Today's Sandstone Trail walk begins just down the road in Manley Common, and moves through the autumnal avenues of Delamere Forest, resplendent in the final weeks of its lovely ambers and golds.

There is some space to park along the side of New Pale Road in Manley Common. This lane is named after the New Pale, an area of open land which is a remnant of the old hunting forests of Mara and Mondrem, favourite stomping grounds of the Earls of Chester from as early as the 11th century.

• Walking towards the sharp leftward bend in the lane, you will see a narrow path leading along the Sandstone Trail towards Delamere Forest. Follow this up and over the field, until you reach the tree line.

• Entering the Forest, turn immediately left down a narrow track to the side of the main path. Just to warn you: this is likely to be very muddy!

• Follow the path as it dips down to a veritable babbling brook, and then rises up once again.

• As the ground levels, keep to the left until you meet one of the more open central paths at a sort of T-junction.

• Here, turn left and then immediately left again, heading upwards into the trees rather than along the gravelled main track.

• You will now begin skirting round the edge of the forest, under long rows of beech trees.

Delamere Forest may appear to have a fairly regimented and manmade quality, but this is only a recent development in its long history.

Initially a section of the ancient forests of Mara and Mondrem, Delamere was first used by the Norman conquerors as a hunting ground, and was preserved for 700 years by strict forest laws which prevented any local people from disturbing its trees or wildlife, even if they encroached onto their farms.

These laws protected all the game animals and vegetation in the forest, including the deer which roamed freely across the land until they were wiped out during the Civil War.

Much of Mara remained intact until the 18th century, when the surrounding parishes were finally allowed to divide up the portion of the forest which lay on their land.

The only surviving relic of the neighbouring forest of Mondrem is Little Budworth Common. However, the ghost of this ancient forest is revealed in the way that the area's older villages lie arranged around the boundaries of the former woodland, tracing out its shape for modern eyes.

After that historical interlude, let's continue along our route.

• Keep to the left, until you reach a right turn onto a much wider path, heading downwards into a thicker and darker section of the Forest.

• As the track bends to the left, take the first right turn onto a narrower footpath. This undulating path snakes through the trees until it reaches the edge of the forest, at which point you will start dipping downward, with a field sitting to your left, and some of the new forest log cabins to your right.

• Instead of continuing around the outer fringes of the Forest, turn left onto a grassy farm track, leading up to the road.

• You will meet Waterloo Lane at a sharp bend. Turn left here and follow the road upwards.

• Continue until you reach a footpath sign on the left-hand side of the road. This will lead you across two fields and then back through the trees around the Kingswood Park development.

• Follow the path until it emerges onto New Pale Road, where you should turn left to descend the hill back to Manley Common and your car.

Here are some other Sandstone Trail walks you might like to try:

Bulkeley Hill

Beeston Castle

Primrosehill Wood