September Ramble – Chorley Circular
A decade ago, the local council organized a good, well signed route around Chorley, but the information is now somewhat out of date, creating some navigational challenges in places.
Starting from a lay-by on the A6, our little party quickly joined the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and headed north, enjoying good walking weather, warm and sunny. After half a mile, we left the canal, walked through woods to the A6, which we crossed to enter Duxbury Park and enjoyed a pleasant stroll through Duxbury woods. Eventually, we left the woods and climbed a steep banking and followed a series of paths to emerge at the Yarrow Valley Country Park and our lunch stop on a seat overlooking the lake. Considering that this area used to be a large dye works, the transformation to a nature reserve is remarkable.
Lunch over, we now headed through woods and fields to emerge at a disused sand quarry, then along a lane to the main road and in to Astley Park, where we decided to stop for a coffee at the café. We must be getting old!
Leaving the park, we had now to negotiate the back streets of Chorley, the council map proving to be quite useful here. After this complicated section of the walk, we crossed the M 61 and arrived at the canal once more.
The last part of the walk was now a quite long stretch of the canal, this time heading south. The tow-path was very busy with families out walking, dog walkers and courteous cyclists. Many canal boats were out, their owners giving us a cheery wave as they passed. The twitchers in our party said that the walk had produced a satisfying number of species.
We all thoroughly enjoyed this varied walk, but the council need to update the information and signage so that inexperienced and local walkers can share the delights of the best that Chorley can offer.
Linda & Eddie Grange.