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Ride and Stride Day -
12 September 2009
Thank you to everyone who sponsored me for the “Ride and Stride” walk.
£80 plus gift aid was raised. This will be divided between St
Peter’s and the Historic Cheshire Churches Preservation Trust.
Thanks also to the churches of Barnton
and Little Leigh for their hospitality.
My
walk, with my husband and daughter, was to be 6 miles, and include the
churches of Barnton (Christ
Church)
and Little Leigh (St Michael’s and
All Angels). The weather
was perfect; warm and sunny with just the slightest breeze.
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We arrived at
Christ
Church
about
1pm.
The ladies manning the church were
very hospitable; they showed us the beautiful stained glass
windows and provided us with refreshments.
We met a couple of cyclists there who
where also taking part in the ‘Ride and Stride’. |
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Christ
Church,
Barnton |
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After
leaving the church, we walked the short distance along the canal
to the opening of the Barnton Tunnel.
We had to follow the path over the top
as there is no tow path through the tunnel.
At the Saltersford Tunnel, a little
further on, we did the same.
We should have crossed the
canal at the next bridge for Little Leigh,
but we didn’t, and the
following bridge was impassable.
We crossed at Friar’s
Rough and continued on to Little Leigh.
This detour added 2 miles onto our
walk, but there were fantastic views over the
Cheshire
countryside along this path. |
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Trent
and
Mersey
Canal |
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We were
very grateful for the refreshments at St Michael’s Church.
This church also had some very
beautiful stained glass windows.
It also had a lovely relief picture of
‘The Last Supper’ behind the Altar. |
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St Michael and All Angels, Little Leigh |
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Our journey continued along
Leigh Lane,
through a farm, back over the canal and down a narrow path which came out
near the Leigh Arms. We
strolled over, and under, the bridge (A49 Acton Bridge), then thought we
had better ‘check out’ the Leigh Arms!
After a 'little rest', we walked back along
the River Bank.
We were only over-taken by a runner,
but we saw lots of people in boats on the river.
We crossed a footbridge over the old
course of the river and passed by the Saltersford Locks.
Just before leaving the river and heading back up to the canal, we
saw, what we think was, a heron. Just after taking this
picture it started chasing seagulls. |
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Heron on the River Weaver |
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At the
canal we had some of our lunch leftovers, and then headed back
over the Saltersford and Barnton Tunnels.
We arrived back at
Christ
Church
at
6pm. |
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The end of our walk |
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It was a very enjoyable day because of the warm
sunshine, the friendly people we met everywhere, and the things we saw -
wildlife and farm animals, buildings, locks, bridges, tunnels, boats of
all descriptions, and the stunning scenery.
I was surprised and pleased that none of us
had aching muscles or blisters at the end of it.
Kerris
v v v v v
Close
Window
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