An old moated area, just off the line, is all that remains of Marton Grange. Bricks and stones from its walls were used in local farmhouses, such as adjoining Marton Hall Farm. Small ponds on either side of the line are resplendent with rushes and yellow flag irises in the summer. Nearby woodland shimmers with the white of wood anemones and ramsons, and vivid bluebells in season.
At the end of Whitegate Way, you emerge into a landscape of small bare mounds, glistening in places as the sun catches crystals of salt. This is Winsford Salt Mine, one of the largest in Cheshire. Brown rock salt, mined from underground caverns, is sold as road salt or to the chemical industry. Table salt is made in a different way — it is pumped from underground as brine and then separated by evaporation.
You descend to the Vale Royal Cut of the Weaver Navigation. This peaceful wooded stretch also owes its existence to salt. The River Weaver was straightened, widened, and deepened so that large coastal steamers could carry bulk rock salt to the River Mersey and out to sea.
The adjoining ponds, parts of the old river, are rich in bird life. The lock keeper at Vale Royal Locks, a keen ornithologist, spreads news of the latest sightings and rarities via the lockside noticeboard. The locks, among the largest in Britain, are now back in use, but for a while they were redundant. The Anderton Boat Lift, near Northwich, was under long-term repair for a number of years, and while so, this peaceful backwater was isolated. Now back in full working order, the cut is navigable once more.
There are views across meadows to the imposing mansion of Vale Royal Abbey, a remodelled remnant of a vast Cistercian abbey, the largest in England. Founded in 1277 by Edward I, it was never completely finished. After the Dissolution in 1534, it was home to various noble families, but later fell into ruin. It was refurbished in the 1990s and reopened as a training centre.
The walk eventually leads to the pretty hamlet of Foxwist Green, a small settlement with medieval origins. Close to Foxwist Green is Cassia Lodge. During World War Two, George VI and his family came here to escape, for a time, the trials of London in the Blitz. A contemporary houseguest was General Eisenhower, who often stayed here while visiting American servicemen based nearby.
