Introduction
Go back four years, almost to the day. I was planning a winter walk along the Trans Pennine Way (TPT), somewhere local and mud free, getting some miles in the legs in preparation for the spring walking season. I was wondering why accommodation around Liverpool was booked up until I twigged that a mid-week European match was scheduled for the week that the Covid pandemic was spreading through continental Europe. Within days, Covid had arrived in Merseyside, lockdowns were on their way and the football season came to a sudden halt. As did my walking plans.
It was time to try again. The rain it raineth every day. The footpaths
around the Peak District had become waterlogged and muddy bogland and there
were few opportunities, on these short winter days, for long-distance multi-day
trekking. Back to the TPT, a route around Merseyside and Greater Manchester on
cycle paths and old railway lines that should avoid most of the slippery conditions.
I had a four-day window in weather and family commitments so I concocted a
schedule for getting the train to Southport and walking home or as near home as
possible. Train tickets were booked and reservations were made for three nights’
accommodation. It all seemed so simple and it was until I turned up at the
station for the early morning train only to find cancellations all round.
Nothing was heading my way for 90 minutes, too late to make connections and
completed a 16-mile afternoon dash. A desperate attempt to negotiate a taxi
ride to Stockport initially came to nought. Then an Uber drew up to collect a
couple who invited me to share their fare. I hopped in and was soon in the café
on Stockport station eating a breakfast bap whilst waiting for a Liverpool
train that was running very late, so late in fact that I might miss my next connection.
The train made up some of the time deficit, enough for me to sprint across
Liverpool Parkway and leap onto the Merseyside service to Southport. After much
stress and tribulation, I arrived at the head of the trail with just about
enough daylight to reach my first hotel.
Sunday 18th February 2024 Southport – Netherton (Sefton)
Cob Pony and Trap on Old
Railway
The sun was shining as I walked
down to the seafront from Southport station. With no time for a café, I headed
straight for the start of the trail. Pausing briefly have a selfie in front of
the sun sculpture, I walked on for another mile to the trail head and the
rather attractive metal sculptures around. Now for the serious part of the day,
six or seven miles of promenade and roadside pavements and cycleways followed
busy roads passed golf courses and Ainsdale. Cutting inland, the route followed
a quiet country lane that eventually gave access to a wet farm track and a
dismantled railway. Another six-mile stretch was mostly on solid ground with
the occasional section of waterlogged and muddy going. The sun was low in the
sky, the dog walkers were heading for home when suddenly a horse and trap appeared
in the distance heading straight for me. This was driven by a very talkative
chap who was keen to show off his sturdy little Cob horse, a beast that was
bred for pulling horse-drawn carts and canal boats.
In the outskirts of Maghull, the
old railway was blocked so a detour was necessary along some suburban streets.
The line of the old railway was regained just before the trail turned away east
through some quiet woodland. Darkness was falling fast and I was conscious of
the need to reach civilisation before the light went completely. The district
of Netherton is more a neighbourhood than a village. The Leeds & Liverpool
canal runs through its centre and the trail uses a short stretch of the towpath.
After half-a-mile, in near total darkness, I turned onto the Northern Perimeter
Road to find the Premier Inn where I had a reservation. I had a very quick
shower and change of clothes and then ventured next door to the Beefeater
restaurant where a table reservation awaited.
Southport Station dep. 12.13,
Netherton arr. 18.00
GPS 16.76 miles in 5hr 47mins 11secs
walking time.
Stayed in the Liverpool North
Premier Inn. My meal package was at the adjacent Beefeater Restaurant where I
chose fish & chips & mushy peas, then apple pie & custard, The only
real ale was Sharp’s Atlantic Pale Ale (4.5%).
Monday 19th February 2024 Netherton – Hale
I Just Met a Girl Called Maria
I could afford a less frenetic day with a similar mileage to yesterday
but all day to complete it. After a pleasant lie in, I wandered round to the
Beefeater for a full English breakfast and lots of coffee. The Perimeter Road
took me back to the canal and its puddle-ridden towpath. Within minutes I
climbed up to a road bridge and followed a dual-carriageway through the centre
of Aintree. A brief excursion through some woods led to Aintree Station and
then back onto the main road. A disused railway that crossed over this road was
accessed via a loop to the east and a set of steps. This dismantled railway was
to be my companion for the next ten miles passing through the eastern suburbs
of Liverpool via West Derby and Knotty Ash on its way to Halewood. I had
expected a dry passage but parts of the trail were entirely submerged and quite
impassible without taking a paddle. I got into a good rhythm and started
counting the miles. The only problem was that eventually my body started to
demand a coffee break and there was absolutely nothing in front but a corridor
of trees.
Eventually I came to an area which I recognised, the East Lancs Road and
Queens Drive and the spectacular tower of St Matthew’s church, an area I knew
from my frequent visits to watch United play Liverpool or Everton. A lovely
section of the trail near Knotty Ash ran through a cutting where a fine
building stood on the bridge dominating what must have been an old station. But
still no café. I then fell into step with a lady out for her morning walk. She
was moving smoothly along and we were soon exchanging our thoughts on the benefits
of walking. I then told her of my need for a coffee and she immediately knew
just where to go. Another mile, a right turn up a non-descript street and there
was Millie’s café, standing like a miracle before me. I was so thankful that I
asked her to join me for a coffee and we chatted on whilst I demolished a tuna
melt panini. We parted as good friends, she to walk back home whilst I
continued south into the Halewood Triangle. I had just met a girl called Maria.
The last section of the day was pretty dreary, firstly around a huge
industrial park (there was even an AstraZeneca plant) and then across some very
busy roads. The three-mile-long circumnavigation of Speke was a drag and it was
a blessed relief to take a short cut across some soggy grassland onto the road
to Hale. This was a charming little village in a flat area of farmland, quiet
except for the planes that regularly skimmed the rooftops on their way to
Liverpool Airport. My accommodation was slightly off-route on the northern edge
of the village in a farm where many years ago I had parked our car whilst
flying out of the airport. This time there was no parking, just an unmanned
block of bedrooms. I was going to have to walk back into the village for a meal
and drink, probable on unlit lanes. I was glad I had brought my torch. The
things one must do for a pint!
Netherton dep. 09.41, Hale arr.16.22
GPS 16.81 miles in 6hrs 01mins 54secs
walking time plus a 30 mins (13.00- 13.30) stop at Millie’s Café in Childwall.
Stayed at Lenox Farm, Ramsbrook
Lane, Hale. Ate at the Childe of Hale, a Greene King pub near the church in the
village. Chicken Tikka Masala with rice & chips followed by a Belgian
waffle with ice cream and toffee sauce. The beer was Ruddles Best (3.7%).
Tuesday20th February 2024 Hale – Lymm
A Power Station on the Fiddle
No breakfast was on offer. In fact, I saw no one in my entire stay on the
farm. An early start was therefore a natural step. All I had to do was find a
café. Nothing in the village except a small store selling sandwiches (yesterday’s).
I set off up the main road towards Hale Bank clutching a stale ham and cheese
butty. Heading for the coast passed the sewage works, the route emerged into
Pickering’s Pasture, a beautifully landscaped parkland beside the Mersey
estuary. Here I found a bench where I sat and ate my meagre breakfast. Round
the next headland and under two bridges, one for trains and the second for
motor traffic, the route passed an olde worlde area of Widnes with a pub, riverside
gardens and an old fort. This led onto extensive grasslands below the Catalyst
Museum and the entry lock into the St Helens Canal. I had read about trail
diversions due to bridge repairs so I was relieved that, after traversing Spike
Island, I could squeeze onto the canal towpath beyond the missing bridge. I was
now faced for another of those long straight lines that was proving a feature
on the TPT.
This section was dominated by the chimney and cooling towers of Fiddlers
Ferry power station, which is due for demolition in the near future. Many years
ago, after I had started a secondment from my old job, my first environmental assignment
was here at Fiddlers Ferry conserving sand martin colonies in the ash lagoons. On
and on I plodded going once more into café deficit syndrome. I knew however
that there was a pub at the site of the old ferry. Horror of horrors, it was
closed. Maybe my early start was working against me. I was too early for
lunchtime opening. So, even more towpath had to be endured before the route turned
into Sankey Park and then through a rather barren section of ex-industrial
land. The trail crossed and recrossed the Mersey as it wound its way through
the flatlands south of Warrington. Eventually I gained the banks of the
Manchester Ship Canal and within a few hundred yards came to a Morrisons supermarket
that hosted a coffee shop. It had been a very long morning,
Rain began to fall as I set out on the last stage of the day’s walk. Back
on the Ship Canal towpath, I donned full rain gear, just in time for the heavier
rain. Crossing Latchford swing bridge, the traffic was heavier than the rain
but the road alongside the canal was a lot quieter. Underneath a railway
viaduct high above the road, I realised that my onward route was up there along
the dismantled line. The way up involved continuing along the road to Latchford
locks, then taking a right turn into a side street and climbing a muddy track
that gave vehicular access to the disused railway. Work vans had churned up the
surface and, in the rain that was falling, it was becoming increasingly waterlogged
and mud-filled. The going gradually improved and, after crossing under the M6,
became an artificially-surfaced cycle route. With Statham Lodge Hotel to my
left, I walked on for a further mile to the nearest exit point to Lymm village.
Here I turned through the village outskirts to reach the humpbacked bridge over
the Bridgewater canal. My pre-booked room was in the centre of the village
almost next door to the Brewery Tap. There is a God!
Hale dep. 08.32, Lymm arr.16.00
GPS 17.71 miles in 6hrs 45mins 48secs
walking time plus 30 mins (13.15 – 13.45) having coffee and cake in Morrisons
in Wilderspool.
I had beautiful accommodation in
Lymm Boutique Rooms. My evening started in the Brewery Tap where it was taster
night. So, I was able to try Bridgewater Gold (4,0%), Chirotherium (5.5%) and
Stamford Bitter (4.2%) before staggering over the road to the Spread Eagle for
a superb meal, pan-fried seabass and apple crumble & ice cream and a pint
of J W Lees MPA (3.7%).
Wednesday 21st February 2024
Lymm – East Didsbury
Tales from the Riverbank
It was a case of industrial reluctance. After lying in bed listening to
the rain hammering on the window lights of the attic room, I was slow to pack
and step out into the dreich morning. Again, no breakfast was on offer but this
time I had a café next door. A bacon bap in Cuppello’s was a luxury indeed
especially as they put some Sibelius music on for me. Eventually I had to face
the day and thankfully the rain had eased somewhat. Back on the TPT, a co-op
store appeared within yards and I therein acquired a butty for my lunch. There
was no evidence from the map of a café on route. Station Road at Heatley was
totally underwater and I climbed fences to find a way round. It was too early
in the day to get wet feet. A long straight stretch led passed Dunham Town and
another brewery before disgorging me out onto some busy lanes that weaved
through Altrincham Business Park and Dairyhouse Farm. Except for the flooding,
the section provided little excitement. That was about to change.
A rutted lane passed Woodcote Farm and a sewerage works brought the
designated route to an area of open ground offering the trail walker a choice.
Whilst the bike route went round a track to Ash Farm, the walker’s route turned
around a solar farm and out across this rough ground in a more direct line. However,
the path across this wilderness was very hard to pick up and my initial attempt
ended with me getting onto the wrong side of an uncrossable ditch. I finally
located a muddy trod through some scrub that led into a waterlogged mire. So
much for having dry feet. I was back into the sort of winter walking I had wanted
to avoid, slipping and sliding around in glutinous mud. The housing estate
where I came out was off-route and I had to take a diversion into some woodland
to get onto a firm walking surface. Traffic lights helped in the crossing of
the Carrington spur road to reach the access road to the Aston-on-Mersey sports
fields. A brief excursion into a wood led to the dramatic footbridge over the
Mersey. I was now very close to my childhood home over the far side of Urmston meadows.
But today’s target lay in the other direction, along the riverbank and as far
as I could get before dark.
The river level was as high as I have seen it for some years. The
riverside track was wide and featureless as it followed the sweeping bends of
the Mersey. A long afternoon session was in prospect. As I rounded one of these
bends, a group of buildings came into view. As I got nearer, I could hardly
believe my eyes. Here, in the middle of nowhere was a café in a shipping
container, Riverbank Coffee. I sat briefly eating a lovely cake in a wooden
shelter, sheltering from the rain. The TPT left the river at this point and
followed cycle paths under the M60 and round Sale and Chorlton Water Parks, remote
wetlands in the middle of South Manchester’s populous suburbia. Breaking out
onto the Mersey again, near the Jackson’s Boat pub, the river weaved round huge
meanders, passing Northenden and its golf courses and under the A34. A figure
jogged slowly towards me in the late afternoon sunshine, a very familiar
figure, Tony Wagg, friend, work colleague and walking companion of many years.
In three minutes, we caught up with the last few years then I moved to continue.
Tony warned me of flooding ahead where the riverside track had been overtopped
by the fast-flowing river. I pressed on regardless and when I reached the
underwater section, as day walkers turned back, I waded on through the calf
deep river water and out onto dry ground beyond. When you only have a mile or
so to go, you get less precious about keeping feet dry. At Simon’s Bridge, I
dropped off the flood bank and onto a quiet lane into the centre of Didsbury,
crossing Wilmslow Road and onto the path beside the Metrolink tram line. This
led to its terminus at East Didsbury
where I crossed the line into the car park that defined the end of my journey.
It was getting late and I was keen to get to Stockport as soon as possible and catch
a train home. I had started in sunshine four days ago and finished in the last
rays of a February sunset. Not too bad for a winter walk.
Lymm dep. 09.28, East Didsbury
arr.16.45
GPS 18.88 miles in 7hrs 08mins 38secs
walking time plus 15min at the Riverbank Café beside the Mersey near Stretford.
Conclusion
I soon found a bus stop and
boarded a bus bound for Stockport. The half mile up to the railway station was
steeper than anything I had confronted in the last four days. A Northern train
was due so I was soon winging my way to Macclesfield where I found the
Redwillow bar very difficult to get passed. So, I slipped in for a pint of
Headless (3.9%) and then waited for my wife and her kind offer of a lift home.
In total, I had completed 70 miles
over the four days, 67 of which were on the Trans Pennine Trail. I had a wet
finish to day 3 and a very wet start to day 4, but a total of three out of four
dry and, in the main, sunny days is more than I could have hoped for in such a
wet winter. The walking was flat and fast and, except for one or two sections,
firm and dry underfoot. It was far more interesting than I had feared with some
sections of delightful countryside. The hard surfaces were cruel to my feet and
I ended up with tender soles and the odd blister. But for a winter trek
avoiding the bottomless mud of the north of England’s rights of way, it was a
most successful venture and I shall be back next winter, DV, for the next
section, up Longdendale and over the Pennines into Yorkshire.
