Weston Village listed buildings walk

Hello again people and pooches. Joe the Cocker here. On a sunny March afternoon my human said ‘shall we go for a walk?’ Well, you know me, I don’t need asking twice. We like to walk from home along the length of Heath Road and into Weston Village and back through Runcorn Hills and the Heath. That way me and my human dad both get some exercise and he gets to have a look at a bit of Weston’s history while I get to have a blast on the playing fields and hills. While the big feller prepares himself for some hillwalking, now that the pandemic restrictions are slowly being lifted, we are building up our mileage again, whilst staying local. He is still holding me back with his knee injury but, I try to walk at his snails pace!

Off we went, at a decent pace, I must admit. We took a slight detour into the Town Hall grounds so that I could have a run around and bounce about as I picked up sticks. One day I will find the perfect stick but, until then, I will keep looking and picking them up to carry with a short stop, now and again, to have a chew. We left the Town Hall through a gap in the bushes, naughty! and headed uphill towards our target. We passed the Fire Station, with it’s recent refurbishment, on past the playing fields and the Heath Business Park. But, not before another minor detour as we walked alongside the football and rugby pitches. I was off-lead again but, my grumpy human kept shouting me back as I attempted to join in the football training on the field. They had footballs, little plastic circular ‘doodads’ and water bottles for me to play with. Well, that was my idea. Unfortunately, my human put me back on the lead and my fun was short lived.

We rejoined Heath Road and passed the Covid testing site before we entered Weston Village. After a short walk past the first houses, we glimpsed at the Roundhouse and Royal Oak pubs, that were still, sadly closed. The first building that attracted my human, was St. John the Evangelist’s Church. Built from red/ pink Runcorn sandstone in 1897/8, it is Grade II* Listed. The roof is made from Welsh slate. The church is known as the Choirboy’s Church as the funding for the construction was raised by the local choirboys writing thousands of letters to choristers and choirboys throughout the country, asking for donations. The fundraising expanded as the word spread about their efforts and people of all kinds made donations.

The church tower was added a few years later with the present clock adorning the front. The church cost £5,000 to build and an extra £700 for the tower. The equivalents being £560,000 and £80,000 in today’s money. Sadly, the building remains closed today whilst the pandemic affects the country.

We were stood on the village green as my human took his photographs. We turned to our left and just beyond the Weston Cross we could see Weston Grange. The building is Grade II listed and was constructed in 1766 from roughcast brick with a slate roof on a stone plinth.

Stood in front of Weston Grange is Weston Cross. The cross was moved from its original position in the road in the 1960’s. It is Grade II listed and the base was originally the market cross two steps high. The third step was added in 1960 when the current Celtic cross was added. The original parts are medieval.

As we looked downhill from the cross the next building that my human wanted to see was the place that used to house his dentist. He said that he had been tortured in there many times. Perhaps if he cut down on the Crunchies then he might not destroy his teeth. Not to mention his impressive weight gain during lockdown. Manor Farm House is a Grade II listed building and, as the name implies, was once a farmhouse. Nowadays, it is a private residence. It was built from local sandstone with a slate roof and dates from the early 17th century.

The annexe on the left is the place where the torture took place according to my human. Such a wimp!

We crossed over the road to a small grassy area so that I could find a tree and have another short run around. On that side of the road as you head away from the village is Cavendish Farm. This Grade II listed farmhouse was built from red sandstone with a slate roof, as is common for the large buildings in the village. The L-shaped building dates from circa 1622. Much of the exterior and interior have been altered over the years.

Opposite Cavendish Farm and heading back towards the village are the final Grade II listed buildings of the day. It is Weston Old Hall and barn. Built in 1607 from local pink sandstone with a tiled roof on the house and a slate roof on the barn. My human says that it is his favourite building in the area but, what does he know?

All that we had to do was walk home through the hills and over the playing fields. We rounded the hills and walked through the ‘horse field’. That way I could have a run around the sandy paths and sniff out the birds in the gorse. We crossed the playing fields and they were almost deserted but, he hadn’t brought a ball for me to play with. No problem though as I found a discarded tennis ball so, I played with that until we reached the dreaded pavement walk. Till next time!