Ten Places for adrenaline junkies in Cheshire

Hoverforce, Frodsham

Off the M56 in Frodsham, Hoverforce is built around one unusual thing: it's the only place in the North West where you can pilot a hovercraft, over land and water both. That's the headline act, but the 30-odd acre site has plenty else going on, including off-road buggies, dirt karts, a live fire shooting range, air rifles, archery and axe throwing.

It's a popular spot for stag and hen groups and corporate team days, and it doesn't shut up shop when the weather turns. Their own motto sums it up: "The Wetter, The Better." Bring a change of socks.

Paddle the Dee, Chester

Chester's river deserves more credit than it gets, and Paddle the Dee is the best way to see it from the water. Their guided kayak and stand up paddleboard tours take you past Chester Meadows, along the promenade, under the Old Dee Bridge and past the Roman city walls and the weir.

If flat water sounds a bit tame, they also run a white water session on the Dee, pitched to be manageable for people who've never paddled before. All the guides are British Canoeing qualified, and sessions are built for complete beginners as well as anyone who's paddled before.

Go Ape! Delamere

Delamere Forest is Cheshire's biggest patch of woodland, about 25 minutes out of Chester, and Go Ape have three high ropes courses tucked into the trees there. Treetop Challenge is the big one, with tough obstacles, fast zip wires and a Tarzan Swing, and there are views out over Blakemere Moss if you remember to look up rather than down. Treetop Adventure and Treetop Adventure Plus are built for younger or less experienced climbers, working up gradually rather than throwing you in at the deep end.

There's also a Forest Segway route through the woods, which takes in a rare quaking bog and some of the county's less obvious wildlife. Delamere even has its own train station, so you don't necessarily need the car.

Wild Shore, Delamere

A short way from Go Ape, on the same stretch of forest, Wild Shore sits beside a lake and does the same sort of thing but on the water. Cable wakeboarding is the main draw: you're pulled along by an overhead cable rather than a boat, and they run everything from a Learn 2 RiDE session for absolute beginners (dryland lesson included) up to a full hour on the cable if you fancy it with your mates.

Beyond the wakeboarding there's the Aqua Park (a floating obstacle course), the Aqua Chimp rope course, paddleboarding, open water swimming, and, for afterwards, a sauna and cold plunge.

Axt Haus, Chester

Tucked into the railway arches on Kitchen Street, right by Chester Racecourse, Axt Haus is Chester's only German-themed axe throwing venue, and yes, that's exactly as niche and as good as it sounds. Sessions run for an hour, led by an instructor, with room to try trick shots once you're getting the axes on target. It's open to anyone aged twelve or over.

Once the axes are down, it turns into more of a beer hall: bratwurst, schnitzel and pretzels, plus German beer and Riesling by the glass. It was set up by a local Chester couple with decades in hospitality between them, and it's become a regular fixture for stag and hen dos, birthdays and works nights out.

Bewilderwood, Cheshire

Down near Whitchurch, just off the A49 and about half an hour from Chester, Bewilderwood is 70 acres of woodland built for families rather than thrill-seekers. It's based on the books by Tom Blofeld, and the whole place is full of treehouses, wonky wooden structures, zip wires, slides and mazes, all at a scale that's genuinely exciting for children without being frightening.

The ticket price covers more than the zip wires and slides too: storytelling shows, face painting, crafts in the Big Hat tent, and den building. There are separate areas for toddlers as well, so it works for a wide age range in one visit.

Outdoor Pursuits at Carden Park

On the 1,000-acre Carden Park estate near Malpas, Vertigo is the one for anyone who actually wants their stomach to drop. It's an aerial course with two tiers of high ropes obstacles, working up to a ten-metre tower. From the top you choose your exit: jump off onto a giant stunt pillow, or take a long zip line back down across the estate, which also happens to include a vineyard, golf courses and a spa.

Every session starts with a proper safety briefing and kitting-up session with an instructor, and it's open to anyone aged six or over, height and weight limits permitting. Not one for anyone who gets wobbly on a stepladder.

Carden Park's Pursuits Centre has plenty else going on across the same estate too, including a 45-minute Segway Safari through woodland and along the tracks, with instructors on hand and a training area for beginners before you head out. There's also archery, air rifles and laser clay pigeon shooting.

744 Experience, Tattenhall

The 744 Experience, tucked away at Peckforton Stables just outside Tattenhall, is one of the more unusual things you'll find in rural Cheshire: a genuine Boeing 747-400 flight deck and upper deck cabin, built from real retired British Airways aircraft parts and put back together over three years of restoration work. You take the controls yourself, with an experienced instructor beside you, and fly a simulated route to one of several destinations on a 220-degree visual set-up. No flying experience is needed, though the simulator sessions suit ages 14 and up, since some of the controls need a bit of height to reach. Short haul sessions run from 90 minutes.

If you'd rather not touch the controls, there's a fully fitted upper deck cabin, seat rows 60 to 64, where you can book an in-flight style dining experience or afternoon tea instead, complete with a trip up to the cockpit partway through. It's a strange one to explain to people, but it's exactly the kind of thing that makes a good story afterwards, and it's a short drive from Beeston Castle if you want to make a full day of it.

Peckforton Castle, near Tattenhall

Peckforton Castle looks like it's been standing since the Middle Ages, but it's actually a Victorian country house built to look like one, and these days it runs a proper roster of activity days across its grounds. Archery is the obvious one, with the castle's setting making it feel a bit more atmospheric than most ranges. There's also axe throwing, abseiling, a treasure hunt around the estate, trebuchet building, bushcraft and a Fort Boyard-style challenge, most of it aimed at corporate and group days out.

Then there's duck herding, which is exactly what it sounds like: teams work together, with coaching, to herd actual ducks around a course. It takes more patience and communication than you'd think, and it's the kind of thing that turns into the story everyone tells afterwards.

The Land Rover Experience, Peckforton Castle

Also based at Peckforton is the Cheshire franchise of the Land Rover Experience, where you get behind the wheel of a Defender, Discovery, Range Rover or similar and take on the castle's tricky off-road terrain yourself. A Land Rover Experience instructor rides along throughout, though sessions here aren't run as formal training, more a chance to see what the vehicles and the terrain can actually do.

Options range from a one-hour taster, best suited to people with no off-road experience, up to half and full-day sessions with more time on the ground. There are also proper Level One and Level Two courses for anyone who wants to build off-road driving skills rather than just have a go, with Level Two only open once you've completed Level One.