Kidsto three

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

A most enjoyable walk. I suggest a couple of very minor improvements although I didn't walk them. Steps and shallow mud but also a lot of good surfaces, easy navigation and lots of interest along the canal section. Seats and services in limited supply.

I started from Kidsgrove where the station meeting place requires steps to the towpath, these were being tackled by a group of women with buggies as I passed. We get a view of the tunnels and the bright orange water before climbing over the top, although not as steep as the original Boat Lane.

The road has a pavement and most traffic is to and from the car park of the country park that we enter. The path meets and follows the rail line that was built to avoid a tunnel when the line was electrified, was that fifty years ago! I offer a suggested improvement by taking the first bridge over the line and walking alongside Bath Pool.

Crossing by the second bridge we join a bonded surfaced track which takes us to a road by the massive JCB World Logistics building. On the way I noted under the rail bridge more of that orange water that coloured the canal.

Getting back onto the canal the plot misses the plot or at least misses a close inspection of the tunnel mouth and the structure built to house a large fan that helps to ventilate the tunnel. Back on the towpath it's very easy going with various points of interest along the way including Westport Lake where the visitor centre may offer services otherwise this walk will need a detour to find them.

The canal twists and turns providing a mix of scenery some traditional and in decay and some large, modern and of less interest. The Marina at Etruria offers an all day inn on the site of the original Wedgwood works and much later but now years ago, the site of a Garden Festival.

We leave the summit of the canal at the junction with the Caldon canal which brings a supply of water from the distant Rudyard Lake (reservoir). A couple of bottle kilns hide among modern development before we pass under the railway by canal then again on the road. The meeting place is another impressive structure by the North Staffordshire Railway. A good and interesting walk.

This is a fantastic route! From Kidsgrove Station car park a flight of stairs takes you to the towpath, then along to the north entrances to the historic Harecastle Tunnels (the current one designed by Telford, and the now derelict one designed by Brindley). Here it is necessary to leave the towpath and head up above it, alongside roads to the north car park for Bathpool Park. From here the walk through the woods alongside the railway is lovely, especially in early May when it is full of bluebells, although some of the path may be a bit muddy, but much of it is tarmacked. On leaving the park, there is a road with a wide pavement and good crossings. A sloping path leads back down to a footbridge over the canal, and it is worth doubling back to have a better look at the south entrance to Harecastle Tunnel(s).
Almost all of the remainder of the route is canal towpath, starting with Westport Lake, which has a visitor centre, then passing an ever-changing series of industrial relics of the potteries and the heyday of the canals. There is also a bit of modern industry and building going on. There are museums at Middleport and Etruria. The route leaves the canal and passes a few impressive buildings on the approach to the station.

This review is from when I walked it in February. I started this route from Kidsgrove. There's not much towpath to walk until you have to leave the canal at the north entrance to Harecastle Tunnel. Crossing the road in Kidsgrove needs to be done with care, there are no actual crossings, just raised sections of road which don't seem to slow vehicles down. I've done this walk a few times in the past, but always in the opposite direction, so when I started following the pavement of Boathorse Road I thought I would be following it all the way to the other end of Harecastle Tunnel. So imagine my surprise when Kidsto directed me down "Newcastle Way" a footpath that takes you around rather than over the hill. You miss out on the amazing views, but you also miss out having to share a pavementless road with cars, a price I was more than willing to pay! "Chapeau" to the volunteer who came up with this route! To get back on to the canal you follow the pavement of a main road. There are lights for every crossing you need to make. A very safe option. A footpath leads you down to the canal beyond the entrance to the tunnel. The rest of the route follows the canal which offers great variety to the walk. Highlights include Westport Lake, Middleport Pottery and Hanley Cemetery. As you pass between the different towns you see examples of derelict industry and new business, places being knocked down and new building. The route leaves the canal before you reach Stoke Town and puts you on the road to Stoke City Centre (Hanley Town Centre) if you so require. I didn't, so I continued round to the meeting place outside Stoke Railway Station. This route is direct, safe and I really enjoyed walking it. Full marks.

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