ASTON-ON-TRENT WALK
THE WALK
An impressive South East Derbyshire Walk, visiting Shardlow, one of the best-preserved inland canal ports in the country. The industrial buildings are a fundamental part of our heritage. Derbyshire is fortunate to have such an important survivor of the Canal Age within its boundaries.
The return journey takes you along the towpath of the Trent and Mersey Canal, designed by James Brindley, a Derbyshire man, who could not read or write correctly but had a brilliant brain. The canal, known as the Grand Trunk, connected canal systems throughout the country, and after it opened, Shardlow became an important inland port.
LOOK OUT FOR
Route Point 1 – The centre of Aston-on-Trent is a Conservation Area, at the heart of which is a triangular block of land, around a small but attractive village green, on which stands an old pump. It is here that the annual well dressings take place.
Point 6 – Shardlow divides into two distinct areas, one around the village church and Shardlow Hall and the other around the former inland port. It is a fascinating place to explore, still busy with boats, now used for leisure and not for commerce. The boats range from traditional narrow boats with brightly painted liveries, in summer frequently be-decked with pretty boxes filled with flowers, to pleasure craft of all shapes and sizes.
Point 7 – Waterway traffic has always been important to the village. In the second half of the 17th century, Wilden Ferry, near Shardlow, had become the head of the Trent navigation. This part of the Trent was leased from the Cokes of Melbourne Hall by the Forsbrooke family. They tried to monopolise river traffic between the ferry and Nottingham. They were so successful that the profits paid for the building of Shardlow Hall.
Point 9 – Shardlow Heritage Centre is in one of the earliest canal warehouses. It contains a wide range of displays relating to the colourful history of the village. Here, you will see a small remnant of a twelve-foot-long oak boat exposed by spring floods at Shardlow quarry in the bed of a former side channel of the River Trent. The boat, probably dating from the middle Bronze Age, about 1300 BC, still had some of its quarried stone cargo onboard. Archaeologists examining the find described its discovery as ‘spectacular’. The heritage centre is highly regarded and run by volunteers.
Point 10 – The Clock Warehouse, combining a pub and restaurant, is a spectacular restoration of its original use, for the transfer of cargo from river barges to canal boats.
Point 11 – Weston Grange is situated by Bridge Number 7 over the Trent and Mersey Canal. Between Shardlow and Weston Grange lie the remains of an Iron Age settlement and a Neolithic earthwork enclosure with parallel sides and barrows. To the south of Weston Grange, in an area north of the River Trent, major sand and gravel extraction work is in progress.
WALK DETAILS
Length: 5 miles.
Start: Roadside parking is available in the village (SK415296)
Location: Off the A6 from Derby to Shardlow.
Terrain: Easy level walking, mainly through fields and by the Trent and Mersey Canal. A short stretch of the path between Aston and Shardlow can be rather muddy at times. There is some pavement walking near Shardlow.
Refreshments: The Malt Shovel, recently refurbished and now known as The Malt and the White Hart Inn, are situated in the centre of Aston-on-Trent. Notsa Restaurant is a café, deli, and bar, housed in a beautifully transformed former garage on Derby Road.
THE ROUTE
1. From the centre of the village, walk in a northerly direction along Derby Road, before turning right into Moor Lane.
2. Keep right into Manor Farm Road, and just after a footpath sign, continue down a rough access road.
3. Walk down an enclosed path to the left of Moor Cottage, and go over a stile into a field. Go straight across the field to a gap in the fence opposite, where you cross a wide wooden plank bridge into another field.
4. Head towards the left-hand corner of the field and go through a gap in the fence by a cottage. Turn left and walk between the cottage and the hedge. Continue with the hedge close by on your left, soon passing a row of cottages.
5. When the hedge eventually bends to the left, carry straight on for a short distance towards a stile by Days Inn. After leaving the field, turn right and walk down an enclosed path, with Days Inn on your left.
6. At the end of the path, join an access road, which soon leads you to Aston Lane, where you turn left and follow the footpath into Shardlow village.
7. On reaching a ‘T’ junction, turn right along London Road past Shardlow Hall. Continue until just before reaching the canal bridge, then turn left along The Wharf.
8. Follow the road round to the end, where you walk down a narrow pathway to the left of a house. On reaching an access road at the rear, turn left opposite Firs Wharf Cottage. After 40 yards, turn right along the road that leads you to the canal bank.
9. Continue to the left past the New Inn, cross the canal bridge, and go down the steps to walk along the other side of the Trent and Mersey Canal. If you are visiting the Heritage Centre, cross London Road Bridge and turn left into the car park. Return to the walk by re-crossing the bridge to the canal path.
10. Walk under the London Road Bridge, with the Clock Warehouse House facing you on the other side of the canal. After passing Shardlow Lock, the walk continues for a further two and a half miles along the canal towpath to Bridge Number 7.
11. Here you leave the canal and cross over the bridge to Weston Grange, at the rear, where the track forks. Keep to the right and walk up a track for half a mile before turning left along Shardlow Road.
12. All Saints’ Church is soon passed, as you follow the road to the centre of Aston-on-Trent and the start of the walk.
ASTON-ON-TRENT
