| OS Route Map → |  |
GPX Route file → |
Date: 19 Sep 2015
Start / Finish: Altrincham.
Maps: Explorer 276 + 277.
| Day 1 | Latchford Locks, Bridgewater Way & Dunham Massey | 18.5miles (30km) |
A single day walk on the west side of Altrincham. The outward line follows the Trans Pennine Trail (TPT) westwards as far as Latchford Locks on the Manchester Ship Canal. The return line follows the Bridgewater Way (BW) canal path through Lymm to Bollington Mill and the National Trust house and park of Dunham Massey.
The TPT follows a former railway bed in a dead straight line for 3.6m (5.8km) from Oldfield Brow to Oughtrington with just a slight kink before another 2m (3.2km) to the M6 and is highly unphotogenic, hence no worthwhile pictures from this section. As we've remarked before, this type of easy level walking, though pleasant enough, is not our usual choice but is fine for distance training and is well used by cyclists and runners too. We also saw a new (to us) phenomenon here: speed roller skating with 2m long poles to aid propulsion.
The BW section is a picturesque walk in the rural Cheshire landscape passing through Lymm, a bustling town today in warm sunshine. As expected Dunham Massey was extremely busy with day trippers enjoying the warm early Autumn conditions, a popular deer park whose various paths form sections of our shorter and more frequent half-day walks from home. The exit gate on the B5160 leads onto the path through Dunham golf course emerging at Highgate Road, a short walk from home.
