Yesterday was almost the shortest day and used it for our longest day walk of the year. Since returning from the End to End we have been doing walks in the NW that link up some of the places we’ve previously walked to. The walk we planned was ambitious at over 15 miles, on a day that would be short on daylight, but we had a number of sections to link up. Also we wanted to visit Warrington West Station as it only opened last week.
We started there and walked towards Sankey Bridges where we met the TPT and made our first link to the LEJOG route. I was last here 7 months ago on 22nd May.
We walked along the St Helens Canal towards Widnes. It was a beautiful bright day and we saw a couple of herons. The bare trees were outlined against the blue sky. Fiddler’s Ferry was reflected in the canal. Climate change, and the contribution of power stations like this to carbon emissions has been something we’ve been reflecting on this year.
At the Widnes end of the Canal we reached the Mersey, seeing both the Mersey Gateway bridge and the adjacent older bridge currently being upgraded. We crossed the Mersey and the Ship Canal and picked up the Runcorn branch of the Bridgewater Canal. A little further along we stopped for some lunch at a pub.
After lunch it was more overcast and the light was fading. However it was a good path as we made our way down to Watersmeet where the Runcorn branch joins the section of the Bridgewater Canal that emerged from Preston Brooks Tunnel. I was last here on 21st May.
It was dark as we got back to East Runcorn Station for the train back to Manchester.
God grant a quiet night
JAL 21.12.2019, from Warrington West to Runcorn East.