It was during lockdown that I became aware that for some people, there were barriers stopping them enjoying their daily exercise in the countryside we are surrounded by. For the active but not quite so agile, stiles can be a barrier, and some are more challenging than others, so I proposed to my fellow Councillors that we should remove these barriers and make Tattenhall stile free. I’m pleased that the Councillors supported the proposal and so with the help of the U3A walking group, we surveyed the footpaths and found there are about 70 stiles in the parish!
The first footpath in the parish to be converted is nearly complete, although we have just one stile remaining; it’s the footpath between the Flacca on Burwardsley Rd to Dark Lane, and the last stile onto Dark Lane remains, but we hope to convert this very soon.
Plans are to replace as many of the stiles in the parish as we can, but we need to spread the cost over several years and have the agreement of the landowners, so a big thank you to the landowners who are supporting this project. We hope to have another footpath converted this summer, so watch this space!
Cllr Paul Kerr
