PS

Sorry about all the typos but there is not much I can do about it. Typing these things on the iPhone is a real pain and there is always the fear that you are going to loose the whole thing in the ether.

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I was only kidding

Not really last night, but after a good night's sleep and a study of the map I reckoned I could walk out to Whitchurch today despite the poor forecast, and it wouldn't matter how wet I got.

I was off by 6:45 after packing up in foul rain. Initial walking was tedious until I climbed up onto the sandstone ridges again. Here there was a brief interlude in the bad weather and the red sandstone outcrops mixed with silver birch, pine and heather, and massive panoramic views accross the Cheshire plain made the whole trip worthwhile

After that the route degenerated into farmers' crop fields, long wet grass, overhead branches in the face and endless, endless stiles encased in nettles, thistle and hawthorne. I don't want to see another stile again for a long time.

At one point I had no altermative but wade through a huge swamp of cow muck and mud, that stuff that has rainbow oily appearance, and I was right up to my knees. Later I found a galvanised cattle water trough and just stood in,footwear and all, to get cleaned off.

At long last I hit the canal and had a brisk 5km walk into Whitchurch. There was a cafe canalside and I had my first food of the day, a buttered scone and a pot of tea for two.

I arrived at the station about 5:30 and there is a train out at 6.09 so I have just had time to type this up while waiting.

Posted by John to conradwalks at 21 June 2013 10:42 type this up

Delamere to Beeston

I am at The Shady Oak on the Shropshire Union Canal north west of Beeston, there is a camp site. I was told that the station cafe at Delamere opens at 9:00 so sacrificed an early start. It turned out not to open until 9:30 so I pressed on to the visitor centre cafe another half km up the road. I didn't leave there until 9:45. The rain started about 12:30 and hasn't stopped since. The walking has been nondescript: walking round three sides of a square for field boundaries, crop fields with no proper path, and often overgrown with sopping vegetation. Some of the time I was fighting through chest high nettles, grass and hogweeds, all drenched with the rain, and overhanging branches to be negotiated at head height.

Arriving at this pub I put the tent up in the rain and the good old Terra Nova is doing its job; all is dry and secure inside and all my rucksack contents are dry, but maintaining that through consecutive days of rain is a losing battle. I am now in the pub having a meal. Unfortunately the forecast is similar for tomorrow and, I think for the day after, so I have decided to make for home tomorrow. That might not be easy, I am in the middle of nowhere, with no bus service. Hitch hiking to civilisation may be the answer.

This has been a most enjoyable and interesting trip. My objective was to have a pleasant holiday backpack, and lightening the load carried, by dispensing with cooking gear etc. has certainly made a huge difference to daily comfort. I know it is boring, but the knee has been much more troublesome since I vacated the canals, enough to take the edge off the pleasure, and that is disappointing.
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Frodsham to Delamere

The walking is now more up and down and more tiresome for the knee. A steep pull up onto the top from Frodsham reveals stunning panoramic views of the Dee estuary and all the chemical industry of Widnes and Runcorn.

The walking from there is varied through shaded woodland and fields all on good paths. There was a farm B and B just at the right distance ( tea and scone).

JJ, fellow blogger who walked with me last Sunday knew I was heading for Delamere where there was no provision for an evening meal. He plays squeeze box and sings on a music train that runs through Delamere I joined them at 7.20, destination The Golden Pheasant at Plumley. Music prevailed throughout on the train there and back and at the pub where I had a good meal, and I was back at camp about 10:30. A brilliant evening. Thanks a lot JJ

The Travellers' Rest, Frodsham

Northwich to Frodsham

Breakfast-in-a- box this morning left outside my door you can order this for any time you want 24/7. Travel Lodge are very good except they don't do evening meals.

I was off for 7:15. Good walking got me to Anderton by 8:30. The cafe near the famous Anderton Lift was not open until 9:00. Shortly after that I turned off the Cheshire Ring route to pick up the River Weaver to take me to Frodshsm from where I intend to follow The Sandstone Trail to Whitchurch.

Some of the Weaver was on established cycle path but a lot of it was on badly overgrown riverbank paths and hard going.

Frodsham has no accommodation and the best I could so after racking the brains of some people in. pub was to walk 3km south east of Frodsham to Lady Heyes camp site which means I will have to walk back to F in the morning. I will also have to walk a km of so to the pub up the road for my meal tonight

Elworth to Northwich

The tow paths are not as good from Sandbach. They are by no means dire, but more overgrown (hogweeds) and lumpy

I've chatted to a few proper boat owners now who either live on, or spend perhaps four months at a time touring. They are obviously adventurous types and good to talk to. I was cross with myself at one point. I reckon to be reasonably proficient at French language. This guy's boat was called "pecheur", "Ah" I said, "fisherman", only to be corrected with the correct translation, "kingfisher", which I then realised I had known.

This has been an interesting dayI have ended up at a Travelodge a mile's tramp out of Northwich so clothing has been washed using the traditional towel twisting technique to dry. Fortunately the tent is dry so I didn't gave to resort to methods of one guy I heard of who removed all the pictures in his hotel room and draped his wet tent round suspended by the picture hooks.

My target for tomorrow us Frodsham. That will mean peeling off The Cheshire Ring Canal walk and walking up the navigable River Weaver. I hope to walk the Sandstone Trail from Frodsham south to Whitchurch.
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