Altrincham to Chester Stage 3. Northwich to Cuddington.

 Friday 6th March.

Eight of us plus Rufus the dog arrived at Altrincham Interchange to get the 9.36 train to Northwich. It arrived on time.

Sheila and I stayed at the Travelodge in Altrincham centre again. It just saves all the hassle of getting from home to Altrincham on walk day. The hotel is excellent in all respects. Unfortunately I broke my sunglasses whilst cleaning them so it was a quick trip into Mountain Warehouse to buy a new pair.

Martin and Sue, Paul, Jeanette and Rufus, Rick, Andy, Sheila and I were todays crew. I was looking forward to a coffee in Costa at Northwich Tesco but the decision was taken to get going. 

We crossed the busy A533, descended  some steps and marched off down the aptly named "ALAN STREET". Turning right at the end led to a foot bridge across the Northwich branch railway lines. This was part of the Cheshire circuit but was renamed.

The path headed between the two railway lines and then crossed a further footbridge above the main Chester line and down onto Greenall Road which led us to into a cemetery. This was our first meander of the day. Meander meaning "whoops we've taken the wrong path". We backtracked to the entrance and followed the cemetery outer wall around to a path which went underneath the railway and into a recreational field bounded by the River Dane which is liable to flooding in this area.

At this point the Northwich viaduct becomes very hard to miss. It is huge. As we made our way to it, first crossing the Dane and then hand railing it until we came to the River Weaver and Weaver Navigation where we diverted along the path to Hunts lock.

The viaduct, built in the 1860's has 48 masonry arches plus girder spans where it crosses water, it spans the Weaver Valley. In the mid 1800's the railways were booming. The route westward from Northwich had to cross the waters mentioned above and the viaduct was designed by the West Cheshire company. They proposed to use brick but when it became part of the Cheshire Lines Committee, the engineers of the Great Northern railway and the MS and L agreed that it should be built from local red sandstone. The viaduct is 676 metres or 739 yards long. 

Rail traffic is restricted to 20mph and a number of arches have been reinforced.

The impressive structure partially seen from the Weaver. (Image courtesy of the viaduct website).

Northwich viaduct.

Hunts Lock is located in a section of the Weaver which has been modified, straightened, to make navigating easier. There is a lock office and it includes a pedestrian swing bridge. Looking at the mechanism where the bridge adjoins the land I would guess it hasn't been opened for a while.

Riversdale Swing Bridge at Hunts Lock- River Weaver.

The first bridge here was a wooden one built in 1888. The replacement bridge built in 1930 also fell into disrepair and was closed in 2004. The one you see today is 45 metres long and was shipped into position using the river. It was built in 2010 and cost £1.4 million.

The above two fine shots were taken by Sheila.

Once across to the West Bank of the Weaver we stopped for a coffee at one of the many picnic tables before entering Marshall's Arm Nature reserve which was designated in 1998.

The "Arm" is a reference to the arm of the river which was left after the straightening of the Weaver in 1730 and took two years. 

The Marshall family owned the estate from the 1700's to the 1900's. They were salt magnates and lived at Hartford Green Bank Manor from 1774.

There is lots to see in the reserve apart from the wildlife and plant life. It's a great place to go for a gentle walk or for peace and quiet. There are many features worth searching out, for example the Mousey, Sliding Gates and Pignut Hill to mention just a few.

Heron Gates with Rufus looking for a leg I presume.

Petrichor emanating from the drying rushes.

We followed the arm as it wound its way down to the Blue Bridge which carries the A556 road. Plenty of people were out taking advantage of the wonderful weather we were having. We were gifted with a swan fly past but I wasn't quick enough to capture it on camera. I did catch them on the bank though.

The Blue Bridge or it's proper name Hartford Bridge, it has Art Deco abutments but they are covered with foliage. It's such a shame to hide them. The council should cut it back.

The route continues for a short distance following the weaver then it enters the woodland of Vale Royal and under a second viaduct which now carries the West Coast Main Line. It was built by Joseph Locke in 1837, in turn we passed through the Vale Royal Golf Course. This place has the wow factor. It also gave me our first tractor photo opportunity. The 19th hole was originally a section of St. Mary's monastery. Now it is very posh apartments.

The Cistercian monastery was founded by King Edward 1 in the 1270's. It was the largest Cistercian monastery/abbey in England and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538 and partially demolished. Other parts were converted into a mansion.

The mansion was converted and bought by Thomas Holcroft in 1540. The Cholmondeley family took it over in 1615 with Mary residing there. It stayed in the family for over 300 years. We came across the Cholmondeleys at Holford Hall in the previous stage of the walk. 

Vale Royal Woodland.

The Viaduct built to carry the L&NWR Grand Junction Line. Now the West Coast Main Line.

Small Kubota L4630 with mower attached.

Vale Royal Apartments.

We made our way through Vale Royal with it's new houses built to represent far older style properties which would blend in with the area. Properties here cost over £1 million. Our route now passed the backs of the new houses down Vale Royal Drive and came out at Whitegate opposite St. Mary's church. On the way a huge tree had fallen over, the rootball didn't seem to have deep roots and the soil was very sandy.

The root ball.

St. Mary's Anglican Church Whitegate. A chapel has been on this site sine 1277.

We left Whitegate by Mill Lane, passed the Old Smithy and following Pettypool Brook. Another downed tree hid the path and we diverted up hill until we realised we needed to go back to the fallen tree and get over it. On our left was the stylish Bark House which was aptly named as the dogs were barking loudly as we passed. 

Path following Pettypool Brook

How could we possibly loose the path through there?

Leaving the woodland behind and entering open farm land a stile gave us access to cross a couple of fields leading to Gale Green Farm, a very tidy establishment with dedicated footpath corridors surrounded by electric fencing to stop passers bye feeding the horses. 

Bark House.

Under coming the electric fencing.

The actual footpath on the ground across the fields was non existent due to ploughing and reseeding. We did our best to stick to the digital footpath across.

Well corralled footpath.

At the end of the fields and across a set of concrete steps which were obviously remains of an old railway line we did in fact descend to the abandoned line. This line was part of the Cheshire Lines Railway but today it forms part of the Whitegate Way. The line was opened in 1870 and it served mainly the salt industry. It was closed to passengers in 1931 and then completely in 1968.

The trackbed now has become a well used scenic trail and the station at Whitegate has become a cafe and picnic area. It is also a car park access point.

We were now moving at quite a pace and with chatting and being new to the area we missed another turning off point. After a couple of hundred yards we retraced our tracks and headed towards a series of small lakes on what used to be Newchurch Common. One of them having the strange name The Reeking Hole. It gave us a bit of a break from the old railway trail anyway. Lost in the foliage were two old bale conveyors which I'm sure Conrad will find of interest.

Broom in bloom.

Old conveyors. (no names on them).

I kept an eye out for any railway memorabilia but apart from the concrete steps of which there were quite a few, very little remains. There is an old loading gauge somewhere near Whitegate Station but I didn't see it. Below is a photograph of it taken by Robin Harrison on Facebook.

The interesting Loading Gauge used to make sure wagons could get through bridges etc. Must be quite a unique structure today.

Old Whitegate station.

Another section of Whitegate Way track brought us out at Ravensclough. A delightful hamlet with banks of daffodils. My legs had started to ache especially the shin which I damaged in a fall a few weeks ago so I was glad that we reached the main road in Cuddington. It was uphill and Martin said that we had six minutes to reach the station or we would have to wait another hour for the train. With about three hundred yards to go we did a bit of a yomp and reach the platform just as the train came around the corner.

Bluebells out early.

We all look a bit tired and even Rufus had a lie down in the carriage. 

The Route 19km.

Thanks Martin for devising the route and everyone for their company.

Monkey Town and back.

Saturday 21st February 2026.

Monkey Town is not a slur, in fact it is just the opposite. The people of Heywood Lancashire are proud of the title and advertise it everywhere. The name goes back to the days when canals and railways were being built. The Irish navvies, many of them, lived in the area called Heape Bridge and because of their accents when ever they told people where they lived they said Ape Bridge and the title stuck.

We set off from the car park at the Hopwood Inn in Slattocks where we passed the first mural of the day and where we joined the Rochdale Canal towpath.

The mural showing the dog that belongs to the Hopwood pub, the church on the right is Thornham St. Johns and the spire on the left is Castleton Church. The chimneys reflect how many mills used to be in the area. 

Many runners passed us on the route up to Castleton. As we approached the motorway bridge the canal splits into two. The left hand channel is all that is left of the branch that was the Heywood Canal. When the motorway was built the canal was filled in and the old swing bridge removed. Our route went right.

Where the Heywood Branch canal splits from the Rochdale Canal.

There is no towpath beside the canal as it passes through a pre-cast concrete tunnel. The canal and river trust have put in a floating walkway. This can be moved when a wide beam boat comes through.

Floating towpath.

We left the canal when we got to Castleton and our route took us through the back streets. On the bridge which crosses the canal and the railway I spotted a benchmark.

We left the canal here at Castleton

Second mural of the day.

Benchmark on the canal and railway bridge at SD882105

Castleton. 

This is Heywood Road which we followed through to the green lane called Chadwick Lane. This is a very old route and was probably the main route to Heywood in years gone by. 

The Chadwicks were a prominent family in the area from the 17th century and resided at Healey Hall. They owned significant stretches of land on both sides of the River Spodden. The lane was historically part of the rural landscape that became divided by 19th century administrative boundaries, separating Rochdale and other districts.

Chadwick Lane.

A tree full of Jews Ears Fungi. Also known as Jelly ears and wood ears.

The name Jews ears is not anti-semitic, it originates because Judus Iscariot was said to have hung himself on an alder tree and the ears that grow on it were known as Judas ears which over time became Jews ears. They can be eaten when dried out. I haven't tried them.

Rugby training was underway at Mayfield Sports ground which is the home of Rochdale Mayfield rugby league club and was opened in 1958. Across the lane is the entrance to Castle Hawk Golf Club. The Golf club was built in 1961 and has an 18 hole course as well as two 9 hole courses.

I noticed on the map a disused pit. I didn't go and find it on this trip but I will try and find it another time as it is quite interesting.

The Heywood coal company owned two collieries  during the mid 19th century. This pit is in an area called Captain Fold beside the Roeacre Brook. Not to be mistaken for the Captain Fold Colliery slightly more northerly towards the River Roch where a series of tragedies led to it closing. One miner fell 66ft to his death in 1844. In 1848 a miner with a naked flame caused an explosion which killed a 33yr old miner. Finally in 1852 two miners died when the pit was flooded by the River Roch. One of the dead was only 13 yrs of age. His name just happened to be Heywood. The mine was closed soon after due to the fear of the River. There is supposed to be a concrete marker over the pit head. A little further along we came across an old boiler which we presumed came from the pit.

Old boiler possibly from the pit.

The weather today is quite warm and no breeze. Having checked the BBC weather and read that there would be 48% chance of rain we togged up for the worst. It was a big mistake as we were sweating cobs.

The pennine hills were now showing there heads as earlier on it was so misty. Knowl hill being the prominent viewpoint. The sun broke through and reflected off the Chamber House solar farm which is producing 5.5 mega watts of power for 2000 homes.

Misty tops.

Chamber House Solar farm array.

The end of Chadwick Lane brought us into the suburbs of Heywood. From the track we spotted a large building with some roof missing. We thought it was Fairfield Hall but when we found an entrance and looked at the map it was Harefield Farm. This farm did/was the farm that supported the larger Fairfield Hall from 1860. Today the farm is looking quite sad. I guess it is being allowed to deteriorate so that it can be demolished for housing. (just my opinion and I could be totally wrong)

The dilapidated farmhouse of Harefield.

But there was a David Brown 996. 

Built in Meltham Mills between 1971 and 1980 with around 63hp. In good nick too.

10 minutes later we were in the centre of Heywood passing another pub which is in the process of being knocked down. We had a little time to look round the memorial gardens and they are indeed a credit to the town.

The Old White Lion pub.

Quite a few bench's in the gardens reflect the different wars and militaries. Absolutely brilliant and well made. Also it was noticeable that nothing had been defaced with graffiti.

One of the many bench's.

There was also a very nice book showing the history of Heywood's development. Again in fine condition.

Then it was into Tilly's tea room for a coffee and home made Tatty Ash with beetroot and red cabbage.

Leaving the tea rooms there was another mural for us to see. It was Monkey Town through and through.

Our day had been rain free and very pleasant. We returned home by the same route and overall we had done 11.20km. We had only been home 15 minutes when the rain started. We were very lucky.