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Knutsford's narrow pavements to give way to new design
Cheshire East Council are inviting people in Knutsford to consider their plans for newly designed pavements.
The main street has had some of the narrowest pavements in England for more than 220 years - because a prudish aristocrat, Lady Jane Stanley, was was a lifelong spinster and had an aversion to seeing men and women walking arm in arm.
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Tearing up pavements once designed to stop romantic walks
The demands of a prudish aristocrat, that made one Cheshire town more dangerous for pedestrians, are about to be undone.
Knutsford's pavements were made deliberately narrow, back in the 18th Century, because the wealthy woman who paid for them didn't want couples walking arm-in-arm.
They've stayed like for more two hundred and twenty years, but now they'll be widened to make them safer.
Critics say it'll spoil the town's character as Ashley Derricott reports:
Pavements designed to stop romantic walks will be torn-up
The narrow pavements of a Cheshire town, built to stop romantic walks between couples in the 18th Century, are to be torn-up and widened.
King Street in Knutsford was paved, more than 220 years ago, thanks to the funding of a local aristocrat. She ordered the pavements be narrowed to ensure no-one could walk arm-in-arm.
Those restricted walkways endured through the 19th and 20th Centuries, but will not survive the 21st. The local council says the street must now be made accessible to everyone.
