Not a East Cheshire Ramble which has got out of hand, but the Sealed Knot in full combat during the re-enactment of the Battle of Nantwich (January 2016).
It’s a glorious late autumn day and I haven’t planned to go out but when you get one of those fine days of unbroken sunshine then the temptation to go for a walk is just simply too great.
Its midday before I set off to Nantwich and the reason for this medium length walk is that I’m going to check a walk that I will led for the east Cheshire Ramblers in the New Year. The question is can I reconnoitre a medium length walk on a November afternoon before it gets dark?
I eat my sandwiches in the car overlooking Nantwich Lake and I set off by 1pm which gives me just over three hours to check a walk out. Most of the paths I am familiar with and I know the walking is straightforward and with the fine weather I may just have an extra ten minutes of reasonable daylight.
I’m setting off through the town park then west along Queen’s Drive to Marsh Lane Bridge where I join the Shropshire Union Canal towpath northwards. A good surface enables me to keep up a good pace to reach the footbridge at Acton Bridge.
A peaceful late autumn afternoon walking beside the Shropshire Union Canal.
I’m leaving the canal towpath here and taking the path into Acton as I want to wander around the outside of the village church to look for musket shot damage caused during the English Civil War but I fail to find anything. The church at Acton was the headquarters for the Royalist army during the Battle of Nantwich not only prior to the battle but many Royalist soldiers who were captured by the Parliamentarians were imprisoned in the church afterwards.
In the latter years of 1643, the Royalists had many successes in Cheshire but Nantwich, then only a large village was the only place in the area still held by the Parliamentarians. The Battle of Nantwich on the 25th January 1644 was really the last push by the Royalists to rid the Parliamentarians from the area but events didn’t go in the favour for them. It’s rather unusual for armies in the centuries leading up to the 1600’s to go to battle in mid winter and the weather played a major role in stalling the Royalists army. So let’s set the scene. It had been a cold winter with a snow cover but a sudden thaw just prior to the battle had turned the countryside into a quagmire and the River Weaver which separated both armies had swollen and burst its banks and washed away local bridges insomuch that the Royalist army faced a long detour to get to Nantwich via another bridge several miles to the north. Under the command of Lord Byron on the Royalist side, and Sir Thomas Fairfax leading the Parliamentarians, the opposing sides ended up meeting just east of the village of Acton and this is the area which saw most of the action. We must remember that the canals which now cross the area were still a thing of the future and so the only major obstacle in the area was the River Weaver. The aftermath of the battle was a Parliamentarian victory and the Royalists failed to take Nantwich and many of them fled whilst a large number were captured.
The field path which crosses open countryside between Acton village and Swanley.
I am now setting off across fields westwards to reach Swanley Bridge on the Llangollen Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal. Already the sun is low in the sky and I begin to wander if I will run out of daylight before the end of the walk. From Swanley Bridge it is canal towpath walking via Hurleston Locks back to the bridge east of Acton village and so its time to set a good pace again. The sun is now low above the horizon but with strong sunlight it’s a joy to be out on such a perfect afternoon. I was just glad that I’m not walking in the opposite direction as not only would I have had the sun in my eyes but also the sun reflecting off the water. On my way to Hurleston Locks I stop a few times for photographs and by the time I am back onto the towpath of the Shropshire Union Canal the sun is down on the horizon and will soon disappear from view locally.
Working boats moored up on the Llangollen Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal at Burland.
Maintaining a quick pace I soon reached the footbridge east of Acton on this figure of eight walk. Now comes the bit of the walk I’m not sure of as the path back to Nantwich runs through new housing. With the light beginning to go I set off east across fields before turning right on Welshman’s Lane. Branching left I followed another path to enter Nantwich and cross the road which was built to bypass historic Welsh Row. In fading light I take a route between new housing to eventually emerge on Welsh Row. From here I know the route and head on towards Nantwich then south through the park as the light is fading quickly. I take couple of photographs of a rather nice afterglow by Nantwich Lake and I am soon at the car and changing out of my walking boots in semi-darkness. Another ten minutes later would have meant walking in complete darkness.
Nantwich Lake at dusk. I just managed to complete my walk as the light went.
Every year on the closest Saturday to January 25th, the Battle of Nantwich is re-enacted on Mill Island on the western side of the town by the Sealed Knot Society. The commemorative day of the battle is celebrated by the local people as “Holly Holy Day”. I will be leading a morning walk in the area around Acton on the 28th January visiting some of the locations which saw action. We will return to the cars for lunch time before taking a short walk into Nantwich to take up ‘our position’ to watch this worthwhile spectacle which will last for around an hour and a quarter before taking a direct route back to the cars. The total length of the walk will be around eight miles.
Details will be posted on the ECR Notice Board shortly as a themed walk.
The firing of cannon is all part of the action in the re-enactment of the Battle of Nantwich (January 2016).
Take aim and fire. Getting to the site in good time enables you to get a ‘ringside’ position.
In the thick of it and timing it to get a photograph as the soldiers fire their guns.
Part of the entertainment which lasts around an hour provides good entertainment on a winter’s day.