The start of the walk, near the Black Bear Inn on the Market Square, Sandbach.
The main church at Sandbach.
A sad looking Romping Donkey - named on the route description.
"What am I doing here?"
Our lunch spot in the middle of the canal.
St. Philip's Church - still in use. Not many people can claim to go to a pink tin church.
The end of the walk, celebrating finding the Sandbach Crosses with a drink in the Black Bear Inn.
Walk stats: Distance: 10.9 miles. Climb: 470'.
Time: 5 hours 14 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.5 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 2.1 m.p.h.
Group: Martyn and Mike.
This was another good day for walking, sunshine all day and a few spots of rain that lasted for at most 1 minute. Another case of shorts would have been better than Paramo gear, although Mike did think it was a little on the cool side for bearing any flesh!
An unusual walk that provided plenty of challenges in terms of following the instructions at the start in the centre of Sandbach - we didn't even spot the Sandbach Crosses even when we were standing in Market Square! Our excuse was that the Farmers Market had set up in front of it, and we only spotted them when we returned to the square after the walk.
Throughout much of the walk we could hear the steady drone of the traffic on the M6, and many of the fields had horses, but a few did have cattle and sheep.
A lot of the walk as along the Trent and Mersey Canal, where at first we were surprised to that many of the locks had two locks side by side, but this made sense as this was at one time used commercially for hauling salt and coal, so having the twin lock system would reduce delays.
One pleasant surprise was a disused railway line, part of the old "Salt Line" until the 1930s, now converted into a delightful gladed path, along which we were overtaken by a couple with a pushchair!
Overall a very pleasant walk, a stroll through the East Cheshire countryside.
Birds seen or heard today included: House sparrow, Woodpigeon, Carrion crow, Jackdaw, Rook, Common buzzard, Fieldfare, Blue tit, Pied wagtail, Goldfinch, Common blackbird, European robin, Mallard, Black-billed magpie and Eurasian jay.
After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Black Bear in Sandbach centre, alas it was a Robinson's pub, but at least the Spitfire and Hobgoblin were OK!
Reply to the "Robbies" fan: 40 years ago, when my local area was known as "Greenall Whitley Land", I travelled more than 30 miles just to sample Robinson's brews, and then Hatters mild was my preferred choice. Over the years my taste buds have changed, and Robbies is not on my list of my favourite brews!
1 comment:
There are some who swear by Robbies!
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