Trench Pools

From the car park go through the gap furthest from the road to go along a raised bank alongside Middle Pool There are usually ducks, geese, grebes, coots and moorhens to see. Middle Pool is a balancing pool managed by Severn Trent Water taking runoff from the surrounding roads and streets .In wet weather the Pool is often stained grey as a result. .At the end of the pool turn right, and when you reach a tarmac path (the Silkin Way) turn right. Follow the Silkin Way and National Cycleway route 81 through the large underpass. The path winds uphill to the right then left to avoid the steps straight ahead. Continue on the Silkin Way until the path comes to a footbridge over the eastern primary. Turn left and go over the bridge. Once over the footbridge continue straight on down the quiet residential street, Wombridge Road. At the end of Wombridge Road go through bollards and continue quite steeply to the right then almost double back sharp left to a footbridge. Turn right and continue over the footbridge. Once over the bridge turn left and follow the path behind the houses and bear left where the path splits continuing downhill to the road. The grassy area you crossed to get to the road is the site of the Trench Incline Plane. This engineering feat enable tub boats, which were about 20 foot long, to be transported on wheeled cradles from the Wombridge Canal down to the Shrewsbury. Two sets of tracks allowed a loaded tub boat to be lowered and an empty one to be raised using the weight of the loaded boat. At the road turn left and walk downhill towards the Blue Pig public house which was formerly known as The Shropshire Arms. Blue Pig probably refers to the pig iron that was produced close by at the Shropshire Ironworks. Beyond the Blue Pig the route continues down a track used by the anglers fishing on Trench Pool which is on the right. Trench Pool is much older than Middle Pool being constructed around 1797 to supply water for the canal. Trench Pool is another haven for water birds and under the water White-clawed crayfish have been recorded. At the end of the pool the path bears left down to the Trench Lock Interchange. This next section has much traffic and it is best to cross at the light controlled crossings and zebra crossing and take care. At the Interchange turn left and cross two crossing heading towards the KFC. Continue past the KFC and cross the road at the zebra crossing by the petrol station. Turn right and head back towards the Interchange. **Just beyond the playbarn the path bears left and climbs to join the National Cycle Trail route 81 which runs next to the railway line to the freight terminal in Hortonwood. This part of the route avoids the traffic and gives a quiet approach to Hadley. After about 500m the path descends to a junction of paths. On the right you can see a small underbridge that was built to allow workers to get to the GKN Sankey site. The woodland on the left is the remains of a branch line to Coalport. Turn left and walk up to the main road with Lidl on the left. Cross the road at the crossing and continue up Union Street At the top of Union Street is the Foresters pub, a black and white painted building. Turn left onto Church Street and follow Church Street around to the right. By the old Granville Arms pub, now a takeaway, Church Street turns into Hadley Road. Continue along Hadley Road. This area was the claypit that provided clay for Blockleys brickworks. It is gradually being landscaped with some of the land being used for housing. The path climbs and then bears left paralleling the railway line. On the right a path branches off and goes under the railway to Ketley Millennium Village. For a longer walk you can follow this path which joins route 10. The route continues straight on and comes to a junction with Sommerfeld Road. Cross Sommerfeld Road under the bridge then turn left. (Note: there is currently no dropped kerb on the far side of the road here, if you need a dropped kerb you will need turn left and proceed carefully in the road until you see the entrance to the Middle Pool car park , which will be on your right.) The path is now returning towards Middle Pool. The footpath branches to the right. The right hand branch drops steeply down to Middle Pool then on to the car park at the start. If this path is too steep you can carry straight on and after a short while there is a right turn into the carpark.