The village of Goostrey nestles on the edge of the Cheshire Plain between Holmes Chapel and Knutsford which are access points from the M6 motorway. Goostrey is close to the world famous Jodrell Bank Observatory and the giant dish of the Radio Telescope overlooks the village.The village is also home to the world famous Goostrey Gooseberry Competition!
A ten-minute walk from the Railway Station along Station Road brings you to the Red Lion public house where Mike and Karen provide a good choice of beers wines and spirits and host the Comedy Night.
Just a little further along Station Road is St. Luke's church, which provides the venue for the Goosfest Organ Recital, the Bolton Chamber Choir and the Organ Workshop.The church will be decked out with a wonderful display of flowers and produce for Goosfest.
If you take a detour from the main walk down Church Bank and over the bridge you will see a footpath on the left which can take you along the brook and through the woods which are delightfully called The Bongs, the scene of one of Alan Garner’s tales. Carrying on past the Bongs leads to Blackden Lane and bearing right at the old grain drier you will find signs for Toad Hall which is the home of the Garners and also Blackden Trust who will be providing tours during Goosfest.
From St. Luke’s, it is only a very short walk further along Main Road to the village school and village hall on the left behind the houses in The Old Paddock. The Village Hall is the venue for several Goosfest events including Street Dance, The Rock Concert, La French Touche, Phantom Bull, Around the Classical World, A Partisan’s Daughter and Shoo Shoo Baby.
Just a few more steps down the road brings you to the Crown Inn where Gerry and Cynthia welcome you to eat and drink at the Goosfest Songs for an Autumn Day and at the Goosfest Afternoon Tea.
Further along Main Road on the left you will find the Methodist Church which is the venue for the Café Scientifique Salt lecture.
The road winds on from the Methodist church past a small parade of shops to the pretty village green known as the Bogbean. Carrying on down Main Road over the Shearbrook bridge takes you to Sandyacre the location for Felt Art.
From Sandyacre you follow along an unmade road appropriately called Sandy Lane. The far end of Sandy Lane brings you out on to Boothbed Lane where you turn right and walk right to the very edge of our village where you will find the Sports Field.The Sports Field is a community funded facility exclusively for the use of villagers and features a football pitch, three floodlit Astroturf tennis courts, which also can be used as a multi-sport facility, a bowling green and a pavilion which has an upstairs gallery which serves as a function room.
Retracing your steps along Boothbed Lane, past the turn for Sandy Lane, brings you back to Main Road which you cross over and follow Hermitage Lane out of the village and into open countryside.At the next cross roads you turn left on to Twemlow Lane. About a quarter of a mile along Twemlow Lane on the right, you will find Orchard Farm where the room above the cowshed is the Goosfest venue for the Country and Western Evening.
Continuing along Twemlow Lane eventually brings you to a turning on the left Goostrey Lane which brings you back to Goostrey Railway Station.
Cranage Hall hotel, located on the A50 north of Holmes Chapel and the road for Goostrey, is the venue for the music of Gordon Giltrap and Harvey Andrews. Goostrey is well signposted from the A50; either along Goostrey Lane, where you will find Goostrey Home and Leisure which is the location for the Piano Recital, the Art Exhibition and Zen Art, or along New Platt Lane and from the A535 along Goostrey Lane which brings you to Goostrey railway station which is on the Manchester – Crewe.
We hope you enjoyed your stroll in words through Goostrey and look forward to welcoming you to Goosfest, or another of our village events. For more information about Goostrey visit www.goostrey.info
