Alderley Edge - The building of the railway from Manchester allowed businessmen to move out to this area south of Wilmslow beneath the Edge, a substantial hill now protected by the National Trust.

Congleton - A busy ancient town between Maccesfield and Stoke, once devoted to fustian-making and later artificial yarn, with ancient inns, Grammar School, Town Hall and church. Nearby is the Cloud, a prominent hill rising from the Cheshire Plain - part of the Pennines.

Ellesmere Port - Ellesmere Port is the largest urban area in Ellesmere and Neston district at the southern end of the Wirral peninsula. It stands where the Manchester Ship Canal and the Mersey are joined by the Shropshire Union Canal at a historic canal port which is now home of a major award-winning canal boat museum.

Ellesmere Port has a major factory outlet village “Cheshire Oaks”. It is the site of one of the largest oil refineries in Europe, and a modern car manufacturing plant (Vauxhall).

The EPIC leisure centre contains all forms of leisure activity as well as a cinema.

Lymm - Town to the east of Warrington, grown from a village as a result of the Bridgewater Canal being constructed through. Popular residential area for commuters. Stocks and old market cross can still be seen.

Middlewich - Six miles north of Crewe. Old salt manufacturing town on site of Roman town in Cheshire Plain. On the Trent and Mersey Canal. One of the last outposts of bear baiting in Britain. Ancient church.

Nantwich - A few miles south west of Crewe, Nantwich has a remarable heritage of Elizabethan half timbered buildings and Georgian buildings, thanks to a fire in 1583. The town owed its prosperity to salt production which began as early as Roman times. The lush dairy farms around produce the Cheshire cheese.

Runcorn - A royal visit in 916 from Princess Aethelfreda, daughter of King Alfred, was the occasion for the first mention of Runcorn in recorded history. The second baron founded an Augustinian priory at Runcorn but in 1134 the monks were allowed to re-establish their house at Norton. Which became Norton Abbey. From an area with a parish church, parsonage and a few scattered tenements, Runcorn was to change by the arrival of the Canal Age.

This was brought about because the Duke of Bridgewater building a canal to Manchester, then deciding to make a cut to Runcorn - and from here he could carry the coal to Liverpool. All of this was accomplished by the brilliant engineer, James Brindley. By the mid-19th century, Runcorn had slate works, a timber yard and a tanning industry Three shipyards were also flourishing and later the soap and chemical industries.

In the early 1890s work began on the Manchester Ship Canal. This new canal also helped many trades to flourish. ICI built its vast office and laboratory complex at The Heath after the first world war. In 1964, Runcorn was designated a New Town, green fields have given way to large housing and industrial estates. The Shopping City complex - now known as Halton Lea - was developed and the Busway and Expressway speed traffic around the town.

Like its Widnes "twin town" across the River Mersey, Runcorn is at the heart of the North West motorway box of the M56 and M62 which give easy access to the M6 and the regional network.

Sandbach - A remarkable survival in Sandbach are two stone crosses in the market square that date back to the 8th and 9th centuries. The town was on the Trent and Mersey canal, as well as the railway from Crewe to Manchester. Its industries included salt mining and silk production, as well as motor production (Foden lorries). The town has timbered buildings and winding streets. The M6 passes close by.

South Wirral - Ellesmere Port developed as a result of becoming the hub of a whole range of canals in the northwest of England, and the historic dock buildings are home now to an award winning collection of canal boats. The Manchester Ship Canal also was planned to join the Mersey here. As a result the town has been heavily industrialised and continues to attract modern investment. Neston on the west side of the Wirral is a small market town, with outside the Liverpool University botanic gardens, which are open to the public.