Friday 13th February. Stage 2. Knutsford to Northwich.
After a very nice stay at the Travelodge in Altrincham town centre and also a fine meal at Coco’s Italian restaurant we met up with Martin, Sue, Paul, Jeanette, Rick, Andy and Rufus the terrier at the interchange by the clock tower.
The 9.36 train to Knutsford was on time and 15 minutes later we were having a coffee in Booths supermarket which was also excellent and reasonably priced. Great service too.
We passed 2 prominent buildings, one the Old Town Hall which is now the Market Hall and the other the Court House. Then a 10 minute walk along Bexton Rd brought us to the junction with Blackhill Lane where a gate gave us access to farmland where we put boots onto grass.
The old town hall was gifted to the town by the Lord of the Manor, the 1st Lord Egerton who lived at Tatton Hall. It was completed in 1871. There is a window dedicated to the Egertons in Chester cathedral which we will go and see when we finish the last stage of the walk.
The Court House was designed by George Moneypenny and was opened in 1818.
Cheshire is known for being a flat county, so far reaching scenic views are few and far between. We crossed fields of sheep and in one corner came to a slightly overgrown pedestrian bridge which crossed the M6 motorway as well as hand railing the railway line. Planes coming into Manchester Airport were so low you could almost see the pilot.
Reaching Parkside Farm was a mud fest, in some parts knee deep, we tried our best to navigate the sink holes. Quite a few farming relics were left to die here but I couldn't get close enough to get detailed images so had to settle for zoom.
More fields crossed and a wobbly stile where we came out onto a minor road. Over the road stood a very old cottage with a thatched roof. Parkside cottage was unoccupied and looking quite sorry for itself. It is grade 2 listed and would probably take a good amount of money to restore it to a liveable standard.
Our route now skirted Tabley Mere although due to the thick woodland we only caught fleeting glimpses of the water. We did however spot quite a bit of Witches Butter fungus on the trees. Witches butter is an edible wild fungi. It is made up of polysaccharides. One of the few fungi that can be eaten raw.
We walked through the very tidy farm of White House, it had an old MF135 with its badges missing stored in the barn. I'm thinking that this place does air B and B as there were a few adjacent small properties.
A short stretch of road walking skirted Plumley village. (I had never heard of Plumley before today). We turned off at the Methodist Chapel. The current chapel was built in 1887 and replaced a smaller one built around 1820. Quite a few names here started with Malt Kiln so I wonder if one of the building used to house a brewery.
A bit of investigation resulted in finding Maltkiln Farm which was built in 1650 and did in fact have a brewery. Today it is only a farm house. Shame. Through a high kissing gate allowed us onto the Holford Estate lands.
A huge estate culminating with Holford Hall. A modern signpost said viewing platform, it was only just off the route so we went to have a look but alas no platform, just an information board and tall trees.
The hall is now a private home and wedding venue and quite spectacular it is too.
The hall was built in 1601 and is Grade 2 listed. It is timber framed and was built on an earlier 13th century moated site. The house was built for Lady Cholmondeley 1562-1625 who was known as the Litigator due to the amount of time she employed in the courts fighting for the the family estate, 40yrs.
After the hall section the plan was to walk through Plumley lime beds nature reserve but the gates were locked and signage was not ambiguous. We carried on a good path crossing a railway line and joining a minor road. Between the railway and the road were 2 large pipes containing water. Very unusual, we were to come across these pipes numerous times on the route ahead.
Also within the tree line to the south of the road ran an old overgrown railway track. It took me some time investigating and I found out that there used to be a chemical works and it had its own railway siding leading off from the main line.
The chemical works was the site of a former Ammonia Soda company factory (later acquired by Brunner Mond), historically significant for producing ammonium nitrate for explosives during WW1. It was designated a scheduled monument in 2018 for its role in war time munitions. But there doesn't seem to be much left as the image shows below.
We went under the A556 main road bridge and eventually joining the road at Lostock Gralam. It was lunch time and so we went to the church to find a bench but someone must have known we were coming and hidden the bench's. We retraced our steps and had lunch in the shelter on the railway station platform.
For miles around a large factory dominates the skyline. The plant is an energy from waste facility that will export 69.9 MW of electricity to the power grid using residual waste. The waste remaining after processing can be used as fuel. If you would like to read more about this facility please click HERE.
Heading south along a very flooded road we found a footpath east which would take us into the old Bonners Green factory grounds (Used to be a power station prior to the waste facility) and adjacent to the Trent and Mersey canal.
A footbridge we were hoping to use was blocked off and so we had a short distance of road walking until we came to an access point on the towpath at the Lambs Wharf pub. We were lucky with timing as the narrow boat repair yard was just lifting a boat out of the canal and into the yard. Impressive.
A menagerie adjacent to the canal stopped our progress for a few minutes. Many peacocks, chickens, other heritage animals can be seen. The house, Canalside cottage looked very run down but an old PUMA motorbike can be seen in the front window. I didn't photograph it but PUMA bikes in the UK seem rare. They are Argentinian and are better known for making planes.
In a short distance, at the first bridge over the canal we turned off the towpath to find a footpath that was being restored by a very friendly chap. It seemed a shame to walk over the area he had just levelled and raked but that was the way we had to go. Martin and Sue stopped for a long chat with the guy.
Across a field led us to a bridge over Wincham Brook and again the huge pipes went overhead. They looked as though they had only recently been installed. Then we were into Northwich suburbs.
The path through the trading estate was at first missed as the sign was overgrown and the fencing blended in so well we actually walked past it. A quick look at the map put us right. The path was narrow and very overgrown. At the end a very old set of concrete steps were descended. I thought at the time that these steps must have been used for something more demanding in the past. I checked the map again and we were now dropping down and across an old dismantled mineral railway.
It was difficult to tell exactly where the line went because it was now overgrown and quite boggy in places. The path led us again to a wide bridge across Wincham Brook, but before we crossed we spotted a bright pink fungi on a tree. Sue says it is a new species.
Once over the bridge we turned left on the B5075 road which led us past a pub with a sign saying £16.95 for fish and chips. Obviously we didn't take them up on there over priced offering. At the railway station in Northwich we had 40 minutes to wait for the return train to Altrincham so we went into Costa coffee in the nearby Tesco for refreshments and a warm up. It was bitterly cold now, especially when you stop walking.
The train was on time and we said our goodbyes at Altrincham Station where we waited for the tram heading to Bury and home. Two and a half hours later we were home.
