Why was Preston Brook Tunnel built just too narrow to take the barges known as Mersey Flats? No one really knows, but this made Preston Brook one of the biggest inland ports in Britain, for goods from Liverpool had to be transferred here to narrowboats. As we peered into the tunnel a low rumbling heralded the emergence of a string of barges then, switching on their headlights, a convoy heading the opposite way set off into the black depths. We might have been back in Victorian times it was so busy and comes as a complete contrast to the quiet countryside field paths already walked, where you will probably see no one at all.
LOCATION: Junction 11 M56
START: A56, Preston Brook. Park near canal on Hill Top Rd
Grid ref: SJ567806 Postcode: WA7 3AD
DISTANCE: 6.5 miles
GRADE: Easy
TIME: 3 hours
MAP: Explorer - Northwich & Delamere Forest
REFRESHMENTS: Tunnel Top
EN ROUTE: Preston on the Hill, Delamere Way, Trent and Mersey Canal, Dutton, Bridgewater Canal
This walk was originally published by
The Manchester Evening News