A Virtual Stroll Along the Mickle Trafford-Shotton Railway


The course of our stroll so far has taken us under and over busy roads and through heavily-populated areas, but we on the old railway line have experienced a rural, pleasantly wooded and largely rubbish-free environment.

But, as this photograph- taken in July 1997- shows, the situation alters somewhat as we enter the section of line that runs behind Durham Road in Blacon. The woodland and flowers continue, but in addition, behind many houses are deposits of household waste, building materials, furniture, discarded prams and the remnants of stripped-down stolen bicycles. Indeed, a couple of bin bags appeared over one of the garden fences as we passed by.

There were the remains of several bonfires and hypodermic syringes were to be seen.

Problems may be experienced with maintaining this section of the line in good condition when it becomes, God willing, fully restored as a greenway for the use of Chester's commuters, leisure walkers and cyclists.

A great deal of money and effort will hopefully be invested in the route- prevarication has gone on for at least fifteen years (take a look, for example, at this remarkable Cheshire County Council report from August 1984- doubless a source of embarrasment to them now!)- and there now exists a high level of public expectation that this project should, just for once, deliver to the people of Chester and district a quality amenity of which they can be proud.

Running the new greenway as a Country Park, and enlisting volunteers offering a range of skills to help look after it would be of benefit to all.

Nontheless, keeping areas such as this in good order is likely to prove difficult without special arrangements being made- a programme of local awareness, for example- but the provision of high, tenant-proof fencing in sections such as this may prove to be more effective...

And sure enough, on the right is the same stretch as that shown above, seen in July 2000, almost miraculously transformed- and with the addition of a stout 'dingo fence' segregating the houses behind from the new cycletrack.

For a while after the path first opened, it was regularly strewn with glass and the contents of refuse sacks, making cycling along this stretch unpleasant and even hazardous, but conditions have greatly improved since the erection of the fence.

The green area you can see running along the right-hand side of the picture has been kept deliberately clear to allow space (some of it, anyway) for the planned construction of the enormously-unpopular CDTS guided busway.



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