Newwar one

Verified Slow Way

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I enjoyed this route. It follow the Sankey canal out of Warrington and through into Newton-le-Willows, finishing at the train station there right next to a quite spectacular viaduct. Due to the time of year some parts of the walk were slightly muddy, but I did it in sturdy trainers without a problem.

After leaving the pleasant town centre of Warrington, we were soon crossing Sankey Brook, where a local told us about the development of the Sankey Canal/St Helens Canal from the river, that it was the first canal, and that one of her ancestors had worked on it. I checked when I got home and according to the Canal and River Trust website “Though the Bridgewater Canal is popularly supposed to be the first of the industrial age, that title properly belongs to the nearby St Helens Canal.” I have previously walked chunks of this canal using WidWar One, SthBill Two and PreSth Two. I’ve put SthNew Two on my To Do list!!
A lot of the route was tarmac cycle track, but some of it was muddy grass. Parts of the canal still had water, but mostly vegetation had colonised it. There was still lots of evidence of canal banks and lock walls, and even some rotting wooden lock gates at one point.
The final walk into Newton involved tarmac tracks and grassy/muddy paths, a few shallow steps, and some rather interesting infrastructure around the station finish point.
I really enjoyed this walk, which was surprisingly green (well, brown following a wet autumn!), and easy to do in trail shoes.

The great thing about this route, is that it's possible to use the free car park at Newton-le-Willows Station, catch the train to Warrington, and with a little deviation to the start point, walk back.

As has already been mentioned in previous reviews, this is a route with urban extremities and a pleasant rural middle. Surfaces range from tarmacked to unmade and muddy. After severe rain, parts are liable to become flooded.

Access gates and steps would likely make this impassable for wheelchair users, and the rougher surfaces would rule out road bikes, but should be passable for those using off road bikes - according to the OS map, most of the route is specifically designated as a cycling route.

A good functional route between urban areas using footpaths through good countryside and mostly along one of England's first canals.

From Newton-le-Willows, after leaving the station we're practically straight onto a tarmac path running alongside Newton Brook. It's mostly wooded, and the path eventually becomes an earth footpath, which can be muddy in places. After a couple of steps (mostly eroded now into a slope); it's across a field to a footbridge where we join another tarmac path. This works its way to a housing estate and past a pond.

Using a crossing at a crossroads, we're over a rail bridge, then past some houses to a footpath that wends its way downhill to a car park where we access the Sankey Canal.

The canal walk is the greatest part of the route. The path is a mixture of metalled earth and tarmac, and the canal itself wet and dry, with remnants of locks along the way. There are a few road bridges to go under, and a brief road crossing.

On meeting, and going under, a motorway bridge, it is briefly unpaved at a MOT garage, but there is a good footpath past it most of the way.

Approaching the outskirts of Warrington (passing the isolated lock of Winwick Quay), the route passes along a sometimes muddy footpath along the Sankey Brook. At the end, once over a footbridge, the route seems to suggest to follow another muddy path along the bank, but there's a good tarmac path a few yards further that goes the same way. This takes us along both the Sankey Brook and Canal, with more canal locks for those interested in history.

Eventually, we leave the canal, and join a road that takes us into Warrington. At its end, it becomes a footpath under the rail and road bridges, emerging at the bus station where we continue to the centre of Warrington.

Despite some good paths and road crossings, and the only obstacles being barriers and the odd kissing gate, a few muddy sections make this route mostly foot-only. That said, it's a pleasant enough walk through nice countryside on the edges of busy towns, railways and roads.

Pleasant enough, successfully rural until Warrington. Stretches of canal and woodland. Mostly flat with some grassy/muddy paths. Probably not suitable for wheeelchairs due to a couple of 'kissing' gates and barriers. A couple of road crossings at each end. Very accurately mapped.

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