesmere Port and Chester, Farndon, Northwich, Winsford, Tarporley, Crewe and Nantwich, Audlem and Malpas.

The objectives of the Society

  • The provision, preservation and prevention of obstruction to public rights of way over footpaths and other ways used mainly as footpaths
  • The preservation or enhancement of the beauty of the countryside for the benefit of the public
  • Encouraging the evolution and maintenance of a reasonable network of well-defined footpaths for local and general use.

How do we protect Cheshire’s footpaths?

The success of the Society largely depends on its knowledge of footpaths within Cheshire and an awareness of the pressures being exerted on them.

This is mainly achieved by systematically walking the paths and maintaining a record of their state; by looking at sign-posting, stiles, way-marking and obstructions for example.

The information collected is shared with the county’s Rights of Way Officers as well as with Parish Councils. This is done through a system of both District and Local Footpath Inspectors whose responsibility is to collate and report relevant footpath information obtained from members walking the paths, as well as from other sources. As a direct result of this work many new stiles, footpath bridges and signposts have been put in place. Way-marking is also carried out on behalf of the Public Rights of Way departments of Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council and Cheshire East Borough Council.

The Borough Councils consult the Society about all proposals for Public Right of Way footpath diversions and closures.

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