Today we left Northwich and headed to Wigan
Today was a much smaller group – we had Caroline walking with us for her second day and Steve providing the logistics support.
We left Northwich, on what was to be a manly urban road day, down tree lined roads. During Roman times, Northwich was known as Condate, thought to be a Latinisation of a Brittonic name meaning “Confluence” as it lies at the junction of the rivers Dane and Weaver.
Most of our day would be spent on the A49 but now it was not as fearsome due to pavement running along side it all the way up to Wigan. Not a whole lot to see – lots of farmland, some very small villages and a field full of black sheep (don’t know what breed)
We then passed into Stretton and diverted down a path away from the Path for a while. Some interesting statues at the start of the park and kids playing 11 a-side football were something different to see.
After passing over the Bridgewater Canal in Stockton Heath we then crossed the Manchester Ship Canal, a 36-mile-long (58 km) inland waterway in the North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea with several sets of locks lifting vessels about 60 feet (18 m) to the canal’s terminus in Manchester.
Going through Warrington via crossing the River Mersey, we picked up some lunch for later consumption and passed out 600 km milestone.
An ice cream stop on the way into Wigan, more brooks and canals crossed and a lot more walking through built up areas (something different to look at) and we arrived at our stop for the night in Wigan.
Tomorrow we head to Garstang in Lancaster
After day 15 we are still not yet halfway but have come a long long way.