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 called Captain Fold. 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. 

Altrincham to Chester Stage 2. Knutsford to Northwich.

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. 

Altrincham Interchange

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.

The Court House, Knutsford

The Old Town Hall, Knutsford, Now the Market Hall.

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.

The flat Cheshire landscape on the flight path to Manchester airport.

Crossing over the M6 Motorway.

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.

Poorly drained Parkside Farm with it's collection of wrecks.

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.

Parkside Cottage.

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.

Witch's Butter Fungi.

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.

MF135 Tractor at White House Farm

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.

Methodist Church at Plumley.

 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.

Halford Hall. Image courtesy of their website.

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.

Crossing the main to to Chester.

The old line that I struggled to find any info about, which runs parallel to the current main line. 

The abandoned site of the WW1 munitions chemical works.

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.

Heading to St. John's church to find a bench for lunch.

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. 

Canalside Cottage.

Part of the Menagerie.

Iain Lees photo of Canalside cottage taken a few years ago. Shows the deterioration.

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. 

Heading towards the first crossing of Wincham Brook

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. 

The path through the industrial estate

Steps down to the old disused 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.

Crossing Wincham Brook for the second time.

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.

According to OS Maps the route was 15.06km.

Thanks to Martin for organising the route and everyone for their company.