Halloween lands on a Saturday this year, right at the tail end of half-term, and the county has gone all out with pumpkin trails, ghost walks, woodland light shows and fireworks. Fancy a quieter scare? This week’s Hidden Gem is a Macclesfield village with a ghostly jester, a haunted wood and a very good pub.
Let’s dive in!
| Jump to:FriSatSunRest of Week |
🎉 What’s On In Cheshire
🗓️ Fri · 30 October
⭐ Editor's Pick
🕯️ The Music of ABBA by Candlelight
Fri 30 Oct, 7:30pm (doors 6:45pm), Chester Cathedral, Chester
A sing-along night of ABBA hits from tribute act Abba Reunion in the candlelit cathedral.
👉 Details
|
🍂 Halloween Trails at Tegg’s Nose and Brereton Heath
Fri 30 Oct to Sun 1 Nov, Tegg’s Nose Country Park, Macclesfield and Brereton Heath Local Nature Reserve, Congleton
Two budget-friendly ranger trails, with a 50p map at Tegg’s Nose and a free one at Brereton Heath.
👉 Details
🎤 Old Red Eyes: A Tribute to Paul Heaton
Fri 30 Oct, 7:30pm (doors 7pm), Bollington Arts Centre, Bollington
Songs from The Housemartins and The Beautiful South, with local singer-songwriter Emily Lockett in support.
👉 Details
⛵ Halloween and Half Term Activities
Fri 30 Oct to Sun 1 Nov, 10am to 4pm, National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port
Free ghost tours, a pumpkin trail and boat trips at the canal museum.
👉 Details
🎃 Knutsford Pumpkin Path
Fri 30 Oct, 4pm to 7pm, Knutsford town centre, Knutsford
Hunt for carved pumpkins in shop windows and enter the prize draw. Free.
👉 Details
🧪 Myth, Magic and Mystery
Fri 30 Oct to Sat 31 Oct, Tatton Park Old Hall, Knutsford
Brew a potion and discover the gruesome ingredients once used in medicine. Ages 7 to 11, pre-booked.
👉 Details
🚪 Doors to Hallowtide
Fri 30 Oct to Sun 1 Nov, from 10:30am, Lyme, Disley
Ten hidden doors across the park, each opening onto local folklore and ghost stories.
👉 Details
🌾 Scarecrow Festival and Sally Scarecrow Trail
Fri 30 Oct to Sun 1 Nov, Quarry Bank, Styal
Help Sally Scarecrow around the mill estate, with spooky Apprentice House tours for ages 6+.
👉 Details
✨ Magical Woodland Halloween
Fri 30 Oct to Sun 1 Nov, Cheshire Outdoors, Blakemere Village, Sandiway
An after-dark light and sound trail through 15 acres of woodland, now with live characters.
👉 Details
🏰 Halloweenville
Fri 30 Oct to Sun 1 Nov, Partridge Lakes, Warrington
An immersive woodland quest with live characters, spooky but not scary.
👉 Details
🧙 World of Wizardry
Fri 30 Oct to Sat 31 Oct, The Ice Cream Farm, Tattenhall
A 20-minute magic school with potions, wizard names and a taste of frog gloop.
👉 Details
🌽 Halloween by Day and by Night
Fri 30 Oct to Sun 1 Nov, Seven Sisters Ice Cream Farm, Knutsford
Scarecrow maize maze by day, a 14+ after-dark scare experience on Fri and Sat nights.
👉 Details
🧂 Halloween at the Works
Fri 30 Oct, Lion Salt Works, Marston, Northwich
Free spooky crafts, haunted stories and a trick-or-treat trail. Age 4+.
👉 Details
🎃 Halloween Pumpkin Carving Morning
Fri 30 Oct, Mobberley Dairy Farm, Mobberley
Carve your own jack-o’-lantern on a working dairy farm, with ice cream nearby. Booking needed.
👉 Details
🎃 Grumpy Pumpkins: A Halloween Trail
Fri 30 Oct and Sun 1 Nov, Norton Priory Museum and Gardens, Runcorn
Find ten grumpy pumpkins in the grounds to wake Haystack Jack. Closed Sat 31 Oct.
👉 Details
🗓️ Sat · 31 October
⭐ Editor's Pick
🎆 The Lord Mayor’s Spooktacular Fireworks
Sat 31 Oct, gates 4:30pm, main display 7:30pm, Chester Racecourse, Chester
Chester’s big fireworks night goes Halloween-themed, with a fairground, LED performers and two displays.
👉 Details
🕹️ Winsford Halloween Arcade
Sat 31 Oct, 12pm to 4pm, Winsford Cross Shopping Centre, Winsford
Free arcade fun on the World’s Largest Pac-Man, plus Chase the Light and a Dance Machine. Cosplayers are roaming the centre and a face painter joins from 2:30pm.
👉 Details
🎨 Painting with a Palette Knife Workshop
Sat 31 Oct, 10am to 3pm, Walton Hall Gardens, Warrington
A one-day oil painting workshop for all abilities, with materials provided and your finished painting to take home.
👉 Details
🎸 Bootleg Blondie
Sat 31 Oct, Alexander’s Live, Chester
The world’s No.1 Debbie Harry and Blondie tribute, who’ve played with two of the original band members. 18+.
👉 Details
🪔 Festival of Diwali in Chester
Sat 31 Oct, parade 11:45am from Watergate Street, Chester
A riot of colour, music and Bollywood dance through the city centre, with free workshops after.
👉 Details
👻 Spooky Saturday
Sat 31 Oct, Macclesfield town centre, Macclesfield
A free town-wide Halloween party with a pumpkin trail, a Crafty Crypt and face painting.
👉 Details
👻 The Original Ghost Tour of Chester: Halloween Night
Sat 31 Oct, Chester Town Hall Visitor Information Centre, Chester
Chester’s longest-running ghost walk on the spookiest night of the year.
👉 Details
💃 One More Time: 90s and 00s Halloween Day Party
Sat 31 Oct, 6pm to 10pm, The Live Rooms, Chester
Britney, Spice Girls and Busted in fancy dress, finished in time to be home by midnight.
👉 Details
🖤 Black Parade and Chop Suey: Halloween
Sat 31 Oct, 11pm, The Live Rooms, Chester
A huge emo and nu-metal Halloween party for the late shift.
👉 Details
🎬 Daytime Halloween Film Screenings
Sat 31 Oct, Northwich Memorial Court, Northwich
Two spooky matinees: family favourite Spooky Buddies and the creepier Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
👉 Details
💀 Skellies and Wellies in the Gardens
Sat 31 Oct (to Sun 1 Nov), 10am to 4pm, Tatton Park, Knutsford
Skeleton scenes hidden around 50 acres of autumn gardens.
👉 Details
🗓️ Sun · 1 November
⭐ Editor's Pick
🔥 Disley Community Bonfire and Fireworks
Sun 1 Nov, gates 5pm, Disley Golf Club, Disley
A community bonfire and display on the edge of the Peak.
👉 Details
🏍️ Guy Martin: Unplanned
Sun 1 Nov, 7:30pm, Parr Hall, Warrington
The racer, mechanic and TV adventurer’s brand-new live show, packed with untold stories and footage.
👉 Details
🎆 1st Tarporley Scouts Bonfire and Fireworks
Sun 1 Nov, gates 6pm, field behind St Helen’s Church, Tarporley
A proper village bonfire and fireworks for the local Scouts, with hot dogs and mulled wine.
👉 Details
⛵ Halloween and Half Term Activities
Sun 1 Nov (last day), 10am to 4pm, National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port
Ghost tours, boat trips and the pumpkin trail wrap up for half-term.
👉 Details
⚙️ Bunbury Watermill
Sun 1 Nov, Bunbury Watermill, Bunbury
A beautifully restored working watermill for a gentle autumn Sunday.
👉 Details
🌟 Stars and Stones
Sun 1 Nov, Storyhouse, Chester
Goofus Theatre close WayWord Festival with a tale of ancient magic told through puppetry and music.
👉 Details
💀 Skellies and Wellies in the Gardens
Sun 1 Nov (last day), 10am to 4pm, Tatton Park, Knutsford
Last chance to find all the skeleton scenes.
👉 Details
🌾 Scarecrow Festival
Sun 1 Nov (last day), Quarry Bank, Styal
The scarecrow trail’s final day, with the Apprentice House tours.
👉 Details
🎃 Grumpy Pumpkins: A Halloween Trail
Sun 1 Nov, Norton Priory Museum and Gardens, Runcorn
Wake Haystack Jack by finding ten grumpy pumpkins in the woodland.
👉 Details
🗓️ REST OF THE WEEK
|
🍄 The Trees of Lyme Park and Their Fungal Associates
Mon 2 Nov to Sat 7 Nov, 10:30am, Lyme, Disley
A seasonal trail through Lyme’s veteran trees and the fungi that live alongside them.
👉 Details
🌙 The Nightmare Before Christmas Light Trail
Runs to Sun 3 Jan, Arley Hall and Gardens, near Northwich
Jack Skellington, Sally and Zero lead an illuminated walk through the gardens.
👉 Details
🧺 LOCAL CRAFT MARKETS
Congleton Makers Market – Sat 31 Oct | 👉 Details
Knutsford Makers Market – Sun 1 Nov | 👉 Details
Small Street Markets, Blakemere Village – Sun 1 Nov | 👉 Details
Creative Crafters Fair, Cuddington and Sandiway Village Hall – Sun 1 Nov | 👉 Details
🗓️ DATES FOR THE DIARY
The Stylistics, Parr Hall – Fri 6 Nov | 👉 Details
Macclesfield BIG BANG Bonfire and Fireworks Festival – Fri 6 Nov | 👉 Details
Northwich Firefest, Verdin Park – Sat 7 Nov | 👉 Details
Chester Makers Market – Sat 7 Nov | 👉 Details
Rode Hall Farmers’ Market – Sat 7 Nov | 👉 Details
Northern Chamber Orchestra: Fire and Brilliance, King’s School Prestbury – Sat 7 Nov | 👉 Details
Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote, Northwich Memorial Court – Fri 13 Nov | 👉 Details
JUST.BATHE Charity Casino Night, Shrigley Hall – Fri 20 Nov | 👉 Details
Chester Christmas Makers Market – Sat 21 Nov-Sun 22 Nov | 👉 Details
💎 Hidden Gem: Gawsworth and Maggoty Wood, near Macclesfield
Gawsworth is three miles from Macclesfield and one of the prettiest villages in Cheshire. A sandstone church, a black-and-white hall and a proper old pub sit around the village ponds. With Halloween on Saturday, it also has a ghost story.
Samuel “Maggoty” Johnson was England’s last professional jester and wrote a hit play, Hurlothrumbo, which ran for fifty nights in London in 1729. He planned to bury his devoted servant in the woods, but her family thwarted him. He ended up buried there himself in 1773, and his tomb in Maggoty Wood is said to be haunted by a jester who still dances among the trees.
Gawsworth has a second ghost in Mary Fitton, thought to be the “Dark Lady” of Shakespeare’s sonnets. A lady in green is said to wander the lanes, church and hall. The Old Hall is closed to visitors now, but you can enjoy the outside and the ponds.
A good loop takes in the church, the ponds and Maggoty Wood, then runs along the fringe of Danes Moss. This is the largest and highest lowland raised bog in Cheshire, and it’s free to walk. The Harrington Arms is the reward at the end.
Practical bits:
📍 Start point: The Harrington Arms, Church Lane, Gawsworth, SK11 9RJ. Parking is free at the pub and there’s roadside parking near the church.
🥾 Distance: About 5 miles, 2 to 3 hours. Walking guides vary from 4¾ to 5.8 miles depending on the loop.
🌿 Terrain: Mostly flat, with around 260ft of climb. It’s field paths, lanes and a few stiles, so expect mud.
♿ Accessibility: Not step-free or buggy-friendly because of the stiles. A short stroll around the village, church and ponds is easier.
🐕 Dogs: Welcome at the pub and on Danes Moss. Keep them on leads near livestock.
🍺 Recommended stop: The Harrington Arms is a farmhouse pub from 1710 with open fires, low beams and tiled floors. It’s on CAMRA’s heritage list, has four cask ales and a beer garden. Phone ahead to book a table.
🚌 Getting there: The hourly 38 bus (Macclesfield to Crewe) stops on the A536 near the pub.
👉 Details
👉 The Harrington Arms
That’s it for this week.
Thanks for reading The Cheshire Buzz! See you next Thursday – same time, same inbox.