The Maghull Trail

About

Maghull is another local town that dates back to the Domesday book, where it is listed as ‘Magele’. The route is fairly level and at just under 6.4 km (4 miles) makes a pleasant halfday
stroll and passes several sites of local history interest, including the churchyard where
Maghull’s most famous former resident, Frank Hornby is buried.

From Maghull Station (OS Ref: 33840) turn right along Station Road and then turn left after 200 metres on to Rutherford Road, to gain access to the Leeds–Liverpool Canal at Drapers Bridge. We then turn left (south) along the towpath, heading under the railway and then the M58 motorway, towards the village of Melling.

At Melling Stone Bridge (OS Ref: 338400) leave the towpath via a track to reach Brewery Lane, passing a small row of terraced houses, where a footpath continues straight on through open fields, as the driveway to Wood Hall Farm.

A great forest formerly surrounded Wood Hall, which dates back to at least 1300, when the Molyneux family owned it. The current house is late 17th century and James II is reputed to have stayed here when the family were persecuted as Catholics in the Elizabethan period. It is a Grade II listed building and now a farmhouse, so please respect the privacy of the current tenants.

Follow the footpath towards the duck pond and left through the farmyard, crossing open farmland towards the railway embankment and walk through an underpass to turn left between the M58 and the railway and cross the motorway footbridge. Take the enclosed footpath under a link road of the motorway and follow the footpath alongside Melling Brook to reach the main A59 Dunnings Bridge Road.

The route continues on the other side of this busy trunk road and a new crossing controlled by pedestrian lights allows you to cross here safely to pick up the footpath opposite. Passing underneath the disused Cheshire Lines railway bridge we follow the embankment of the Alt to Mill Dam Bridge some 550 metres distant, with the spire of Sefton Church in the distance.
Our route continues over the bridge and through part of Jubilee Woods, restored and replanted as part of the Mersey Forest Initiative. The whole area was once the floodplain of the River Alt, and older local residents remember skating on the flooded meadows during hard winters.
After 500 metres near an electricity pylon, we meet the trackbed of the disused Cheshire Lines railway again and crossing Dover’s Brook we continue along the banks of Whinny Brook, passing school playing fields on our left.

At Ormonde Drive turn right, then left into Liverpool Road, passing the Meadows pub. The Meadows, with its food, drink and toilets, is built on the site of the Old Racecourse Farm, which was where the steeplechase – later to become the world famous Grand National – was run in 1837 and 1838, before its permanent transfer to Aintree.

From the Meadows, cross the road towards the modern Maghull Town Hall and turn left along Liverpool Road South to the children’s playground. Enter the King George V playing fields and go through the public gardens and follow the path alongside the tennis courts. Turn right to reach the A59 Northway via the steps, turn left at the top and after 100 metres a footpath sign marks the steps down to the canal towpath once more.

Turning right (south) beneath the main road we come to St. Andrew’s Church built in 1878, on the other side of the canal. A marble memorial to Frank Hornby MP, of Hornby Dublo, Dinky Toys and Meccano fame, stands in the graveyard by the chapel, which is much older, built around 1300.

Continuing along the towpath we come to Maghull Hall Swing Bridge, with some attractive old cottages and their well-kept gardens, before reaching Drapers Bridge once more to complete the circuit and the Maghull Trail.