THE SALTER'S WAY (CHESHIRE) - 25 1/2 MILES
ABOUT THE WALK & STORY -
Cheshire is a county of infinite variety, rich in history, and an absorbing landscape. The walking is diverse from the plains through attractive villages and past impressive halls to the rugged slopes of the Pennines. Two long distance routes traverse the county south fo north - the Sandstone Trail and the Gritstone Trail. The Salter’s Way goes west to east. I am indebted to Mr. Michael K.Mooney of Dams Lane, Allostock, who pioneered this route and gave me the opportunity to use his work so that others could follow the way. He is an avid walker and living on a saltway - the way goes past his house - he wanted to learn more about the lane he lived on. From his research the germ of the idea grew to following an old saltway
from a major source to the Pennines.
I had walked much of the route before in sections for other guidebooks that I was writing, but the great appeal of this way is tracing an old route. First you walk through the salt fields
before following the salt way past Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope. Ahead can be seen the hills! Passing Capesthorne Hall you skirt some of Cheshire’s may meres (lakes, which may be natural, the result of flooding of sand quarries, or of subsidence from brine pumping), to cross an old peat moss before the Macclesfield Canal. Rather than road walk through Macclesfield itself the way follows the canal before ascending into the hills from Langley. Here is the sting in the tail to the way, with nearly 18 miles walked you now ascend and descend for the next seven miles to lonely Saltersford Hall, close to the Derbyshire boundary.
i really enjoyed the walk across and saw few people, exeept in the Tegg’s Nose area. You can walk it in a day or spend a more leisurely two days over it. There is accommodation and 2 campsite close to the route. The only major problem is being collected at the end, because
of its remote location. If you can’t be met then hike directly to Macclesfield where you can get either a bus or train to where you want to be or back to Northwich. i prefer hiking it west to east as it is more of a challenge - east to west and its all downhill! i hope you have a great walk following the footsteps of the old packhorse teams and let me know how you got on!
Happy walking! John N. Merrill
A5. placed in a plastic wrap around cover and signed by John Merrill.
Special embroidered cloth bdage and sgned certificate for successful walks.
All walkers added to my Walkers Roll of Honour page.