The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
The hidden gem giving Cheshire a good name
Nantwich offers understated style and a burgeoning local food scene – with not a prosecco-fuelled spat in sight, says David Atkinson
Cheshire has a bit of an image problem: all those ITV2 Real Housewives episodes and magazine spreads showing glitzy, garish homes full of OTT displays of footballer wealth within its Golden Triangle. But a hidden treasure within the county has been quietly winning over a new following of late. With its rural-idyll setting, understated style and burgeoning local food scene, the historic market town of Nantwich offers timeless charm – all without a prosecco-fuelled spat in sight.
Nantwich has all the history of county-hub Chester, albeit on a smaller scale. The jumble of cobbled streets and half-timbered houses has hosted Norman lords, survived medieval fires, and been occupied by Parliamentarian forces during the mid-1600s when Nantwich defied Chester, coming out against Charles I during the English Civil War. The Market Hall has been singing the praises of Cheshire cheese since the town’s genteel Victorian era.
“I think visitors appreciate the slow-travel tranquillity of south Cheshire while being surprised by the quality of its local produce,” said Sarah Callander-Beckett, owner and current lady of the manor at Combermere Abbey, during my two-night stay at the former monastery. “This region is steeped in rural heritage, but has moved with the times.”
Combermere, the historic country estate on the Cheshire-Shropshire border, is the go-to place for the smart set to stay. Set in 1,000 acres of organic farmland, it combines high-end B&B in the North Wing with cosy stays for multi-generational groups at nine holiday cottages (sleeping four to 10) in the former stable block, which dates from 1837.
The ex-Strictly dancer AJ Pritchard and his girlfriend Abbie recently posted images from Combermere’s North Wing, while Lady Redmond, the current lord-lieutenant of Cheshire, also visited the estate recently with her husband – TV producer Sir Phil Redmond, of Brookside fame – to plant an oak tree for the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. It will be visible when a new season of bluebell walks launches at Combermere later this month.
The nearby Three Wrens Gin Distillery is also championing a more tasteful take on Cheshire with its tours, with tastings and an eco-friendly “gin on tap” initiative, whereby you can take your empty bottle and refill it to proHill.” mote sustainability. The distillery produces 1,000 bottles of gin each week, including its Gin Masters award-winning Bison Grass Gin, which can be found in local establishments such as Churche’s Mansion, the restaurant set in the Grade I-listed building of the same name dating from 1577 in Nantwich, and the Vin Santo wine bar in Chester.
“I think of Cheshire as the new gin capital of Britain,” said Three Wrens owner and distiller Nick Wadeson, who moved his family from urban Manchester to rural Cheshire to open the distillery in 2019. “We moved here having seen the rise of south Cheshire as a seriously foodie destination.”
The distillery team is harnessing the fertile farmland on the banks of the river Weaver, once dominated by the Romans’ salt-mining industry, to grow local herbs and botanicals. “In terms of local provenance, our next flavour will use bilberries from Bickerton The National Trust-owned lowland heath forms part of Cheshire’s Sandstone Trail, mooted to be one of Britain’s new Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty under plans by Natural England.
The next morning, it’s a five-mile drive down country roads into Nantwich town centre, its quaint, pedestrian streets pivoting around the landmark St Mary’s Church. The Tudor and Georgian buildings are today given over to independent shops, such as the Nantwich Bookshop & Coffee Lounge behind a black-and-white façade on the High Street dating from 1548. Visiting authors regularly pop in for readings, while there are art shops and vintage boutiques in The Coca Yard.
The Antiques Road Trip expert Christina Trevanion, can be regularly spotted at local auctions, as well as stocking up on John Bourne’s Oak Smoked Cheshire at The Cheese Shop on Hospital Street. The actor Ben Miller started treading the boards in the school play at the town’s Malbank School but has long since left the Nantwich Players Theatre behind. As a local lad, however, he’s sure to favour Welch’s delicatessen during visits home. It’s a museum-piece deli with a between-the-wars ambiance and a fine line in pork pies.
As I drove out of Nantwich on the A51 Chester Road, the car filled with local goodies, I spied the latest giant straw sculpture dominating the lateafternoon landscape at ice-cream maker Snugburys’ Cheshire farm. Following on the heels of Peter Rabbit and a giant Dalek, the latest incarnation is a 40ft-high bee in support of The Bumblebee Conservation Trust.
Like Snugburys’ local-landmark sculptures, the A-list appeal of Nantwich and the south Cheshire region has been hiding in plain sight all along.