A LONG-forgotten footpath near Frodsham has been cleared during “lockdown” – and the retired professor who cleared it hopes local people will use it so it does not get overgrown again.
Although it is less than half-a-mile in length, it links a number of other paths and makes a number of circular walks available.
Professor Andrew Basden used some of his once-a-day lockdown exercise allowance to clear the path of nettles, brambles and overgrown bushes and trees that have prevented it being walked for years.
Frodsham Footpath FP109 runs alongside the M56 motorway, between two motorway bridges, from Straight Length to the west and Hare’s Lane – off Marsh Lane, Frodsham – to the east.
Because he wanted exercise, Professor Basden used hand tools rather than power tools for the work – including a scythe he had brought back from working in Uganda in the 1990s.
A video that introduces the path, and some circular walks, and traverses the path, showing some of the wildlife found along it, is available on Youtube:
https://youtu.be/g-VJ8mgteaU
Professor Basden said: “Though less than half a mile in length, this footpath is important as a link between others that make a number of circular walks possible.
“I am calling on people to use the footpath so that it does not get overgrown again. “