THE SALT ARCH WALK - June 2013 - Northwich
Follow
The Salt Arch Walk
from
down Witton
Street
At the bottom of High Street, you will cross
Turn right, over the River Weaver
via
Walk over the bridge then turn left and walk through
Castle Street Gardens
at the side of the river.
Cross the road –
carefully.
Go through the
Inside the park, climb the hill to the three benches.
Stand where Celts and Romans
stood, to view the valley and its rivers.
Stand in the place of Civil
War encampments.
Look across the rooves of
town, to the black and white
Grade II Old
Postal Sorting Office
now a public house.
It is the tallest rafted building in Northwich.
Pick out - on the skyline
Grade I St Helen’s
Church
and the works which are the
source of this area’s wealth and recent history.
Enjoy the view!
The high ground up the hill - off to your right
is called Castle
It formerly held a Roman fortification.
Climb down the hill,
re-crossing the river via
Turn right, onto Queen Street Dock Road
emerging, to turn right on London Road
Take the immediate right turn, down Weir Street
It is open on Sundays, from
Easter Sunday to end of September - 2 – 5 pm.
The impressive, 100 year
old pumping engines will be running.
Call in to see them.
In this area, the
overwhelming feature in the landscape is the
Grade II listed 48-arch pink
sandstone Weaver Railway Viaduct.
The River
Weaver -
and its weir – runs close by, side by side with The Navigation.
Walk through the arches and
along the river, turning left, up the hill, to the Bowling Green Inn.
Part of this building survives
from 1650, making it one of the oldest buildings in the Northwich area.
Can you
pick out the old part?
It was built as Cheshire Cheese first went south, for His Majesty's naval fleet
to replace the cheese which formerly had come from Suffolk
Walking – take care - on to
London Road
Next door is
Grade II Weaver Hall Museum (formerly called The Salt Museum
This building was once a
part of the Northwich Union Workhouse.
The museum now re-presents
the history of salt production
local building styles
the Workhouse
and the
infamous Northwich Floods
Many local people have
played their part in gathering information,
and the museum is a very friendly welcoming place
and the museum is a very friendly welcoming place
with a café.
***
Returning to the town centre along London Road
a
small cluster of houses - shown on maps dating from 1840
from which residents must have watched – in some
trepidation - as the arches were first
built in 1860;
quaking as the first trains thundered above the rooves of their houses.
Turn right, onto Chester Way
which meets the River Weaver in the town centre
Where Chester Way Watling Street Applemarket Street
Two thriving markets run on
Tuesday, Friday and Saturday
The Covered
Market and The Indoor Market
Proceed back through Market Way, Town Square Weaver Square
There is a helpful Information Centre next to the road, just off Town Square
Turn left to High Street, then up Witton
Street
The intention was to complement her short pieces of poetry and song,
written around the history of Northwich.
With the aid of Northwich Town Council
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Colliers
and others, this work was displayed as installations
in several shop windows
in Town Square and Market Way
also
The Indoor Market
and
The Covered Market
Further examples of work were laminated as giveaways
in the town centre and at Verdin Park
Poem-stories on Northwich history were hung on park benches for the month of June 2013
with replacements every two days, over the month
with replacements every two days, over the month
and given away at
the Verdin Park Music Festival
on 22 June 2013
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