Cheshire

Cheshire, officially the County Palatine of Chester, is a traditional county in North West England. The county council was abolished in 2009 and so the county is now split into a number of Unitary Authorities and Metropolitan Boroughs.

Geography & Economy

Tunnel to Liverpool

Cheshire is very diverse, stretching from the Wirral coast to the South Pennines. Much of the central section of the county is comprised of the flat Cheshire Plain, although this is surrounded by hills on all sides. Although a large part of the county is rural there are some large settlements in the north, for example Birkenhead and Stockport.

Parts of the county are very affluent, particularly around the Golden Triangle in the northeast. Traditionally the county was famous for cheese, salt and the Crewe railway works; whereas these still exist, industry has modernised, with a petrochemical refinery and Vauxhall factory in Ellesmere Port. Birkenhead has car ferries to Ireland whilst Manchester Airport is at Ringway, near Wilmslow. Tourist attractions include the Anderton Boat Lift, Little Moreton Hall and the city of Chester.

Roads

Silver Jubilee Bridge

The county has a good network of roads, with perhaps only the upland sections being less well served. However, travelling through Cheshire is one of the most important ways of getting to Liverpool, Manchester and North Wales so much of the traffic on the roads is just passing through.

Most non-trunk roads within the county are maintained by the Unitary Authorities of Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire East, Halton and Warrington, and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Stockport, Wirral, Trafford, Manchester and Tameside. Part of the extreme north-east of the traditional county is administered by Derbyshire County Council. National Highways maintain a number of motorways and connecting roads, mostly in the north; only the M6 reaches the south of the county.

At one time Cheshire had the misfortune to contain two of the most unliked roads in England: the A556 connecting the M6 and M56; and the A57/A628 over Woodhead, forming the main road between Manchester and Stockport. The former was bypassed in 2017; whilst plans to upgrade the latter have been discussed for some time the road remains S2. Cheshire is also home to perhaps the most famous downgraded motorway, the A6144(M).

The northern boundary of Cheshire follows the River Mersey. At one time the furthest downstream bridge was in Warrington, followed by a transporter bridge at the Runcorn Gap (replaced by the Silver Jubilee Bridge in the 1960s and tunnel at Birkenhead, complemented by a second in the 1970s. Currently under construction is the Mersey Gateway Bridge, also at Runcorn; controversially both bridges here will be tolled once the bridge is opened.

Route	From	To	Length
M6	Catthorpe, Leicestershire	Gretna, Dumfriesshire	236 miles	View
M53	Wallasey	Guilden Sutton	21 miles	View
M56	Gatley	Mollington	34 miles	View
M60	Stockport	Stockport	35.3 miles	View
M60	Knutsford	Manchester	14 miles	View
M62	Eccles	Stretford	6 miles	View
M63	Eccles	Bredbury	15 miles	View
M67	Denton	Mottram	5 miles	View
M531	Hooton	Little Stanney	5 miles	View
A6(M)	Bredbury	Hazel Grove	4.5 miles	View
A6(M)	Heaton Norris	Hazel Grove		View
A34(M)	Bruntwood Park	Alderley Park		View
A556(M)	Over Tabley	Castle Hill	6 miles	View
A6144(M)	Urmston	Carrington	1.2 miles	View
A6	Luton	Carlisle	299 miles	View
A34	Winchester	Salford	200 miles	View
A41	London	Birkenhead	204 miles	View
A49	Ross on Wye	Bamber Bridge	158 miles	View
A50	Leicester	Warrington	99.3 miles	View
A51	Chester	Kingsbury	79 miles	View
A54	Ladmanlow	Tarvin	42.0 miles	View
A55	Holyhead	Chester	88 miles	View
A56	Chester	Broughton	80.1 miles	View
A57	Liverpool	Lincoln	122 miles	View
A464	Oaken	Nantwich	37.5 miles	View
A483	Earlswood	Chester	153.6 miles	View
A494	Dolgellau	Mollington	61.7 miles	View
A500	Hanchurch	Nantwich	18.8 miles	View
A523	Calton Moor House	Hazel Grove	31.9 miles	View
A525	Newcastle under Lyme	Rhyl	73 miles	View
A526	Newcastle-under-Lyme	Salford	35.8 miles	View
A527	Congleton	Newcastle-under-Lyme	13.7 miles	View
A529	Nantwich	Hinstock	18.9 miles	View
A529	Chester	Hinstock	33.6 miles	View
A530	Burleydam (NW)	Lostock Gralam	22.8 miles	View
A531	Madeley Heath	Weston	6.7 miles	View
A532	Crewe Hall	Marshfield Bank	4.0 miles	View
A533	Rode Heath	Widnes	30.3 miles	View
A534	Wrexham	West Heath, Congleton	37.3 miles	View
A535	Holmes Chapel	Chelford	6.4 miles	View
A536	Congleton	Macclesfield	16.15 km	View
A537	Knutsford	Axe Edge Moor, near Buxton	20.3 miles	View
A538	Macclesfield	Altrincham	17.0 miles	View
A540	Chester	Hoylake	19.2 miles	View
A548	Llanrwst	Chester	53.0 miles	View
A550	Cefn-y-bedd	Hooton	14.8 miles	View
A551	Gayton	Seacombe	11.2 miles	View
A552	Woodchurch CH49	Birkenhead	4.1 miles	View
A553	Hoylake	Birkenhead	7.6 miles	View
A554	Bidston	Birkenhead	7.4 miles	View
A555	Manchester Airport	Hazel Grove	8 miles	View
A555	Backford	Ellesmere Port	3.6 miles	View
A556	Delamere	Bowdon	18.7 miles	View
A557	Sutton Weaver	Rainhill Stoops	9.7 miles	View
A558	Runcorn	Daresbury	3.3 miles	View
A559	Lower Stretton	Hartford	12.7 miles	View
A560	Altrincham	Mottram in Longdendale	16.8 miles	View
A626	Heaton Chapel	Dinting Vale	9.9 miles	View
A627	Hazel Grove	Chadderton	15 miles	View
A628	Hollingworth	Pontefract	37.6 miles	View
A635	Manchester	Doncaster	51.0 miles	View
A5002	Macclesfield	Buxton	15.0 miles	View
A5004	Buxton	Bridgemont	7.8 miles	View
A5011	Talke	Lawton Gate	1.9 miles	View
A5015	Burleydam	Combermere Park Lodge	0.2 miles	View
A5016	Ridley House	nr Bank Farm, Ridley	0.1 miles	View
A5017	Beam Street	Crewe Road	0.3 miles	View
A5018	Winsford	Wharton Green	1.6 miles	View
A5019	Nantwich Road, Crewe	Earle Street, Crewe	0.7 miles	View
A5020	Crewe Green	Weston	2.7 miles	View
A5021	Hightown	Kinderton Street	0.1 miles	View
A5022	Sandbach	Brereton Green	1.4 miles	View
A5023	Antrobus Street	Bridge Street	0.1 miles	View
A5024	Buxton Road	Park Green	0.3 miles	View
A5027	Victoria Hospital, Birkenhead	Upton	5.9 miles	View
A5028	Poulton Road	Church Road	0.27 miles	View
A5029	Borough Road	Tower Road	0.8 miles	View
A5030	Canning Street, Birkenhead	Wallasey Bridge Road, Birkenhead	2.1 miles	View
A5031	Hamilton Street	Chester Street	0.1 miles	View
A5032	Backford	Ellesmere Port	4.2 miles	View
A5033	Chester Road	Knutsford Town Centre	1.8 miles	View
A5034	Tatton Park	Bucklow Hill	1.5 miles	View
A5035	Hazel Grove	Hazel Grove station	0.1 miles	View
A5060	Warrington	Lower Walton	1.1 miles	View
A5061	Westy	Sankey Bridges	2.3 miles	View
A5078	West Street, Crewe	Nantwich Road, Crewe	1.5 miles	View
A5088	Birkenhead	Liscard, Wallasey	1.4 miles	View
A5102	Wilmslow	Stockport	7.1 miles	View
A5103	Manchester	Northenden	5.5 miles	View
A5104	Corwen	Chester	26.7 miles	View
A5115	Boughton, Chester	Boughton Heath	0.7 miles	View
A5116	Chester	Moston	2.3 miles	View
A5117	Helsby	Saughall	7.8 miles	View
A5126	Halton Lodge	Beechwood	0.8 miles	View
A5133				View
A5137	Gayton	Clatterbridge	3.2 miles	View
A5139	Bidston	Seacombe	2.4 miles	View
A5143	Bramhall Green	Hazel Grove (S)	2.0 miles	View
A5144	Timperley	Hale	1.2 miles	View
A5145	Stretford	Stockport	7.4 miles	View
A5149	Cheadle	Poynton	6.5 miles	View
A5196	Wilson Patten Street	Chester Road	1.52 km	View
A5227	Chester Street, Birkenhead	Argyle Street, Birkenhead	0.3 miles	View
A5268	Chester	Chester	2.0 miles	View
A5301	London Road/Elwood Way	Audlem Road	0.6 miles	View
A5365	Lower Heath	Wolstenholme Elmy Way	0.94 km	View
A5480	Bache	Blacon	1.3 miles	View
A5509	London Road	Watling Street	0.4 miles	View
A6015	Newtown	Hayfield	3.3 miles	View
A6017	Bredbury	Ashton-under-Lyne	5.9 miles	View
A6018	Mottram in Longdendale	Stalybridge	2.9 miles	View
A6024	Woodhead	Honley	10.1 miles	View
A6113	Market Street, Hyde	Stockport Road, Gee Cross	0.8 miles	View
A6144	Sale	Lymm	12.5 miles	View
A6180	Romiley	Bredbury	0.7 miles	View
A6188	Heaton Chapel	Shaw Heath	4.73 km	View
B529	Moss Side	Northenden	4.5 miles	View
B5069	Hampton Heath	Nant y Caws	23.8 miles	View
B5071	Hatherton	Crewe	7.0 miles	View
B5072	Nantwich Lake	Wellington Road	0.2 miles	View
B5073	Nantwich	Burford	1.8 miles	View
B5074	Salterswall	Nantwich	11.7 miles	View
B5075	Northwich	Higher Marston	1.7 miles	View
B5075	High Street	Nantwich Road	0.5 miles	View
B5076	Crewe	Bradfield Green	2.8 miles	View
B5077	Crewe Green	Lawton Gate, Alsager	6.2 miles	View
B5078	Chellshill	Barthomley	4.8 miles	View
B5079	Elworth	Wheelock	2.5 miles	View
B5080	High Street	Winsford & Over Station	0.1 miles	View
B5081	Smithy Green	Middlewich	6.8 miles	View
B5082	Rudheath Woods	Northwich	5.9 miles	View
B5083	Northwich Road	Manchester Road	1.2 miles	View
B5084	Brook Street	Mobberley Road	0.1 miles	View
B5085	Alderley Edge	Knutsford	6.4 miles	View
B5086	Davenport Green	Wilmslow	2.0 miles	View
B5087	Macclesfield	Alderley Edge	5.7 miles	View
B5088	Chester Road	Park Lane	0.6 miles	View
B5089	Macclesfield	Whaley Bridge	8.2 miles	View
B5090	Tytherington	Bollington	2.3 miles	View
B5091	Bradley Mount	Bollington Cross	0.7 miles	View
B5092	Wilmslow	Poynton	4.8 miles	View
B5093	Woodford	Stockport	4.1 miles	View
B5094	Stanley Green	Bramhall	2.3 miles	View
B5095	Smithy Green	East Didsbury	3.9 miles	View
B5130	Chester	Cock Bank	15.7 miles	View
B5131	Rowton	Upton	4.8 miles	View
B5132	Stamford Bridge	Eastham	16.5 miles	View
B5133	Windle Hill	Hooton	3.4 miles	View
B5134	Neston	Hinderton	1.0 mile	View
B5135	Neston	Gayton	2.8 miles	View
B5136	Neston	Rock Ferry	8.5 miles	View
B5137	Clatterbridge	Bromborough	2.1 miles	View
B5138	Heswall	Thingwall	2.2 miles	View
B5139	Upton	West Kirby	3.5 miles	View
B5140	Frankby	Caldy	1.7 miles	View
B5141	Caldy	West Kirby	1.7 miles	View
B5142	Warrington Road, Weaverham	High Street, Weaverham	0.75 miles	View
B5142	Liscard	Egremont	0.5 miles	View
B5143	Liscard	New Brighton	1.04 miles	View
B5144	Weaverham bypass	Station Road	0.34 miles	View
B5144	Birkenhead Road	Poulton Road	0.6 miles	View
B5145	St Hilary Brow, Wallasey	Seacombe	1.7 miles	View
B5146	Freeman Street	Beaufort Road	0.8 miles	View
B5147	Whetstone Lane	Borough Road	0.4 miles	View
B5148	Birkenhead	Dacre Hill	1.9 miles	View
B5149	Birkenhead	Bebington	2.3 miles	View
B5150	Higher Bebington	Woodhey	1.1 miles	View
B5151	Bidston	Willaston (S)	10.4 miles	View
B5152	Frodsham	Cotebrook	9.0 miles	View
B5153	Greenbank	Kingsley	7.2 miles	View
B5154	Runcorn	Weston Point	1.1 miles	View
B5155	Silver Jubilee Bridge	Central Expressway	2.3 miles	View
B5156	Lower Walton	Latchford	2.0 miles	View
B5157	Latchford	Thelwall	4.2 miles	View
B5158	Lostock	Lymm Interchange	11.6 miles	View
B5159	High Legh	Warburton (Toll road)	4.0 miles	View
B5160	Mossbrow	Bowdon	3.9 miles	View
B5161	Bowgreen	Altrincham	1.8 miles	View
B5162	Rosehill	Well Green	1.6 miles	View
B5163	Langham Road	Hale Road	0.6 miles	View
B5164	Woodlands Road	Manchester Road	0.35 miles	View
B5165	Manchester Road, West Timperley	Shaftesbury Avenue, Timperley	2.8 miles	View
B5166	Ashton upon Mersey	Wilmslow	10.5 miles	View
B5167	Baguley	Withington	4.4 miles	View
B5168	Sharston	Northenden	0.4 miles	View
B5172	Egerton Park	Rock Ferry	0.6 miles	View
B5181	Hibel Road	Park Street	0.52 miles	View
B5192	Upton	West Kirby	2.5 miles	View
B5196	Congleton Road	Hightown	0.5 miles	View
B5290	Northenden (SW)	Moss Side	4.3 miles	View
B5308	Chester Road	The Square	0.5 miles	View
B5309	Middlewich (E)	King Street Farm	1.8 miles	View
B5310	Greenway Road	Halton Road	0.7 miles	View
B5311	Ashton upon Mersey	Sale Moor	2.1 miles	View
B5333	Poulton Road	Wallasey Road	0.6 miles	View
B5334	Moor Street, Congleton	High Street	0.2 miles	View
B5335	Middlewich	King Street	1.6 miles	View
B5336	Wharton Green	Mere Heath	1.7 miles	View
B5337	Watling Street	London Road	0.6 miles	View
B5338	Nantwich town centre	Nantwich bypass	0.9 miles	View
B5341	Burford	Nantwich	2.6 miles	View
B5355	Middlewich Road	Wharton Park Road	1.1 miles	View
B5356	Daresbury	Lymm	5.7 miles	View
B5357	Heather Road / Park Road	Hale railway station	0.55 miles	View
B5358	Prestbury	Heald Green	7.3 miles	View
B5359	Wilmslow	Chelford	4.1 miles	View
B5361	Chester Street	King's Square	0.2 miles	View
B5374	Greenbank	Winnington	0.6 miles	View
B5391	Higher Wincham	Over Tabley	3.5 miles	View
B5392	Jodrell Bank	Broken Cross	7.0 miles	View
B5393	Ashton Hayes	Frodsham	6.5 miles	View
B5394	High Street	Red Lane	0.5 miles	View
B5395	Malpas	Whitchurch	6.8 miles	View
B5397	Cross Street	Northenden Road	1.6 miles	View
B5438	Heath Road	Halton Road	0.7 miles	View
B5445	Gresford	Belgrave	6.5 miles	View
B5463	Ledsham(N)	Ellesmere Port	2.9 miles	View
B5465	Cheadle Heath	Stockport (E)	2.4 miles	View
B5470	Hurdsfield, Macclesfield	Chapel-en-le-Frith	12.3 miles	View
B5472	Crewe Hall	Meremoor Moss	1.6 miles	View
B5477	Bayswater Road	Leasowe Road	0.6 miles	View
B5569	Over Tabley	Millington	2.6 miles	View
B6062	New Smithy	Bridgemont	3.1 miles	View
B6101	Marple	New Mills	4.2 miles	View
B6102	Station Road	Strines Road	0.4 miles	View
B6103	Hazel Grove	Woodley	3.9 miles	View
B6104	Portwood, Stockport	Marple Bridge	5.1 miles	View
B6105	Glossop	Crowden	5.3 miles	View
B6169	Audenshaw	Dukinfield	1.5 miles	View
B6170	Ashton-under-Lyne	Hyde	2.8 miles	View
B6171	Heaviley	Offerton	1.0 mile	View
B6174	Hattersley	Roe Cross	0.96 miles	View
B6175	Greenfield	Dukinfield	7.2 miles	View
B6184	Wood Street	Bramhall Way	1.64 km	View
B6431	Oxford Road, Dukinfield	Stamford Park, Stalybridge	0.7 miles	View
B6445	Dukinfield	Stalybridge	1.1 miles	View
B6468	Hyde	Gee Cross	0.7 miles	View
B6544	Ashton upon Mersey	Sale Golf Club	3.4 miles	View
T12	London	Inverness		View
T13	Winchester	Preston		View
T14	E of Birmingham	Birkenhead		View
T18	Swansea	Manchester		View
T19	Chester	Bangor		View
T55	Derby	S of Stockport		View
T56	Stoke-on-Trent	Delamare		View
T57	Shrewsbury	Warrington		View
T58	Shotwick	Warrington		View
T59	Liverpool	Skegness		View
T61	Manchester	Mottram		View
T84	Dolgellau	South of Birkenhead		View

Key

Motorway

Primary Route

Non Primary Route

Former Motorway

Defunct Route

E Road

Future Motorway

Future Primary

Future Non Primary

Historical Route

Tourist Route

Roman Road

Unbuilt Motorway

Unbuilt Primary

Unbuilt Non Primary

National Cycle Network

Cycle Route

Eurovelo Cycle Route

Turnpikes

Main Article: Cheshire Turnpikes

Junctions

Main Article: Junctions in Cheshire

Bridges, Tunnels, and other Crossings

Main Article: Crossings in Cheshire