Walk - Llangollen to Nantwich

[Philip]

Next week I'm doing a walk between Trevor near Llangollen and Nantwich on the Shropshire Union on a Monday to Friday night/Saturday morning schedule. I'm starting the walk on Tuesday morning and aim to be at Nantwich on Thursday night, so I can take it fairly easy on the Friday.

 

Obviously I've booked overnight stops, but it means Tuesday-Thursday will each involve 12-14 miles walking per day, good weather or not. I'd prefer not to have to use the bus or train but if the weather's absolutely awful I may be forced to, as the schedule is based around the overnight stopping places.

 

Could anyone recommend whether this should be alright walking wise or is it pushing it quite far to be doing these distances 3 days in a row?

 

Also - are there any places where it's best to take a diversion from the towpath?

 

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

Edited March 17, 2008 by Philip

[AlanJ]

Generally the towpath is sound all the way down; however, I do recall there being a good length (possibly a couple of miles) on the upstream side of Ellesmere where the towpath is very poor.

Have a canal guide with you - that will show you where the poor towpath is and also the roads which can be used to avoid the bad towpaths.

 

Whether you can manage 3 days of 15 miles is up to you - it should be fairly easy walking.

Edited March 18, 2008 by AlanJ

[Philip]

Cheers for the information - and do you know of any good pubs near to/in Ellesmere and Whitchurch that would be worth a try or any that would be best to avoid?

Edited March 18, 2008 by Philip

[hmallett]

Could anyone recommend whether this should be alright walking wise or is it pushing it quite far to be doing these distances 3 days in a row?

 

Also - are there any places where it's best to take a diversion from the towpath?

Right, I can comment on this as I've done most of it myself (Horseshoe Falls to Grindley Brook, and Burland to Hurleston Junction).

At Maestermyn Marina the towpath is closed. It was closed due to erosion in May 2006, and is currently being repaired. Before repairs started it was basically unusable, as the towpath was falling into the canal. You can detour from bridge 6 to the main road, then walk along the road to Frankton Junction, though this is a boring slog on roads with no pavements. The rest of the route is fine. In terms of whether it's sensible to walk that much, as long as you're reasonably fit, you should be OK. At least (apart from the detour) you won't have any hills! It might be an idea to take a small torch for the tunnels, though it's not necessary.

In terms of pubs, Ellesmere has the Red Lion (I think), which isn't exactly next to the canal, but has pretty good food.

It's generally a pretty nice, scenic walk.

Let us know how you get on.

H

[Jim]

Cheers for the information - and do you know of any good pubs near to/in Ellesmere and Whitchurch that would be worth a try or any that would be best to avoid?

 

I can certainly recommend the Black Lion in Ellesmere - excellent food and beer. Its more of a coaching inn than a pub but the public bar is quite pubby - and you can eat there. Just follow the road into town from the basin and its the first one you come to.

 

As well as the section of towpath at Maestermyn, BW are also resurfacing the towpaths in the Ellesmere area. Certainly some were closed last week, but the work looked almost finished.

 

I don't know of any decent pubs in Whitchurch, but I'm off there tonight to pick up my boat and hope to have time to visit a few, so I may know more next week!

Jim

[Philip]

The walk was very enjoyable, obviously tiring but quite fine weather considering how unsettled it's been recently.

 

There were a good few obstacles though - not just the towpath near Frankton. The towpath between bridges 15 and 16 (Wrenbury Heath) is a disgrace and shame on BW for spending money on replacing already decent enough lock gates instead of using it to make the towpath walkable! It's more of a marsh than a public footpath - easy enough to lose a boot in there. It's best to walk along the foot of the cutting although even this is full of brambles.

 

Also the Waggoners at Platt Lane has had a serious fire - no pub between Whitchurch and Welshampton for now, but it's a great place to walk around Whixall Moss - it does feel like it's in its' own world around there.

 

The Black Lion is certainly worth a visit, as is the Horse and Jockey at Grindley Brook.

[angel afloat]

hi phillip, was the pub open at willeymoor lock?[after grindley brook] when we have passed, only on the odd occasion have we seen it open, but patrons have commented on the good pint or two.

when you get to nantwich, head for 'welsh row' you can zig-zag down the road from pub to pub.

[sorry we missed you nb Teila -shop on the canal]

 

 

If you decide to walk from nantwich to middlewich, [walking the shropshire branch canal to middlewich] no pubs along the way alas. but take care after church minshull lock as 4 dogs from neighbouring farm like to come through the fence, onto the towpath, and can be quite terrorising to walkers and boaters alike, they have been reported but nothing seems to have been done about them. so just a word of warning, as i stay onboard until were at the lock..

[Philip]

hi phillip, was the pub open at willeymoor lock?[after grindley brook] when we have passed, only on the odd occasion have we seen it open, but patrons have commented on the good pint or two.

when you get to nantwich, head for 'welsh row' you can zig-zag down the road from pub to pub.

[sorry we missed you nb Teila -shop on the canal]

 

 

If you decide to walk from nantwich to middlewich, [walking the shropshire branch canal to middlewich] no pubs along the way alas. but take care after church minshull lock as 4 dogs from neighbouring farm like to come through the fence, onto the towpath, and can be quite terrorising to walkers and boaters alike, they have been reported but nothing seems to have been done about them. so just a word of warning, as i stay onboard until were at the lock..

 

Hi - I passed that pub early in the morning and it was closed then but as far as I know they open at lunchtime and evening every day. It's a nice place, lots of character and they have some good outside seating next to the lock for warmer months.

 

I've been to the Oddfellows in Nantwich on Welsh Row - another great place and some good value meals. Cheers for that about Church Minshull - I've heard dogs barking a lot round there, it can be very unnerving when you're on the towpath near some dogs that mean business, no escape other than into the cut!