One of several caches commissioned by Trafford Borough Council and hidden to coincide with the first ever Sale Festival Geocaching Event on 25th June 2011! Visit Event Listing
All caches will remain in situ after the event for everyone to enjoy.
Please also take a look at Bookmark List for other caches in the vicinity.
We are very proud to live in Sale which is an urban, residential area of Trafford with Metro links to Manchester and motorway links which enable you to be in Cumbria, the Peak District or North Wales within an hour or so. Combined with the River Mersey, Bridgewater Canal and several parks and open greenland spaces, shops, restaurants, pubs, it's own theatre and Arts Centre and excellent schools, it's a pretty good place to be!! I have lived here for over twenty years, leaving and returning, and James for ten of his twelve years. Walking around the urban areas in search of likely cache locations (the Mersey being saturated with caches) has been a labour of love, very refreshing and challenging and resulting in a pleasure to highlight both the history and resources of the area and as an appreciation of things we take for granted. We hope you enjoy them too!
This cache forms part of a circular walk commencing at Sale Waterside Plaza, along the Bridgewater Way, under Brooklands bridge to Timperley bridge and back. There a are a couple of existing caches to be found along the way and a couple more if you follow the canal path the other way towards Dane Road and beyond where you will come to a fabulous spot where the canal crosses over the River Mersey.
Built by the engineer, James Brindley, at the instigation of the Duke of Bridgewater, the canal runs the full length of Sale, more or less parallel to the railway (now tram) line and to the A56. It was built to transport coal from the Duke's Worsley mines to Manchester and crosses the River Mersey over Brindley's Barfoot Bridge (aqueduct) just over the border into Stretford. The Sale section was opened in 1765. Passenger packet boats operated from Sale to Manchester until the arrival of the railway in 1849. The Duke's heir, Lord Francis Egerton, had to be compensated when the railway arrived and at that time it was agreed that the former steam packet- boats from Runcorn to Manchester would terminate at Timperley, thereby obliging passengers to complete the journey by railway. By 1871 railway interests were influential in the operation of the canal and in 1897 the canal became part of the Manchester Ship Canal company. Today the Canal is much used by anglers and occasional leisure craft.
Please note that the stretch out towards Timperley bridge is flat and great for cycling and is wheelchair accessible but the walk back to Sale on the other side of the canal is very overgrown, close to water and long trousers/sleeves recommended.
After finding the previous cache in this series, Footpath, and before crossing the bridge on the return leg, you may wish to continue for a short distance on this side of the canal to find another cache, GC2V0AW
.
At this point, you need to go onto the main road on cross over the bridge, taking the steps down to Timperley Metrolink. Near to the lift, you will find a gate that allows access to the canal path. It is here that the path becomes very overgrown and not suitable for wheelchairs or small children!
You are looking for a micro with room for a log book and pencil only.