Maesbury Walks
Route 2a - along the towpath to the Navigation Bridge
For
walks starting with this route:
Leave Canal Central via the car park and turn left into Coed y Rae Lane.
At Spiggots
Bridge (no.80) go through the gate down to the towpath and turn right
to go under the bridge.
Walks continuing along the towpath join here:
Walk along the towpath towards the Navigation Bridge
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.
The field beyond the hedge on the right was called 'Canal Meadow' on the 1839 map and still looks much the same today as it did then. On the left was the 'Common Field', part of which is now used for housing.
On
the left, before the bridge is a high wall hedge, beyond which can sometimes
be glimpsed the original frontage of Llwy On. This house originally faced
south and owned 
the
land on the other side of the canal, but when the canal bisected this
in 1795 the house was remodelled to turn the main entrance towards the
road.
Just before the bridge there is now a service block built by British Waterway. Pennal Cottage, and now behind the service block was probably the original gratehouse for Llwyn On. The photo on the right is from an Estate Agent. From about the mid 19th century this was an industrial wharf with a large warehouse as can be seen in the photos below.
This photo is from about 1999, before the service block was built:
But the scene was very different until 1968, notice the crane above and below:
click for a bigger picture
The warehouse burned down in 1968. The crane on left survived, it is being repaired and should be replaced in due course.
Pass under the Navigation Bridge (no.79).
At this point you have 3 options:
Walks 2, 3 & 4 - Route 2b - take the ramp on the right up to the road then right again through the northern part of Maesbury Marsh
Walks 5, 6, 9, 11 & 13 - Route 5a - continue along the towpath to Park Mill Bridge (no.78)