The River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal

Saturday 30 April 4.5 miles

Donna, Jane + Hilary

The weather was forecast to be ok in the morning, but there had been a cool wind the day before so it was hard to decide how many layers to wear.

We parked on the roadside just off the A49 by a building that was being worked on and Hilary said it had been a pub at one time. We started off with our fleeces and coats on. Donna had done this walk before with her daughter.

We passed the Leigh Arms and we went down to the river by the Acton Swing Bridge turning left to follow the River Weaver. The path goes past the Grange rowing club buildings.

We looked across the river at the Caravan Park it was busy with a few tourers as well as the statics. There are also lots of cottages, just below Sandy Lane. I wonder how busy and noisy the road is. They have a nice outlook over the river and the fields.

The fields looked lovely in the sunshine. There was a house up on the hill and I thought it might have some good views. We crossed the foot bridge where the river semms to split in two.

The Saltersford Locks are huge, you can imagine the river busy with very large boats carrying salt down to the River Mersey and bringing coal to the salt works to evaporate the brine.

The Lockkeepers Cottages looked pretty and the middle terraced one was for sale, it looked like a typical 2 up 2 down house. We tried to guess the price from what we could see and thought it might be about £250,000 - £300,000, but we were no where near as it is on the market for £375,000.

We walked up the hill away from the river to the canal. At the top of the hill we passed a smartly dressed couple obviously not out walking and we thought they might be going to see the house.

We walked further along the canal and came to the Saltersford Tunnel. You can't walk through the tunnel, but I could hear a boat chugging away and eventually I saw the boat emerging. In the past, the only way to move the boat through the tunnel was to 'walk' the narrow boats along the by using your legs and feet whilst lying on the boats roof.

The path then went up to be level with the top of the tunnel with plenty of trees along it. We managed to get a view through a gap in the trees down the valley. 

Then I realised that the white house I had seen from below, by the river, was probably the house at the end of the tunnel,

There was a bench at the end of the tunnel so we had our lunch at 11.45am - too early!! As we sat eating our lunch the pink blossom was falling off the tree onto the canal water and it looked very pretty.

We continued walking along the canal it was lovely with the trees, a couple of bridges and the blue sky. We passed some cows in the field on the other side of the canal, most of them were lying down, there was  just one looking through the trees at us.

Gradually we began to notice the noise of the road so we knew we were nearly at the car. Rather than going down the main road we tucked down a pathway back to where we had parked.

It was lovely to get out in the sunshine.

We went to The Green Kitchen off Bartington Hall Lane, and had tea and cake (carrot and lemon cake)  and a hot chocolate.

 

 

Barton, Coddington, Clutton and Stretton

Saturday 9 April 5 miles

Carol, Donna, Jane and Hilary.

We were to meet Carol in Barton, but she had written Barnton on the WhatsApp so we thought we were going to Northwich not very far away. Fortunately we realised on the morning of the walk that Barnton was in the wrong direction and also that we had therefore not allowed enough time to get to Barton by 10am. 

We did eventually arrive and set off on a lovely walk in the Cheshire countryside provided by Cheshire Life. It turned out to be a pleasant sunny walk.

We walked on the signed path down the side of the pub and passed the conservatory ready for a wedding. We crossed the A534 and went into Barton Village, there were some houses that had painted flowers on them and we really liked them.

At times it was hard to know exactly where the path was and debated if we should walk through the farm yard  but that was the only way through. We came out on the road then walked passed the pond on Mill Lane and crossed the fields to Coddington. 

We came to Clutton where we crossed the road.

We walked up hill and went under a tree that had fallen across the path, there was plenty of room to get underneath, it didn't look too sturdy and we wondered when it would fall further. We passed the old rock face with a tree growing around it. Soon we came to some pines where someone was cutting some down and had left slices of tree trunk that were just right for us to sit on and have our lunch.

At Carden Park we walked across parts of the golf course there didn't seem to be anyone around fortunately. We went passed the clubhouse and the vineyard and then took the road to Carden Lodge. Carol pointed out the newish Spa Garden and Thermal Experience.

We followed the road to Stretton Mill. The gentleman at the mill had wandered away but when he saw us looking in the open door I think he thought he was going to have some customers, and then soon lost interest when he realised he wasn't.

We were looking forward to seeing inside the Cock O'Barton pub when we returned but there was a wedding going on so we couldn't go in. We looked at our phones and saw there was a Lakeside Cafe not too far away. It turned out to be a Caravan Park cafe and we sat inside as the wind was blowing cold even in the sunshine, We had some tea and hot chocolate. Carol had a scone and I had a Wispa brownie that was very sweet.

Year Sixteen Summary

Walk 1: March 2021 x

Walk 2: April 2021 Zoom meeting to plan walks

Walk 3: May 2021 x

Walk 4: June 26 2021 Sandiway to Acton Bridge 6 miles Jane, Tracey, Donna, Hilary and Carol

Walk 5: July 2021 x

Walk 6: Aug 22 2021 Beeston 6miles Hilary, Donna, Tracey and Jane

Walk 7: Sept 24 2021 Winterley 5.5miles Jane, Tracey and Hilary

Walk 8: Oct 16 2021 Lower Withington 6miles Donna, Jane and Hilary

Walk 9: Nov 13 2021 Goostrey about 5 miles Carol, Donna and Hilary

Walk 10: Jan 15 2022 walk from Carol’s house + planning Carol, Jane and Hilary

Walk 11: Feb 12 2022 Oulton Park 7 miles Tracey, Jane, Donna and Hilary

 

Oulton Park

Saturday 12 February 2022 7 miles

Tracey, Jane, Donna + Hilary 

A chilly day so you certainly needed those extra layers!

Started the walk at Little Budworth car park. As soon as we parked we could hear the noise of Oulton park, it was hard to tell if the noise was from bikes and/or cars. We turned left out of the car park towards the Park Road we crossed it and were able to see through the gate. It was cars that were on the curcuit, it was a Car Trackday which is an opportunity to take your own car onto the track. We could see lots of different cars racing around the track.

We walked through Little Budworth onto Mill Lane, then along by Budworth Pool and across the fields. We walked along some roads until we came to Little Budworth Common. We negotiated the well rutted 'road' to the edge of the wood, then followed the track until we got to Park Road. We continued on the road passed the millpond and upto the next road junction.

Turning left at the junction we were soon crossing fields again, and came to the farm yard. Joined the road and when we came to the end of the road there was a piece of grass so we had our lunch by the road side. We crossed the field from Dogmore Lane to Kings Lane.

We followed the broken down wall and fence boundary of Oulton Park where we could once again see the cars racing around the track. There were a lot of stiles along this stretch. We followed the path around the woods and onto a track, making our way back towards Little Budworth and the main road.

As we walked back to the car it started to rain more heavily.

Tarporley Garden Centre was our port of call for tea, cake (coconut + raspberry slice, almond slice and a scone) and hot chocolate.

 

 

 

A walk in the countryside + planning

Saturday 15 January

Carol. Jane + Hilary

Get Together

Saturday 18 December 2021

A Christmas get together at Il Padrino in Middlewich. 

Lots of food and drink, and our host was very chatty.

Goostrey

Saturday 13 November about 5 miles

Carol, Donna + Hilary

A lovely walk around Goostrey. The weather was warm and calm with sunny intervals. 

It was lovely to see the sunshine on the golden leaves. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tea and cake at Goostrey Home and Leisure.