Congleton is an ancient market town known as 'Bear town' because bear baiting used to be a popular sport there in Elizabethan times.

It's said that when the town's bear died just before their Annual Wakes celebrations the town used the money set aside to buy a bible to purchase a new bear so as not to spoil their celebrations!

Happily, visitors won't be confronted by bear baiting these days but there are signs of settlment in the area dating back to Stone Age times.  The Bridestones in the churchyard is a tomb, thought to have been built in Neolithic times.

Nearby is the magnificent half timbered Little Moreton Hall and three miles east of the town is a hill owned by the National Trust called The Cloud, which provides great views from 10,000 feet up.