Guardian Life & Style (US) • Jan. 6, 2026, 11:44 a.m.

<p>This 14-mile section of the Sandstone Trail crosses an ancient landscape of hills, woods and ridges, bookended by two fine old inns </p><p>Deep in the heartland of rural Cheshire, there’s a wind-scoured ridge of sandstone that hides a two-storey cave known as Mad Allen’s Hole. Here, on the flanks of Bickerton Hill, it is said that in the 18th century a heartbroken man called <a href="https://ludchurchmyblog.wordpress.com/places-of-interest-in-cheshire/mad-allens-cave/">John Harris of Handley</a> lived as a hermit for several decades.</p><p>As locations to weather the storm of romantic trauma go, this – I mused as I stood above it on a crisp winter’s day – certainly takes some beating.

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