Maesbury Walks
Route 1b
|
(click on photos for bigger images
- these are all from 2005)
|
From Croft's Mill Lift Bridge follow the canal towpath east, past Bridge House which is alongside. The canal was built in 1795 but closed in 1936 until it reopened in 2003.
The
photo above is from 1934, looking back towards the old lift bridge, from
a similar position to the photo top right. (click
for a bigger image)
Over on the left is a new wildlife area, created when the new lift bridge was built in the early 21st century. A pair of swans regularly nests there and they can be seen on the canal with their cygnets in the spring. Before the canal reopened in 2003 the whole length had become a wildlife haven during 80 years of closure. There are now several similar replacement areas for the wildlife where they are not disturbed by the boats.
A little further along the canal crosses over the Morda Brook, often just a quiet trickle in the summer, but a much stronger current after heavy rain. On the right along this stretch are Bulace Trees - wild plums - which only usually grow in hedgerows at least 200 years old, suggesting that this area has been relatively undisturbed since the canal arrived.
Further along on the left is The Fields, a farm thought to date from Anglo-Saxon times when they grew crops and kept livestock in 'the fields' outside the fortified settlement a little to the north. The current house probably dates from the 18th century, but there would have been previous dwellings on the same site for many centuries. The land to the right of the towpath was part of The Fields before the canal bisected it in 1795.
The photographs below are a female Brown Hawker Dragonfly laying eggs in the canal just before Spiggots Bridge - but this was in 2002, since the canal reopened this is no longer suitable for them. They are still seen but their breeding areas inevitably become more limited as development increases, hence the need for more wildlife areas next to the canal, like the one near the Lift bridge..
As you reach Spiggot's Bridge (no.80) you have 2 options:
- Walks
1, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12 & 13 - leave the towpath and turn right to
return to the tea-room.
Walks 3, 6 & 8 : Route 2a - continue along the towpath towards the Navigation Bridge (though you could use the opportunity of passing the tea room for a break....)