Woodlands.co.uk

Checkley Wood £59,000

Description

Wonderfully situated in rural Staffordshire, just outside of the historic town of Madeley, Checkley Wood offers an exciting opportunity to own a beautiful wood. At two and a half acres, Checkley is a manageable wood that feels much larger due to its surrounds.

From dedicated parking, stroll north-west into the woodland and enter a broad, flat region with some of the largest oak trees in the broader wood. This is an excellent area for camping or bushcraft, and eventually the ground falls away into a sheltered valley. The wood has mature sycamores at the top, and slopes away to the north. Blackberry bushes and some bracken help form the woodland floor. More paths could be cut here to create routes through to clearings or the valley in the west, and there's scope for a larger clearing where the forest floor is open.

Checkley wood features a well-developed broadleaf canopy, alive with birds, mammals and insects. Wildlife gets a boost by the southern boundary which has been left and overgrown in the field beyond which has been given over to nature.

Trees

Checkley predominantly consists of mature oak, ash and sycamore trees, with hawthorn and smaller species along its edges.

Wildlife

The woodland floor is dense in places with blackberry bushes and bracken, provided an excellent environment for hares, badgers and a variety of insects.

You are constantly aware of the birdlife, a variety of calls ring out through this wood, a testament to the undisturbed location.

Features

Checkley wood extends north-west, opening out into a broader area bordered by a field of dense bramble and ferns to the west, a strip of woodland to the east and a sunny field to the north. It feels somehow larger, and isolated from the broader woodland. Checkley features some of the largest sprawling oak trees in the broader wood and has a narrow valley that runs down to the roadside in its north eastern corner.

Access, tracks and footpaths

Access to the main entrance into Checkley Wood is just off Bowsey Wood Road, passing the gate you are greeted by a short track that has been recently renovated to a high standard and fully accessible to cars, all the way to the private parking space. There are no public foot paths or public rights of access.

Rights and covenants

As is the case for all our woodlands, the purchaser will be asked to enter into a covenant which serves to protect the peace and quiet of the woodland.

Activities

This undisturbed woodland provides an ideal place for woodland management, camping, adventure, and being in nature. Creating woodland clearings and paths, and gentle management to encourage a healthy habitat. Useful firewood could be obtained from deadwood and careful management.

More active activities include orienteering, bushcraft, and shelter building.

This woodland can provide opportunities for conservation and recreation. Wildlife watching, family gatherings and outdoor adventure are all in scope.

As you might imagine, the area is full of outdoor things to do, Onneley golf course is within just a few miles https://www.onneleygolfclub.com/

The village of Madeley is just up the road, there are a variety of walks, and points of interest, discoverable on https://thetravelfox.co.uk/guides/staffordshire/madeley/

Local area and history

Beck Wood is a small, mature block of woodland located in the civil parish of Madeley in Staffordshire (near Crewe and Newcastle-under-Lyme). Madeley is a historic village in Staffordshire near Crewe, with origins dating back to Anglo-Saxon times as Madanlieg (Mada's clearing).

Checkley wood lies near the historic ruins of Heighley Castle, a 13th-century fortress linked to the medieval history of the Audley family in North Staffordshire. The area historically featured water-powered industry along local waterways like the Checkley Brook. Bowsey Wood Corn Mill was one of five notable water mills in the Madeley area, documented in local studies such as The Water Mills of the Borough of Newcastle by George Riley, https://www.madeleyvillage.co.uk/about-madeley/history/madeley-history-books/

Wood maps

Wood map

Boundaries

The north-eastern and northern borders are created by a continuous fence, The eastern boundary consists of the last row of mature trees, these are marked by paint, The western boundary is set back from the road, and is marked by painted trees. The southern boundary is marked by the track, with a line of stakes running up to the edge of the wood.

Find this wood

Location

  • OS Landranger: OS No. 118
  • Grid ref: SJ 768 463
  • Nearest post code: CW3 9DH
  • GPS coordinates: 53.0136, -2.34707

Location map

Directions

W3W words for the gate and on Google maps Entrance to the wood

From the M6:

Take the A500 offramp, heading towards Crewe and Nantwich. At the first roundabout, take the first exit onto the A531, after a mile or two you will come to your next roundabout, take the first exit (Newcastle road) towards Betley. You will then take the 2nd exit on the Wychwood Park roundabout, carrying on straight.

Passing through the towns of Betley and then Wrinehill, immediately after a large layby on your right, you will turn right onto Bowsey Road heading up the Hill towards Madeley, the wood is now on your right hand side and a few hundred yards along the road, on the bend you will see the entrance to the woodland on your right hand side. I would recommend reversing into the space to make rejoining Bowsey road easier.

From Nantwich:

You'll want to take the Shavington bypass, heading as if you were going to the M6, just after the turning for Weston, you will take the 3rd exit on the Roundabout onto the A531, after a mile or two you will come to your next roundabout, take the first exit (Newcastle road) towards Betley. You will then take the 2nd exit on the Wychwood Park roundabout, carrying on straight.

Follow the same directions as above and reverse into the gate mouth.

How we support our buyers

Membership of the small woodland owners’ group

£300 for a woodland course of your choice

One year's free membership of the royal forestry society

Please note this wood is owned by woodlands.co.uk.

Our regional managers are often out working in our woodlands, so if you email an offer and want to be sure it has been received, please phone our manager on their mobile phone. The first offer at the stated price which is accepted, whether by phone or email, has priority.

Please take care when viewing as the great outdoors can contain unexpected hazards and woodlands are no exception. You should exercise common sense and caution, such as wearing appropriate footwear and avoiding visiting during high winds.

These particulars are for guidance only and, though believed to be correct, do not form part of any contract. Woodland Investment Management Ltd hereby give notice under section 21 of the Estate Agents Act 1979 of their interest in the land being sold.

This excellently situated woodland features a variety of mature broadleaf species. Exploring here reveals a broad, largely flat area perfect for camping, featuring a sheltered valley that runs along the northern boundary.

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Managed by Neil Nixon

Telephone: 07867 641649

Email: [email protected]