Back on the 18th January we walked from Widnes to Halewood on the TPT. The completion of that section, much of it alongside the River Mersey, left only Halewood to Southport on the west end of the trail. We therefore decided to make an excursion over several days to finish off this part of the TPT.
Since completing LEJOG in August 2019 we’ve continued walking. With the TPT going through Longdendale it was the obvious route to use and public transport links to Manchester and beyond made it reasonably straight forward. However we were getting to the point where the journey to and from start and finish was taking almost as long as the walk.
Furthermore we needed to get used to walking more than one day at a time again as we plan more spring and summer walking for 2020.
Day one of this TPT Fest was from Halewood to Aintree. The route mostly follows an old railway line and is known as the Liverpool Loop. It was cool, not busy and getting greener. The good things about a route like TPT is a good consistent surface most of the way and good signage.
Less good is the amount of rubbish that finds its way onto the trail. TPT is fortunate to have volunteer rubbish collectors in places, but it is sad to see it in the first place.
Our overnight accommodation was next to Aintree Racecourse.
Day two was bright and surprisingly warm for February. It was 14 miles to Freshfield Station including a side visit to Formby red squirrel reserve.
But first there was plenty of snowdrops along the Cheshire Lines path and the wonderful sight of a Barn Owl hunting over the fields. There was also a short section on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.
On the third day we were walking from Freshfield Station to Southport. The first part of the route was alongside the railway line and then through Ainsdale woods. The morning light meant this section was very beautiful, but we still didn’t see any squirrels, or dune beetles or natterjack toads. Was ever thus.
The final section was along the track beside the coast road. Actually the finishing point came up unexpectedly. It was midday and we were already there. We walked along Southport pier and had some ice cream. Well, it was a walk!
From Psalm 139
If I wake up early and fly with the morning light, even as far as the sea, you will be there to lead me and to hold me.
I am thankful for the beauty of these few days, the rhythm of life as I walk along, as the seasons change.
God grant a quiet night
JAL 06.02.2020 TPT Halewood to Southport.
It was a pleasant day and the walk was a relatively easy one with the canal side path being flat and not especially muddy. The bridges and flashes were somewhat familiar. However, the green canal side of the late spring days had given way to the browns of winter. There were some birds on the Wigan Flashes, a series of wetlands beside the canal. Water levels were higher than in May. Some of the flashes are said to have been formed by mining subsidence decades ago and are now nature reserves.
We made good progress and decided to make a short detour to a pub at Platt Road: the Nevison Inn that had excellent soup. It was only a short distance from there back to the canal and then onwards to the bridge at Leigh where the two canals officially join.
We took the busway back to Manchester Piccadilly for the journey home.
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.
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.
Eventually we joined the riverside path at Salford University and Peel Park. In the park there’s an interesting flood marker recalling the floods on the Irwell in November 1866 when it flooded to a height of eight and a half feet. The marker was reused in October 1870 when a slightly smaller flood of four feet and three inches was notched up.
There were a few other sculptures in the park but most of them are further on and we didn’t get far enough to see them today. We carried onto Agecroft Cemetery and then walked back to Pendlebury to catch a bus.
The Peak Forest Canal was begun in 1794 but was not completed until 1805. Our route today revealed the challenges that contributed to the delays in its completion. There were two long tunnels. The first was the Woodley Tunnel which is 176 yards long, and very dark as we walked through. The second was the Hyde Tunnel but you can’t walk through that one so we took the route over the top.
Just before Marple was the Marple Aquaduct. It was finally opened in 1800 and carries the canal 100 feet above the River Goyt. It is the tallest masonry arch aquaduct on our canal network.
It leads into the beginning of the Marple Locks, a line of 16 locks that bring the canal into line with the Macclesfield canal. The two canals meet at the toll house on the edge of Marple where we met one of the volunteers with the Canal and Rivers Trust.
From lock 16 the route levelled out again and we made our gentle way into New Mills where we caught a bus back to Glossop. A brilliant route and a lovely day. The highlight was a lesser spotted woodpecker: easier to spot when there are fewer leaves on the trees.
We crossed onto the Fallowfield Loop which was the former Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. It opened in 1892 but it has been a Sustrans route, part of the National Cycle Network, since at least 2002.
The bright sunshine melted the overnight frost and many of the leaves showed up golden yellow.
We made good progress towards Chorlton, where we took a brief detour to see the two places Bob had lived in Manchester over 30 years ago, before we met. Then it was back Wilbraham Road where we found an excellent cafe (there were lots to choose from) with previously mentioned first class cake.
Canals provide popular walking routes. Flat tow paths well maintained make walking easy. However wet leaves on the paths, particularly on a few steep sections, made conditions a bit trickier today.
At the IWMN we enjoyed a soup and cake lunch and explored some of the exhibits, particularly those about WW1. We then crossed the Manchester Ship canal and walked through Media City.
