An area of 5 hectares (12 acres) west of the Gowy, including the westernmost bridge, forms Hockenhull Platts Nature Reserve, managed by the Cheshire Wildlife Trust.

[6] Platts Lane originally formed part of the medieval road from London to Holyhead.

[7] In 1353 when Edward, the Black Prince, crossed the bridges, he ordered that 20 shillings should be spent on their repair.

[13][14] In 1824 Cheshire County Council proposed to divert the road from Nantwich to Chester and make it pass along Platts Lane, which would have led to the destruction of the bridges.

[2] The area to the west of the Gowy, including the westernmost bridge, has been converted into a nature reserve which is managed by Cheshire Wildlife Trust in an agreement with Grosvenor (Eaton) Estates.

The poplar plantation is sparse and its wet nature has created an unusual stand of common reed at the ground layer.

[8][15][16] In the area of Hockenhull Platts but at an uncertain location, some time before 1940 a pair of prehistoric translucent worked flints were found, one white and the other grey.