Nantwich

The charming village of Nantwich is located in Cheshire, a few miles southwest of Crewe. The wonderful old buildings and winding cobble streets are great to visit as well as taking a walk along the River Weaver in Mill Island park or the Shropshire Union canal to the west.

To the west of the town centre is the River Weaver with a surrounding park area.

The high street is closed to traffic and lined with many ancient buildings now housing some typical high street brands but there are also a good number of local shops as well.

On the Saturday closest to January 25th every year the town remembers the English Civil War “Battle of Nantwich” in 1644. It is known as “Holly Holy” with the traditional belief that the people of Nantwich wore holly sprigs in their hats in celebration of the Parliamentarian victory. In modern times, the day sees events throughout the town mostly centred about the town square outside the church.

Just before 2 pm a procession of re-enactment troops parades down Welsh Row into town square then down into Mill Island park for a re-enactment. Sure, all of this is a bit corny but perhaps worth seeing at least once…It is quite impressive and you might just learn something of English history!

If you wish to visit then be aware that the town is, understandably, very busy so parking may be an issue (public transportation may be a better option). There is also a small admission fee charged for the “Battle of Nantwich” re-enactment.

See the official site at https://www.battleofnantwich.org/ for further details.

The Nantwich Jazz, Blues and Musical Festival is held over Easter weekend every year and features live music playing in various pubs and other venues throughout the town. Despite the name, this is mostly about drinking so has never really been of a lot of interest to myself.

The Nantwich Food Festival is a free food and drink festival held on the August bank holiday long weekend and features cooking demonstrations, food and drink dealers as well as live music and plenty of food trucks. The festival occupies many of the town's car parks so visitors traveling by car may need to use the park and ride facilities.

See my reviews from 2022 here and 2025 here (not much has changed over the years other than it getting bigger and bigger, busier and busier).

Every Christmas, between Christmas and New Years days, there is a tractor run raising money for charity. Local farmers decorate their tractors and drive them through the middle of the town causing traffic chaos, but lots of seasonal good will.

There is not a lot to see here…

The on-going joke in Nantwich is about how the Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker is not so secret with signs to it throughout the town. Located just a few miles south of the town in the middle of farmland, just a short distance from the canal, is this former nuclear bunker turned museum. There is an admission charge that allows entry for a year.

Originally built as part of a Radar “ROTOR” site in 1952 it was reconfigured as a nuclear bunker in the late 1970s. It was intended to serve as a local command post in case of nuclear attack so has it's own water supply, generators, and hospital behind 2 meter thick concrete walls.

There is also a small gift shop and “NAAFI” where you can buy food and drinks before visiting the museum which itself is spread out over two floors with numbered exhibits to visit including various rooms and a film. When we last visited they also had an audio tour with recordings for each room that could be listened to on your phone (free WIFI is available on site but coverage is spotty in the concrete bunker so we ended up downloading all recordings where the signal was strong then playing them back as required).

There is a small (free) car park outside of the main entrance as well as a few static exterior displays. It IS possible to walk to the bunker via the canal but it will take about an hour (watch for the signs along the canal so you know where to leave the canal).

Very well done and definitely worth a visit. Allow for at least 2-3 hours (more if you want to watch the 45 minute film in the basement).

The Shropshire Union Canal runs from Elsemere Port on the River Mersey to the north to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at Autherley Junction in Wolverhampton passing through both Chester and Nantwich.

In Nantwich the canal runs to the west of the town and over a Victorian-era aqueduct over Welsh Row/Chester Road making for drivers experiencing the unusual sight of boats travelling overhead.

The Nantwich Canal Centre is located a short distance west of the aqueduct and has a busy café, laundrette, and dog grooming salon along with canal boat services including a drydock, showers/toilets, fuel, chandlery, workshop and, of course, moorings. There is also a small (gravel) car park available for visitors and residents.

There are a number of local sports teams including Nantwich Town Football Club, Nantwich Cricket Club and Crewe & Nantwich Rugby Football Club.

Headquartered in the Swansway Stadium just off of Waterlode to the north-west of the town centre, the Nantwich Town Football Club, the “Dabbers” have different teams including men, women and children. The stadium has free parking and a private-hire lounge.

On the pitch there is a single covered (seated) “Swansea Stand” on the south side and a terrace to the north (there is standing all around the pitch as well). On match days there is a small bar and food vans (generally burgers).

There is an indoor market just to the north of St Mary’s Church on the corner of “Market Street” and “Churchside” which is open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (though limited hours). The framers' market is held on the last Saturday of every month in the town square.

Every summer the “Nantwich Floating Market” is held near the marina on canal boats lined up along the banks. It is free to visit and offers an assortment of food, crafts and clothing which is well worth a visit.

The dining scene in Nantwich is not great, consisting of a large number of pubs and takeaways with few dine-in restaurants offering anything other than fast food. If you are looking for somewhere to eat a good choice would be to walk along the quaint “Welsh Row” to the west of the town centre. See my My Cheshire Restaurant Reviews page which includes reviews of Nantwich restaurants.

Nantwich is located a short distance to the south of the town centre within easy walking distance. Note that this is an unmanned station and has no parking.

There are a number of car parks in the town so follow signposts as you go in watching for the one way system in place for traffic. There is free 30 minute parking on the roads inside the town, otherwise the car parks charge until quite late in the evening (10 pm currently).

For further information, please see:

• Events in Nantwich - A few events I have attended here
• Nantwich Town Council
• Wikipedia - Nantwich