Tea time?: There are plenty of relaxing cafes and tearooms within easy reach of the Sandstone Trail

Some walkers prefer a nice cup of tea in a comfortable tearoom to a pint of beer or a glass of wine in a busy pub.

Luckily, Cheshire’s Sandstone Trail offers a host of friendly, family-run tearooms and cafes along the way, many of them in traditional farmhouses and rural homes.

Stop, relax and recuperate at these excellent tearooms and cafes:

The ancient market town of Frodsham has a dozen or so cafes and coffee shops, from the Cottage Tea Shop on Main Street to Costa Coffee on Church Street.

Delamere Forest Cafes

Drop in at the popular Delamere Café beside the main Linmere car park and visitor information centre, in the heart of Delamere Forest. Walkers and forest visitors are also welcome at the nearby Station House Café alongside Station Road, Delamere.

A short detour from the Trail to the east, but well worth a visit, is the lovely Stonyford Cottage Gardens, Nursery and Cafe – it’s just off the Oakmere Way.

Not far from the Trail, a short stroll to the west of Delamere Forest, there’s a warm welcome and good food at the Eddisbury Farm Shop and Café, on Yeld Lane, Kelsall.

The once popular Summertrees Tearoom, on the Sandstone Trail on Tirley Lane, Kelsall is now sadly closed. Try the nearby Rose Farm Café, not far off the Trail on John Street, at Utkinton.

Tarporley Cafes

Upmarket Tarporley, a short, signposted walk from the Trail, has several attractive cafes and tearooms on the High Street.

At Beeston, there’s a traditional café just off the Sandstone Trail on the A49 Whitchurch Road, close to Beeston Market.

Tearooms and Cafes at Burwardsley

Further south, on the Llangollen arm of the Shropshire Union Canal, is the Lockside Stores and Cafe beside the staircase locks, at Grindley Brook.

The pretty Georgian market town of Whitchurch, at the southern end of the Sandstone Trail, also has a wide selection of cafes and tearooms for refreshments either at the start of the end of the walk.