Today's walk is surely a familiar one for many of you, and it's definitely one of the most spectacular that the Sandstone Trail has to offer.

Looping up and over Helsby Hill, it also moves through Harmers Wood and past Spirit of the Herd, where you can pick up a sweet treat from the sanctuary's pop up stall, in exchange for a small donation.

There is parking in the Commonside lay-by which is intersected by the Sandstone Trail, and where we began our Alvanley Cliff walk last week. Or, alternatively, there is some space down The Ridgeway, off Commonside.

• Having found a place to park, walk back up Commonside towards Tarvin Road. After about half a mile, and just after you pass by Cheshire Woodworking on the right-hand side, turn right onto a footpath.

• Descend through the fields. As the ground levels at the bottom of the hill, it might be difficult to see where the footpath goes – start walking to the left and then you will see it skirting round the edge of the field.

• Follow this track until you reach a sign which reads: Alvanley / Woodhouse Hill / Helsby. Cross over the wooden bridge towards Helsby and into the next field.

• Turning left along the path, you will meet Tarvin Road. Turn right and then almost immediately left onto Bates Lane.

• Continue along the lane, ignoring the sign for Helsby Hill, and then turn left up Hill Road North.

• Keep going until you see a Helsby Hill sign on the right. This path will take you past a house and into the woods.

• Bear left to climb the hill, enjoying the varied woodland and snatched glimpses of the wind farm through the trees.

• At the top of the hill, the views open out over Helsby, the Mersey Estuary, Ellesmere Port and then south to Beeston and Peckforton Castles, all hazy in the distance.

Helsby Hill is almost unfathomably ancient, and is thought to date back to between 7000 and 3001BC.

It seems that, in the middle to late Bronze Age, a stone rampart was built to create Helsby hill fort. If this date is correct, the fort is one of the earliest such settlements to be unearthed in the whole country.

The hill fort is one of seven Iron Age forts to have been found in Cheshire, most of which crest the county's dramatic sandstone peaks.

There is evidence of occupation in the hill fort dating up until around 530AD, which suggests that it might have been used by Saxon invaders.

A carved stone altar was also found at the base of Helsby Hill in 1958. This is Roman in origin and was probably part of a roadside shrine on the route between Chester and Wilderspool (or, as we like to call it, Warrington).

In a rather gruesome chapter of its history, Helsby Hill was later the site of a rare public execution on 21st April 1791.

On this day, William Henry Clarke was hung in chains as punishment for robbing the Warrington Mail.

• When you have taken in the vast panorama before you, you can begin to descend from the hill by taking the footpath down to the left.

• Reaching a sign for Pipers Ash, turn left onto the other end of Hill Road North. After a minute or two, you can choose to either continue along the lane, or take another left into Harmers Wood.

During the 19th century, Harmers Wood was the site of a sandstone quarry, whose stone was used for local buildings, including Helsby's St Paul's Church.

• There are several paths in the wood which will bring you meandering back to the lane, where you should turn left once again.

• Almost immediately, take a right onto a footpath towards Tarvin Lane and the Sandstone Trail.

• Follow the path down through the fields, continuing back down to Bates Lane rather than following the Longster Trail along a wooded track.

• Once you reach Bates Lane, turn right to cross back over Tarvin Road and rejoin the footpath which began your walk.

• This time, when you reach the foot bridge and the Alvanley / Woodhouse Hill / Helsby sign, turn left across the fields.

• Emerge onto Burrows Lane and turn left again.

• Reaching the wider Ridgeway, turn right and pass Spirit of the Herd's lovely ponies.

• Take the sign for the Sandstone Trail on the right and follow it up and over a woody hill and some muddy field paths.

• As you enter the final field, you might just spot your car at the top of the hill. Follow the path back up to Commonside and the start of your walk.

• Now that the pubs are open again, you may want to round off your walk with a Sunday lunch in the White Lion in Alvanley!

If you enjoyed this walk, why not try another!

Manley Common

Beacon Hill

Primrosehill Wood

Bickerton Hill