Today we left Whitchurch and headed to Northwich in Cheshire
Today we had Caroline, Chris T, Pat, Stuart, Helena, Yasemin, Priyanka, Ryan, Matt R, Chris M, Matt J and Simon walking with us with Greg and Nick providing all the logistics.
We left Whitchurch to a smattering of rain – enough for everyone to break out the coats and hats – thankfully it didn’t amount to much and didn’t put in an appearance again. Whitchurch was previously Mediolanum, a fort and small town in the Roman province of Britannia. It is also the oldest continuously inhabited town in Shropshire. Sir Henry Percy (Sir Harry Hotspur) (1364–1403), was killed at the Battle of Shrewsbury and buried in Whitchurch, only for his body to be later exhumed and quartered.
We briefly stopped in Nantwich to pick up sandwiches for lunch and headed back out on the road to Northwich. What was meant to be relatively quiet B roads were actually quite busy but the team coped well with the oncoming traffic. We passed over several sections of he Shropshire Union Canal – Llangollen Branch as well as passing the usual number of quaint / beautiful houses.
Passing briefly through Church Minishull we had an ice cream stop – probably cleaned the shop out of its weekly supply of Magnums! More pretty houses and immaculate gardens before we crossed the border into Cheshire.
We passed the Winsford Rock Salt mine – the U.K.’s largest and oldest working mine. It lies approximately 150 meters under the Cheshire countryside and has a rich history, which began in 1844 when local prospectors were searching for coal. More than a century of mining has left a void under the countryside that features consistent temperature and humidity levels, and is naturally free from the dangers of ultraviolet light, vermin or flooding. It is the size of 700 football pitches and continues to grow as a salt is mined every year.
We left the road shortly after to start the last few kms of our walk along the River Weaver footpath.
We continued along the footpath, came to the Vale Royal Locks, crossed over and encountered a very overgrown, and sometimes muddy, path that would take us back to the road and onto our hotel. The River Weaver section was a really nice change from the consistent road pounding of the day.
An amazing effort from everyone again – having a group of 14 walking along the roads in such a disciplined manner was a pleasure to see. It was (as per yesterday) rewarding watching friends and colleagues catch up personally after nearly 18 months apart. Greg (and Nick) did his usual sterling job of providing baggage services and roadside snacks and drinks at regular intervals.
Hard to believe that Paul and I have now walked for two weeks without a rest day (and it feels like it) but the rest day is coming ever closer!
Tomorrow we head to Wigan.
