The idyllic village near Manchester with a dinosaur footprint at its heart

With pretty cobbled footpaths, canal walks and plenty of independent restaurants, cafes and shops, the village of Lymm has plenty of attractions for both residents and visitors alike. But this picturesque Cheshire spot can also lay claim to something rather unique in any village centre.

For at the heart of Lymm, near Altrincham, is a real dinosaur's footprint on a stone slab - encased in a glass cabinet and held up by a wooden frame. It was discovered in Lymm's Windmill Quarry during the 1840s and is thought to date back to the Triassic period - (200-250 million years BC).

It was one of a number of footprints that were found in quarries in the Lymm area during the nineteenth centuries. Similar prints were also found on the Wirral and even abroad in places like Germany as well as on several continents.

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Technically it is not from a dinosaur but from a reptile called Chirotherium Kaupii, which preceded the dinosaurs, reports Cheshire Live. The term literally means 'hand beast' and was chosen due to the print looking similar to that of a human hand.

The description on the display reads: "On the sandstone slab is the raised fossil footprint of a Chirotherium Kaupii, an early type of dinosaur. The name means Hand Beast, so named after its footprint's remarkable resemblance to the hands of apes, bears and humans.

"The footprint dates from the Triassic period (200-250 million years BC). It was found in 1842 in the Windmill Quarry, not far from this present location, one of the many Lymm quarries which were extensively worked between the 1840s and 1890s.

"Lymm was a prolific source of footprints, examples of which can be found in museums at