Britain's Most Scenic Counties: Cheshire (2025- )

Once boasting almost 200 of the grandest stately homes in the country, Cheshire harbours many of the finest piles still standing today. These lavish dwellings continue to evoke a sense of grandeur, history, and tradition and nestled in the south of the county sits one of its finest examples. Famed not for its four walls but for its elaborate gardens is Cholmondeley Castle. Here we meet head gardener Barry Grain as he struggles with unprecedented flooding after days of rain.

If there's one thing the county is not short of, that's quaint and characterful, picture postcard villages. In the east of the county is the charming village of Eaton with historic, white painted cottages. It's there that we meet Wayne and his apprentice Steve, who are two weeks into restoring an18th Century cottage's thatched roof but with winter drawing in, Wayne and Steve are under pressure to finish off the roof as quickly as possible.

This county was one of the birthplaces of the industrial revolution that relied on waterways to transport goods... Britain's first modern canal – the Bridgewater canal – crosses Cheshire on its journey from Runcorn to leigh. In the tiny village of Anderton, in the centre of the county, is a unique Victorian canal relic, the Anderton boat lift, an example of the engineering prowess that transformed the nation. Still in use today, volunteer Jim reveals its magic he helps tourists get from the canal to the river.

In the 19th century no town in the country was more famous for its railway workshops than Crewe. Although trains may no longer be built here, Crewe works are still very much alive. We meet works manager Mark, who has a tight deadline to meet. We follow them as they overhaul the wheels of a commuter train in a high tec depot but will they pull it off in time for it to be back on the rails and back in service.