A Virtual Stroll Along the Mickle Trafford-Shotton Railway


Sunshine and shadows during a beautiful crisp afternoon just after Christmas 1997.

We are approaching the end of the playing fields on the left and Oakleigh Avenue is on our right. In the distance is a footbridge that connects Kingsway, via the playing fields, with Fairfield Road and an ancient way known as Newton Hollows.

Difficult though it is to imagine, old maps show us that this latter- now little more than a back entry running parallel with much of this stretch of the Mickle Trafford railway- was the original Roman road connecting Warrington and Frodsham with Chester. After Newton Lane, its course continues awhile as residential Kilmory Park before merging with the busy modern road that eventually superceded it- Hoole Road, then on as Brook Street, Frodsham Street to the city centre.

fairfield road ramp
Here, photographed in July 2000, is the end of the SUSTRANS cycletrack on the bed of the old railway proper- and the section that produces the greatest amount of confusion and unhappiness among users of the path.The bridge in the above picture is just out of shot in the distance.

On the left, a long ramp has been constructed to divert the cycletrack away from the railway and send it across the playing fields, eventually to join up with the National Cycle Route via some needless and unpleasant run-ins with main roads and fast moving traffic.

Meanwhile, the old railway running through superb countryside to Mickle Trafford is seen on the right- deliberately unimproved and 'set aside' in order to give the council somewhere to build their absurd guided busway...

Confused cyclists and walkers may frequently be seen around this area, wondering where the path went... When they learn about these so-called 'development' proposals, they are invariably outraged.



A fine view of the goods railway that once ran here, as seen on a fine Summer's evening: 5.47pm, 17th July 1956.

(Thanks to Ralph Hodgkinson- who drove trains on this route throughout his career and still lives in one of the houses on the right- for the picture).

Our next page shows what lies at the end of the above ramp...

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