For our festive edition of Weekend Walks, we travelled up to the largest of Cheshire's Iron Age hill settlements: Eddisbury hill fort.

With views over the sprawling woodland and deep, still lakes of Delamere, this three mile circuit is a refreshing moment of quiet to offset the bustle of Christmas Day.

• You can park in the car park at Gresty's Waste, from which point you join the Sandstone Trail. This will take you to the right, crossing the main road towards the woods.

• Turn right through the bracken at the sign for Stoney Lane, then right again over a stile. This will bring you onto the old Roman road between Northwich and Chester, which skirts the edge of a field.

• Go straight through the next kissing gate and across the field, until you emerge onto Stoney Lane.

• At the entrance to the field, the lane splits into three to create a sort of crossroads. Continue straight on to begin climbing the hill.

• After passing a few houses and reaching the crest of the hill, you will see a footpath to your left, which splits into two as soon as you join it. Continue on the left-hand track towards Eddisbury hill fort.

Eddisbury hill fort, or Castle Ditch, would have been constructed before 200 - 100 BC. Damaged by the Romans as they conquered Britain, it likely became an Anglo-Saxon burh ('fort' or 'fortification') around 914, built to protect the area from Viking raids.

During excavations of the site, charred hazelnut shells were found in the floor of one of the old guardrooms, dating back to the Iron Age.

How fascinating it is to imagine who may have eaten those hazelnuts all those years ago!

The original shape of the hill fort is still visible today, and some excavated walls have been reconstructed, giving an idea of what they may have looked like in Eddisbury's heyday.

• Continue along the path, which currently appears as more of a mudslide, as it descends into Delamere Forest.

• Eventually you will reach a gate on your left, and the path will bend down to the right.

• Keep to the left through the gate and up the lane (or grassy path if you're well equipped with wellies!) towards the Delamere communications masts on Old Pale Hill.

• At Old Pale's 176 metre summit, from which you can enjoy majestic views over to Frodsham and Helsby Hills, Liverpool, Manchester, Moel Famau, Shropshire and Derbyshire, lies a hugely significant trig point in the history of British mapping.

In the 18th century, what with the Jacobite uprising of 1745 and the potential threat of a Napoleonic invasion, Britain found itself in need of a detailed map which would assist the army in times of conflict.

And so, the Ordnance Survey project began, with Delamere's Old Pale Hill being chosen as the central meridian for the northern portion of Britain.

Delamere's trig point therefore played a central role in production of the maps until the new National Grid system was introduced in the 1940s.

• After drinking in the spectacular views around Old Pale Hill, begin descending by heading away from Delamere Forest, and towards the masts, along the Sandstone Trail.

• Keep going straight until the path crosses through a hedge, at which point you should turn right along the path.

• Reaching a sort of tree-lined crossroads, turn left down the hill. Keep going straight towards Gresty's Waste, following your ears as the sound of Chester Road gets louder.

Although probably not an option at the moment, The Morris Dancer pub in Kelsall is a great place to round off your walk if you've worked up an appetite.

If you enjoyed this walk, you may want to try another!

Helsby Hill

Beacon Hill

Alvanley Cliff

Beeston Castle

Bickerton Hill

Bulkeley Hill

Primrosehill Wood