December Ramble – Savick Brook
Longridge, unlike many other parts of the country, doesn’t suffer from serious flooding simply because it isn’t associated with a river. However, we do have a brook that starts in Longridge and flows through the North of Preston and down to the River Ribble. This walk, devised by Jim some time ago, follows this watercourse from Longridge to Haslam Park in Preston.
The walk started from Grange Towers at the bottom of Hacking Drive and should have followed the brook, through the fields to Grimsargh. However, some of the fields are in a poor state due to the wet weather, so we started by walking along the railway to Suddels Farm and then continuing by road. Once through Grimsargh, we turned into the long straight lane of Cow Hill and down to Londonderry Bridge. Here we joined a narrow path that took us to the driveway of Haighton House and on to Fernyhalgh and its famous wishing well. We next headed across a field to a footbridge over the M6 and entered a new housing development and stopped for lunch in the children’s playground.
On our way again, we passed through an ornate gate that opened up to a pleasant path down to Midgery Lane and then on to a wet pathway to Eastway. Crossing Eastway presented its usual challenge, but we survived and entered the beautiful fairways of Preston Golf Club. No one seemed to be playing golf, but it was a cold day and we ourselves had experienced a few hairy moments with black ice. Beyond the golf club, our path closely followed the brook to Garstang Road and then to Lytham Road which took us from Fulwood to Ashton and on to Woodplumpton Road and to the canal towpath, which we followed to the journey’s end at Haslam Park and the frozen duck pond.
Now it was ‘bus passes out for the journey home. The walk proved to be quite interesting with a steady progression from rural to urban landscapes, terminating in a beautiful park and goes to prove that good walks can be devised just about anywhere.
Linda & Eddie Grange