Drive into the pretty village of Wybunbury, wind along the narrow Main Road, and you might start to wonder if something strange is going on. An imposing spire looms before you, but hang on, is it leaning over?
At first you might wonder if it's an optical illusion or that you're looking at things from an odd angle. But no, this is Cheshire's very own leaning tower.
It is the unusual landmark at the heart of a village that also does plenty to confuse people thanks to its name. Wybunbury might sound like it's pronounced "Wy-bun-berry" but it's actually pronounced "Win-bree".
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Residents here are used to having to explain, and explain again, the spelling and unusual pronunciation of the village. The village postmaster says even the Post Office spell it wrong when addressing correspondence to her.
Teresa Mountifield, 62, says: "You can’t get too cross about it because even the Post Office get it wrong! They've been known to spell it Wyn-bunbury.
"I think the most confusing thing is people looking for the village of Wrenbury, that has caused some issues. Most people are ok about it until they realise they’re actually eight miles away from Wrenbury."
But it is the leaning tower that has had villagers here flummoxed for the best part of 500 years. It was originally part of St Chad's Church, all built on a mound at the top of the village with the misfortune of resting on a bed of unstable clay sand.
The instability of the ground has seen the church building behind the tower collapse four times over the centuries, and then rebuilt. The tower earned itself the nickname the "Hanging Steeple of Wimbrie" from its earliest days, and is now known as the "Leaning Tower of South Cheshire".
But when the church started to crumble again in the 1970s for a fifth time, the decision was made to demolish and fully relocate the church to a new modern home just along the street. The 15th century tower was to remain in its historical place, though, albeit it with its two foot lean to the left, after residents rallied to save it.
When St Chad's moved, the tower was deconsecrated from the church, and placed in the trust of the village for perpetuity. It is now maintained by the Wybunbury Tower Preservation Trust, run by local volunteers.
On certain dates in the year it is opened up to the public, when visitors in small groups can walk right up to the top. It will next open at the village's famous Fig Pie Wakes held in June, which is the main source of fundraising for the tower preservation.
The tower has only survived due to continued feats of engineering - including the most famous intervention in 1832 by engineer James Trubshaw, involving drilling holes beneath the foundations. The same technique would go on to be used in a bid to rectify similar problems at the iconic Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy.
Wybunbury Tower Preservation Trust chairman is Mark Walker, 58, who has lived in the village for the past 30 years. He and a team of around half a dozen volunteers continue to fundraise to protect the landmark.
Mark says: "The church tower dates back to the 15th century, and it's had five churches behind it over the years - but they all started to fall down. The last one was in the 1970s, and the story goes that as the organist was playing bits of the church were falling around her.
"The decision was made to pull the church down and relocate it entirely. They were going to pull the tower down as well, until a member of the community Richard Elwood started a fundraising campaign to save it and that's how the Tower Trust was originally formed.
"Various things have been done over the years to stabilise it, until in the 1830s James Trubshaw used a technique that if it started to lean to the right, he would dig under the left hand side under the footings to settle it down a bit. They used that same technique to correct the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa as well - if you read up it does reference Wybunbury Tower as where they got the idea from."
Mark said they have to continue their fundraising because the Tower "will always be moving". He says: "At the moment it doesn't need serious correction, it leans between 18 inches and two foot.
"It will always be moving. It's built on running sand, although there's this big concrete pool beneath it now. We raise money to keep the tower alive."
The Fig Pie Wakes
The main source of fundraising for the tower is the village's famous Fig Pie Wakes, which will be held this year on Saturday, June 10.
Anyone can take part, by making their own circular pud following the ancient fig pie recipe, and then on the day rolling it down the hill next to the church. The pie making it the furthest along Bridge Street is crowned the winner.
You can buy the salt dough and fig recipe for £4 beforehand, or register your pie for £5 on the day. All the ingredients are available to buy in the village shop where you can also get more details about the event.
Mark says: "What I like about the Fig Pie Wakes now, is it's that olde English spirit. It was banned in the 1800s because everyone got drunk and a bit rowdy at the Wakes.
"They only reinstigated it in the 1980s and it's all very family friendly now. We do different races through the day and it all gets very competitive."
But it's not been without its controversies. Winning pies are always cut open afterwards to make sure nothing extra has been added to "cheat" - after one year someone put cement in to speedily aid its journey down the hill.
On the day of the Wakes the Tower will be open to the public. Mark says: "For health and safety we can only take 20 up at a time. It's still got a peal of bells in it, it's got a mezzanine floor in it, then it's got the bell chamber, clock chamber, the bell tower room, and then you can head out on the roof. From there you can see Jodrell Bank, the Welsh mountains, Shropshire hills and Rivington Pike."
Wybunbury Moss
Another of Wybunbury's oddities is the natural phenomenon at Wybunbury Moss, which contains one of the most interesting - and dangerous - bogs in England.
At its centre is a rare example of a schwingmoor peat bog and "subsidence mire" - one of only three in the UK. This section is fenced off because it is dangerous to walk over, but the rest of the fields are part of a nature reserve that is a popular spot for walkers.
The village pubs
Wybunbury has two remaining village pubs at its heart - The Swan Inn at the top of Bridge Street and The Red Lion further down it. It's between the two pubs that the fig pies are traditionally rolled.
The Swan sits next to the Wybunbury Tower and features a rather splendid beer garden where you can sup your drinks right next to the hanging steeple.
Inside the pub is like a step back in time too. The oldest part of the pub dates back some 300 years and looks the part with its old beams and roaring fireplaces.
The pub is owned by husband and wife Melanie and Ian Booth. Melanie says: "It's quite unique here and we wanted to keep the old look.
"Being so close to Wybunbury Moss and the Tower we get a lot of visitors passing through here and stopping, and we're not that far from the M6."
The Red Lion was recently taken on by new owners, and has been closed for renovation works. Its website says it is set to "reopen soon."
Village life
While Wybunbury has plenty to attract visitors into the area, it remains a fairly quiet place to be during the week. Long-term residents speak of it becoming a "commuter village" in recent years, with an explosion of new housing across the village.
There is just one village shop, which also houses the post office. Postmaster Teresa Mountifield says that while the community rallied around during covid, she's no longer seeing the footfall from customers.
She says: "It’s a charming and pretty place, it really is a chocolate box village. But underneath the picture, it doesn’t have the heart it used to have in my considered opinion."
Another resident who asked not to be named, said: "It's a lovely village, but like many places it has seen change. It's becoming a dormitory village, which can make it very empty in the daytime, there's nothing like the community spirit that used to be here."
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