Within Way

 

This is Within Way looking south towards the old ford crossing of the Mersey. It looks daunting now, but this is the route Prince Rupert's army took twice during its Civil War operations, so it seems in those days to have been a reasonably safe and reliable crossing.

 

The last time it was used appears to have been towards the end of the nineteenth century, when a man crossed both ways, just to see, apparently, if it could still be done. He finished the return journey with the incoming tidewater up to his neck and holding his clothes above his head to keep them dry.

 

It's thought that the name Within may have its root in withy, or withe, a form of processing trees to provide osiers for making things like baskets and fences.

 

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