Tattenhall

Most people find Tattenhall by following the brown signs off the A41 for ice cream. Plenty of them come back for the village itself.

It sits about eight miles south-east of Chester on the Cheshire Plain, with the Sandstone Ridge on one side and the hills of North Wales on the other. You can walk from one end to the other in no time, but there’s a lot more going on here than you might expect.

Ice cream, and plenty more besides

The Ice Cream Farm holds the title of the World’s Largest Ice Cream Shop, and with more than 50 Cheshire Farm ice creams and sorbets on the counter, choosing is the hardest part of the day. The kids won’t be in a hurry to leave either, with a racetrack, crazy golf, sand and water play and a sensory playground to keep them busy. If you’d rather stay in the car, the Drive In serves ice cream with a view.

Just down the road, 744 Experience has a Boeing 747-400 flight simulator you can take the controls of. Not something you find in every Cheshire village.

Down by the canal

Tattenhall Marina sits on the Shropshire Union Canal, right next to The Ice Cream Farm. It’s a lovely spot to watch the narrowboats come and go, and the towpath will take you all the way into Chester. By bike, it’s about 45 minutes.

Up into the hills

Walkers are spoilt here. The Sandstone Trail runs along the ridge above the village, and Beeston and Peckforton Castles are both close by.

Just outside the village, the Bolesworth estate hosts Al Shira’aa Bolesworth International every summer, bringing top international showjumping to the grounds of Bolesworth Castle.

Food, drink and somewhere to stay

Tattenhall is a proper village for a pub lunch, with beer gardens for sunny afternoons and log fires for when the weather turns.

It’s worth the short drive up the lanes to The Pheasant Inn at Higher Burwardsley, too. Perched high in the Peckforton Hills, this 300-year-old sandstone inn has some of the best views in the county, stretching right across the Cheshire Plain to the Welsh hills. Bag a table on the terrace on a clear day, or tuck into one of the cosy nooks by the open fire in winter. The seasonal menus mix classic British pub dishes with a modern European touch, and there are boutique bedrooms upstairs if you can’t face leaving.

If you’d like to stay over elsewhere, there are village rooms, countryside cottages and farm stays all within easy reach, making Tattenhall a handy base for exploring Chester and the Sandstone Ridge.