A REFURBISHED walk around Nantwich was announced by Chester East Council's
Countryside Access Development Officer, Genni Butler, in 2011.
The Nantwich Riverside
Loop walk has since become very popular and takes walkers along the side of the River Weaver, round Nantwich Lake, across farm fields, over a railway
line(!), and along the Shropshire Union Canal before returning to the start (the
free St Anne's Lane car park) off historic Welsh Row. Other starting points are
available.
Genni told me that
work on the walk included improvements to the canal towpath surface, a
connecting path between the existing Nantwich Lake-side path and Shrewbridge
Road, gate improvements, and a causeway over a ponded area.
The Loop, and a publicity leaflet (see below), was produced
with help from organisations including Nantwich Civic Society, Shropshire Union
Canal Society, WREN (the cash-from-waste benevolent body), Nantwich Town
Council, Acton, Edleston and Henhull Parish Council, Nantwich in Bloom,
Riverside Concern, and "many other partners".
The
walk is 5km / 3 miles long and is estimated to take between one-and-a-half and
two hours to complete. |
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The paths are surfaced with either tarmac or compacted stone and are between one
and two
metres wide. The southern section is
across fields and so "appropriate footwear" is recommended.
The route is
"relatively flat throughout though uneven." There are steps at each end of the
canal towpath section - although the steps at the Welsh Row aqueduct end can be
by-passed by using a ramp. There are no stiles on the walk but there are
bridle gates (1.5 metres wide) and a field gate. There is also a railway line
level crossing to negotiate.
As well as the St
Anne's Lane car park, parking can be found off Shrewbridge Road
(opposite Nantwich Town Council's building) and at the
northern end of Nantwich Lake So walkers can choose to vary the way they complete the walk according to
which car park is the more convenient.
Apart from one
place for refreshments (with toilets for customers, of course) near to St Anne's
Lane car park, there are no further refreshments / toilets facilities on the
walk.
But there are plenty of coffee shops and other places in town participating in a "comfort
scheme" to use before your start . . .
l For
more on the Riverside Loop, see Lake and Riverside pictures. |
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