Two Canals

Saturday 10 November 2022 5.5 miles

Jane, Donna + Hilary

We were so lucky with the weather as it had been so wet all week. I tried to choose a walk that I hoped would have less muddy paths - although that is difficult after the rain we have had all week. I joined two Lymm walks together so that the walk would be long enough.

We parked up just off Lymmhay Lane, Having put on our coats and boots we took the path across the golfcourse. There weren't any golfers around just one of the ground staff blowing leaves off one of the greens.

We crossed the road for the clubhouse and went along the Whitbarrow Road and found the gap between the houses and went down a path with the beech hedge above our heads and came to the fishing pools. We followed the path through the woods and came to a lane.

There was a very large puddle right across the whole lane, so we thought it was a good idea to take the right hand path instead of trying to get around the puddle, but the path came to a deadend and there wasn't a linking path to the one we wanted. We wondered if we could cross the fields, but there were fences everywhere plus we didn't know how wet the fields would be. So we returned to the puddle, one person going along the puddle edge holding the brambles to keep balance and the other two going down the middle of the track where the water was shallower!

We got to the path alongside the Manchester Ship Canal. As the path was a bit higher than the fields it was easy to walk along and it wasn't particularly muddy. We walked under the Thelwall Viaduct which carries the motorway over the Manchester Ship Canal. There was graffiti on the bridge legs on the opposite side of the canal but it was hard to read. We met a few dog walkers, one lady had such a strong smell of perfume it wafted over us.

As we reached the buildings of Thelwall we saw the sign for the Penny Ferry. So we went to have a look, there was a boat moored at the site and decided to have a ride on the boat. Normally the ferry just takes you across the ship canal but the man on board - Martin - took us down the canal towards theThelwall Viaduct so that we had a little trip!

We went down Bell Lane and crossed the main road, joining the Bridgewater Canal by going up some steps. We were hoping to find a bench on the canal so we ended up having our lLunch sitting in the sunshine by the path of the canal. As we were sitting down it was easy for dogs to come sniffing around, which a couple of dos did!

There was a cafe/shop called the Wild Deli sign by the canal so we decided to go and have a  look at it, but there were only a few seats outside and in the shade, so we contined our walk back up the road and onto the Trans-Pennine Trail.

The last part of the path along the Trans-Pennine Trail was closed off so we had to find a way around. The diversion pointed up the road but I thought we could go back through the golf course. When you are returning the way you came things look different, so the other said they didn't remember any of it. There were now golfers on the course so we had to be careful.

We went to High Legh Garden Centre for tea, coffee, hot chocolate. millionaire shortbread and flapjack. It was very busy and the cafe was very slow but there were seats.