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Four Counties Ring (Anti Clockwise)
- Staffs and Worcester Canal - Part 3 of the section between Autherley Junction and Great Heywood
Acton Trussell, Staffordshire
to Great Heywood, Staffordshire
Cruising past the pretty Acton Trussel church and the winding hole at the Acton Trussel Moat House hotel. A popular local venue for wedding receptions due to the picturesque setting.
Following the course of the River Penk a tributary of the River Sow, you are now getting close to Stafford, the county city of Staffordshire . The canal doesn’t go through the centre of the city but clips the south east quarter area of light industry and residential environs. On the south side of Stafford you will pass the well appointed, Stafford Boat Club. The canal turns due west entering the Sow Valley. With unspoiled views of the flood plane and marshes an opportunity to see different species of wild birds.
Crossing the River Sow over Brindley’s much photographed, Milford Aqueduct, one pretty lock and a mile further on you enter an area of outstanding natural beauty – Tixall Wides, with a view of the Gatehouse at Tixall to the north. The Wides are a haven for wild water birds – you will probably see pairs of Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatusixal and Little Grebe, Tachybaptus ruficollis amongst many others. Screened to the south is The National Trust’s property Shugborough Hall and Gardens with a Farm Museum.
A haven for water birds and boaters alike Tixall Wides are close to the end of the Staffs & Worcester Canal at Great Haywood Junction where Anglo Welsh (Narrowboats) have one of their boatyards and a hire centres. You may bump into Anglo Welsh narrowboats anywhere on the ring, or should we say they may bump into you he he!
The Four Counties Ring continues from here north on the Trent and Mersey Canal through the Trent Valley .
Part
1 - Part
2
