Swarkestone Causeway

• Walked: 6th April 2007
• Distance: 5m
• Terrain: very flat
• Summary: Stanton by Bridge, Cloud Trail, Trent and Mersey, Swarkestone and back along the famous causeway
• Time: 2 hours start to finish

This walk starts at the lower end of Swarkestone Causeway - a very pretty village called Stanton by Bridge. Walk away from the causeway using a track which itself is very pleasant and affords some woderful views. Few hedges now have to show some signs of life, and so the hedgerows are varying shades of green and white.


This sign points to the Holy Well. I'll not say any more - if you're curious, go down the steps and see whether the visit was worth the trouble.


We take a footpath to the left, just after the Holy Well and just before the track ends at Kings Newton. We cross some fields to join the cycle path known as the Cloud Trail.

The cycle path crosses the Trent (above) and a little further on joins the Trent and Mersey Canal (below). I love canal towpaths.


Name the album? A famous band posed in front of this very strange building for one of their album covers.


We leave the canal just after seeing this building. Crossing a copule of fields brings us to the bridge at the top end of Swarkeston causeway. A most attractive spot. Just the other side of this bridge is the Crewe and Harpur pub, which has good beer, a large beer garden (with a view which is just as good as this one) and is friendly to bikers and walkers.


I have no idea what this yellow flower is, but it was growing in a hedge.


Here is a view of the causeway which drivers will usually miss. It carries a stretch of road above a flood plain and is an ancient monument. It's narrow and busy, so not suitable for walking along, but luckily there is a public right of way to the side of it on the same side as the Crewe and Harpur. You have to cross the bridge, and then take the road to the right (marked Ingleby), into the Sailing Club driveway and through a farm gate. Then you can walk along it with this unusual perspective on it. We looked for trolls, but didn't see any!

The route above was generated using Meander.

Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.