Rode Hall & Gardens - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

The National Trust's Little Moreton Hall, Cheshire, is an iconic Tudor manor house, moat and manicured knot garden. It is a superb example of a timber-framed moated house with rich ornamental panelling. A National Trust guidebook describes Little Moreton Hall as being "lifted straight from a fairy story, a gingerbread house". The house's top-heavy appearance, "like a stranded Noah's Ark", is due to the Long Gallery that runs the length of the south range's upper floor.

Mow Cop Castle is a folly at Mow Cop in the civil parish of Odd Rode, Cheshire, England. The Castle was built as a summerhouse in 1754 for Randle Wilbraham I of Rode Hall. It was built to look like part of a castle of a bygone era and would have enhanced the view of the newly constructed Rode Hall some 3 miles away on the Cheshire side of the hill.

Astbury Mere Country Park occupies the site of a former sand quarry, just off Newcastle Road in Congleton, Cheshire. The Country Park and Visitors Centre attracts over 140,000 visitors a year. The 14 acre site includes a 3km all-weather path around the Mere, open space, extensive woodlands and wildflower meadow.

The National Trust's Biddulph Grange Garden is a landscaped Victorian garden, located near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.These gardens let you follow paths, steps, and tunnels on a global journey from an Egyptian Court to a Chinese landscape based on the Willow pattern, and a Himalayan glen. This Grade I listed garden is one of the most exciting survivals of the great age of Victorian gardening.

Knypersley Reservoir is a canal feeder reservoir near Biddulph in Staffordshire. It is located south-east of Biddulph and named after the local Knypersley area. The reservoir was built in 1827 to supply water to the Caldon Canal, along with two others at Stanley Pool and Rudyard Lake. There are actually two adjacent lakes at the site, the upper one being the Serpentine Pool which feeds the lower Knypersley Pool or reservoir.

The Apedale Valley Light Railway was officially opened in September 2010 by the Moseley Railway Trust. The railway normally operates a diesel service on every Saturday during its opening season, and the second weekend of every month is a Steam weekend.