Singular delights of Cheshire won’t drive you batty
Jeremy Taylor takes an eclectic, Batmanthemed trip from the centre of Manchester to historic Chester
Holy guacamole – one of the world’s original comicstrip heroes is 80 years old. Batman first appeared in the pages of Detective Comics in May 1939 and has been battling the Penguin, Joker and assorted villainous bad guys ever since.
Together with his “Boy Wonder” sidekick Robin and a fleet of outrageous batmobiles, the Dark Knight wrestles with Superman for the mantle of the greatest comic-strip hero of all time. However, if there was an award was for best costume there’s no doubt Batman wings it.
Ignore the “pants over tights” look of the Sixties TV series; the caped crusader’s costumes became far more sinister in Tim Burton’s 1989 film version. Michael Keaton’s leather cape and six-pack body armour suit were complemented by a pair of ears that outpointed Star Trek’s Mr Spock.
And I’m looking at a fairly spectacular pair of lugholes right now. Chester Zoo has its very own fruit bat forest, where a colony of these remarkable flying mammals is a major attraction. Under the cloak of semi-darkness, they swoop and brush by visitors who dare to walk through their enclosure.
The Cheshire attraction also offers a fruit bat encounter – a chance to get up close with some of the 350 bats kept in captivity here. It’s a feeding frenzy when the food appears but these aren’t bloodsucking vampires, they’re more interested in peel and pulp.
Chester Zoo is home to more than 21,000 exotic and endangered animals. A 10-minute drive from the city’s ancient centre, it opened in 1931 and is now regarded as one of the best in the world. Last winter it had a devastating blaze in the Monsoon Forest habitat, but the zoo quickly reopened to visitors.
I first came here in 1971 in my father’s Vauxhall Viva, a modest family saloon. I imagine Batman wouldn’t have been seen dead in one of those, which is why I’ve borrowed BMW’s futuristic i8 coupé for the experience.
A new-age, hybrid sports car, the i8 was launched in 2014 and yet it still looks remarkably different to anything else on the road – a modern Batmobile, if you will. Fast and agile, this 2+2 has a 1.5-litre petrol engine that gains almost superhuman power thanks to the extra shove of an electric motor.
BMW did make an actual Batmobile once – the 3.0 CSL, a lightweight, racy coupé, was introduced in 1972. Its huge (but illegal for road use) rear wing was a show-stopper and quickly earned the CSL its comic-inspired nickname.
Rather than being heavily armoured and bulletproof, the trim i8 is sleek and whisper-quiet in its fully electric mode. But it does have one joker up its sleeve, a pair of pop-up, gull-wing doors that are cooler than Bruce Wayne’s glasses.
I start my drive earlier that day in the heart of Manchester. I grew up here during the punk era but barely recognise the place in 2019. The skyline is now more like Gotham City, with highrise, glass-fronted tower blocks jostling for space alongside the warehouses and mill buildings from the past.
Many of the new-builds are student accommodation for the university. Cranes are dotted around the skyline and the only feature I recognise is the Library Theatre, where I once appeared in a play about Welsh footballer Billy Meredith. That brought about a premature end to my acting career.
Just around the corner is the Free Trade Hall, now the luxurious Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel. The building was constructed in 1853 to commemorate the repeal of the despised Corn Laws. The site is also the location of the Peterloo Massacre, when a crowd of 80,000 peaceful protesters were charged down by cavalry.
Later the concert hall became home to the famous Hallé Orchestra; it is also where Bob Dylan was branded “Judas” for playing electric instruments during his 1966 tour. The facade is still intricate and spectacular – especially the original coat of arms in the hotel foyer.
Views over the Manchester cityscape from the top-floor rooms are pure fantasy. If Batman was a northerner, this is where he would hang out. Meanwhile, the Peter Street Kitchen restaurant below offers a mean passion fruit brûlée for him to nibble on.
The obvious route to Chester is along the M56 motorway but I’ve driven south along the A523 to Macclesfield, stopping for a coffee in Bollington. Known as Happy Valley, this Cheshire market town is home now to posh commuters and a gateway to the Peak District National Park.
A rural skyline is dominated by
White Nancy, a hilltop monument commemorating victory at the Battle of Waterloo. It’s worth the climb to admire the old mill chimneys that are dotted around the landscape.
The A523 meets the A54 to Chester near Macclesfield, a town that grew wealthy on silk. It has a fascinating fashionista history – discovered in the Silk Museum – while much of the busy high street blends art galleries and shops, with the monthly Treacle Market offering everything from vintage clothing to exceptional cheese.
I’ve taken a detour 10 miles south to visit Congleton, another pretty market town on the edge of the Peak District. Little Moreton Hall is a Tudor manor house that has the dimensions of a small cathedral. It is now cared for by the National Trust. Its engineers were staggered by the timber-framed construction when the property was investigated in 1990. The hall is said to be one of the finest half-timbered manors in England, rising like a fairy-tale house, with a moat and inner courtyard for good measure.
The building was also the location for the memorable TV series The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders in the Nineties, starring Alex Kingston. I imagine there was a colony or two of bats watching from the rafters, too.