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Northwich to Acton Bridge :: Acton Bridge to Frodsham :: Frodsham to Delamere
Delamere to Winsford :: Winsford to Northwich
 10.5km / 6.5 Miles
Start from Northwich railway station. Head anti-clockwise past Tesco and B&Q, turning left at Hi-Q tyre services down a track. Just after the track bends back over a stream, cross the stile on the right into a field. This leads onto a track passing the buildings of “G Cross and Sons” on your left. At the Trent and Mersey Canal, turn left under bridge 191 and follow the towpath all the way to Acton Bridge.
Your first major landmark is the Lion Salt Works. Salt was produced here using the traditional open pan method until 1986. One ton of coal was needed to make two tons of salt. Further along the canal you pass Marbury Country Park - over 200 acres of parkland and woods on the edge of Budworth Mere.
Follow the towpath as it bends left past Anderton Marina and stop on the small bridge spanning a narrow side channel.
Immediately in front of you is the top of the Anderton Boat Lift, a unique example of Victorian engineering. It was built in 1875 to transfer barges, floating in huge tanks, up or down the fifty feel between the canal and the river. The soda ash plant across the river was founded by Brunner and Mond in 1873 and later became part of the great ICI empire.
Anderton Nature Park is a splendid example of how nature can reclaim industrial wasteland. Today orchids and other wildflowers flourish on the old lime waste.
Follow the canal, under a road and over Barnton Tunnel. Continue past a wide pool and over Saltersford Tunnel to bridge 208. Turn left here down a path to Acton Bridge.
9.5km / 6 Miles
Cross underneath the A49 swing bridge and follow the service road to Dutton Locks. Cross over the locks.
In front of you is the 22 arch span of Dutton Viaduct, opened in 1836 for the Grand Junction Railway. Today it carries the main West Coast line.
Large sea-going vessels were able to navigate the river once the bends had been straightened and locks installed in the eighteenth century. By 1880 over a million tons of white salt was shipped down the Weaver each year for export all over the world.
Grassy meadows take you to Pickering’s Lock - which is no longer there! Turn left along a narrow fenced path, then sharp right through a caravan site. Yellow arrows direct you through a garden gate and over a stile back to the riverside. The path now stays close to the river all the way to Frodsham, through woods and meadows that stretch down to the waterside. You emerge quite suddenly at a busy road at the side of Frodsham Water Sports shop.
14km / 9 Miles
Turn left along the road to the 'Public Path' signpost which directs you up shallow steps. A trail between hedges leads you up a track that becomes a surfaced lane. At the end of Townfield Lane, cross over into Church Road, then turn left shortly into School Lane. At the top bear right and immediately left, turning right up a rough track into woodland, signed Middle Walk.
Follow the highest path until you are under some rocks, where an upward scramble will bring you to the war memorial. On a clear day there are tremendous views of Jodrell Bank telescope, the two cathedrals of Liverpool and the Clwydian hills.
Keep to the topmost path along the crest of the escarpment until you join the Sandstone Trail. Follow the Trail over the cliff rim and along the edge of the earthworks to Woodhouse Iron Age Hill Fort. A sunken woodland lane on the right leads to a road. Turn left and shortly right into Ridgeway Wood, still following the Trail, to a road. Cross over and continue through fields and past a Tudor house to another road.
Here you leave the Trail. Turn left and left again at the junction. Turn right up a track towards Claim Farm and as it bears right, go through a gate in front of you. Follow the hedge on the left to a road. Turn right and then left up the second path, opposite another track to Claim Farm. This follows the woodland edge into the heart of Delamere Forest Park, the largest woodland in Cheshire.
Just after an isolated cottage, turn right down a sloping forest drive that rises again to meet the Sandstone Trail. Turn left, following the Trail to Barnsbridge Gates car park. Follow a path above and to the right of the car park to a well marked forest crossroads. Turn left, once again leaving the Sandstone Trail. Cross the railway bridge and turn left to Linmere Picnic Area and Delamere Station.
13km / 8 Miles
From the café go up the steps onto the road. Turn left over the railway bridge and take the first public footpath on the right towards the car park, into the forest again. Continue along this footpath and onto a sandy lane, which soon joins a narrow, surfaced road. Follow this to the Forest View Inn crossroads and turn right down the hill. Shortly after the railway bridge, turn left onto a path alongside Lobslack Tree Nursery. This leads you onto the Whitegate Way which you follow all the way to Winsford, just over 10km (6 miles).
The Whitegate Way was built in 1870 to carry salt from Winsford to Cuddington where it joined the main Manchester - Chester line. Today the Way is managed sympathetically for wildlife and enjoyed by visitors on foot, horse or cycle.
At the end of the Way is Britain’s only rock salt mine. Five hundred feet below your feet, tunnels big enough to take 30 ton trucks stretch out for four miles under the Cheshire Countryside. The tunnels are supported on huge square pillars of salt 80 feet wide.
8km / 5 Miles
Turn left past the salt mine, then right just before a narrow bridge and you will find yourself back by the River Weaver. Cross to the east bank into the Weaver Parkway and turn left up the Valley. In spring the wooded banks are carpeted with bluebells, wood anemones and wild garlic.
Beyond the tree tops on the opposite bank you will catch a glimpse of the roof of Vale Royal Abbey, or to be more accurate, the building that now stands on its site. Alongside, under the turf, are hidden the foundations of what was once the largest Cistercian Abbey in England, founded by Edward I in the late thirteenth century.
Beyond Vale Royal Locks the railway line crosses the valley on a high viaduct. Continue through the arches, over riverside meadows and under the blue bridge which carries the busy A556. On reaching another railway viaduct, turn right and walk alongside it to a busy road. If you are parked in the town centre, turn left here. If you are heading for the station, cross the road and enter the park opposite. Cross underneath the viaduct and continue on a surfaced road, passing a children’s playground on your right. Follow the road as it bends to the right and shortly afterwards turn left over the railway bridge, then immediately right into Victoria Road. The station is at the end of the road.
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