Halton

Walk Details:
Date: 16/04/2005
Total ascent: 14m/ 46ft
Total distance walked: 0.42 miles
Walk difficulty: 0.5/10
Enjoyment rating: 5/10
Best bits: The roads of Runcorn; castle, pub and church at summit; stunning views
Worst bits: No access to castle or pub
Walkers: Anth, Jim
Car Parking: You can park right next to the top

Top details:
Name: Halton Castle
County top number: 54 of 207
Grid reference: SJ 53720 81998
Height above sea level: 100m/ 328ft
How nice was the top? 6/10
Views: 6/10
Description/Notes: The highest point of the Unitary Authority of Halton is a raised grassy platform at the eastern end of Halton Castle car park

The Walk:

I couldn't understand why this unitary authority was named Halton, when it contained the far larger towns of Runcorn and Widnes. There has been an effort to recognise this though - as we crossed the border the "Welcome to Halton" sign had the two main towns written underneath in tiny letters. Strange, but not as strange as Runcorn itself. As far as we could see, the town consisted entirely of various dual carriageways linked by grade separated junctions. Other slip roads left and joined at intervals of barely a couple of hundred yards. We couldn't see any reason for such an industrial level road system; the roads were deserted. It must be a joyrider's paradise!

The frequency of slip roads means that you get very little warning of your turning, and frankly it was by sheer luck that we ended up approaching Halton Castle, having turned off one junction later than I had planned. This turned out to be rather fortuitous, for it meant that our first sight of the county top from the north - perhaps its best and most surprising aspect.

The ruins of Halton Castle are perched atop a rocky crag jutting up incongruously from the Mersey floodplain. It's steep enough to be inaccessible on the northern side, but you can drive around either side of the crag and approach from the gently sloping southern side. Here the imaginatively titled Castle Road takes you up to a small car park between the front of the castle and a small but pretty church.

On first sight it doesn't look much like a castle. It looks like a pub, which indeed it is (they're good at naming things here; the pub is called "The Castle") - this is just an indication of the castle's somewhat chequered history. The original castle was a wooden affair, built in 1071. It was rebuilt in stone in the 12th century. In 1737 the castle gatehouse was replaced with a new stone courthouse, and finally in the early 1900's the courthouse was converted into the pub you see today. The main structure of the original castle still lies behind the pub, but unfortunately is only open to the public a couple of days a year (details at www.haltoncastle.org). This wasn't one of those days, but we were content to walk round the path running around the outside of the castle.

Stepping onto a raised grassy platform at the end of the car park (which we subsequently decided was the highest point) we were astounded by the views. Despite the low altitude we could see the snow crested hills of Snowdonia (and further round the circuit, the Peak District). We could see the mad roads of Runcorn laid out below, culminating in a stunning pale blue bridge over the Mersey gleaming in the sunshine. The castle was certainly in a good defensive location!

Walking around the castle you could see that it was certainly more ancient than the modern courthouse-cum-pub frontage would suggest - crumbling walls with old arched windows towered above us. The crags fell away steeply below - we were surprised that in such an obvious "trainer brigade" location there weren't railings!

I'm sure that there is a curious kink in the space-time continuum around Halton Castle. I'd walked what felt like about halfway around the castle when I saw a pretty little church ahead. "Look, another church" I said to Jim. "This hill's riddled with them". It turned out to be the one we'd started at, by the car park - but I could have sworn that we hadn't completed a full 360-degree circuit.

We'd have liked to go into The Castle pub to celebrate what had been a rather stunning little top, but were warned off by the sign at the door which specified smart dress only. We felt our walking gear wasn't up to this criterion on the best of days, let alone when bespattered with Warrington mud! Instead we celebrated with another quick circuit of the castle - after all it only took a few minutes (once again the quirky continuum thing caught us out!). Halton Castle therefore achieved the distinction of being the first top that we felt compelled to visit twice!

As we left, we noticed an ancient cross by the side of Castle Road - this top would be an interesting place for anyone to visit, and is a bit of a boon for us baggers. We felt happy indeed as we set off for Wales and our next top.