After the Walk January 2026
Sunday January 18th. Station to Station. 18.5 miles. Leaders: Dave and Alma Walsh.
Nine of us set off in murky conditions from Beacon Country Park. We made our way over tracks & fields to Ashurst Beacon, where we had a quick stop for a group photo. We then continued to Newburgh for our morning break.
Dropping down to the canal, we made our way to Parbold, passing the first of our train stations. Leaving the town, we made our way to the Harrock Estate & had our lunch in the light rain before continuing to Fairy Glen.
Through the glen, we headed to Appley Bridge, passing our second train station. Picking up the canal again for a couple of miles to Gathurst where we passed Station number three.
Muddy fields & a particularly muddy lane led us back to the car park for an early finish. Plenty of time to wash all the mud off the boots when we got home.
Dave & Alma
Wednesday January 7th. Worthington's Original. Plodder walk. 11 miles. Leader: Andrea Foster.
8 hardy souls braved the cold icy wind as we set out from the Crown pub in Standish. Thankfully the sun was out and at least it was dry.
Road walking initially to meet Chorley road we crossed over to take the track to Worthing lakes. At Worthing lakes we did a circular tour and said hello to the ducks and cormorants. Then into the woods briefly, passing by Wigan golf course we followed the Leeds Liverpool canal up to Pendlebury lane. From here it was up the hill pausing to take in the view looking towards Standish and onto school lane and Haigh hall for an early lunch break.
After lunch we took the path round the "pitch and put" that meets up with Sinnicar lane. Then a bridge over the river Douglas and up some steep steps to the A49 where we crossed and walked through the cemetery. Heading towards Standish lower ground we turned off passing Giants hall and Giants hall farm, then Standish wood lane and Beach walk. Here we paused for a little bit of history. Standish originally consisted of ten townships.
To the west of us once stood Standish hall, the manorial home of the Standish family. Now only the footprints of the house can be seen but from the 13th century and for some 800 years after the hall stood with various additions and alterations being made to this mansion.
Due to its remote location it was said to be a good place to hatch a plot. A conspiracy against the King in the Jacobite uprising, links to Townley hall and Sizergh castle and one of the descendants (Myles Standish) was on board the infamous Mayflower ship in 1620 transporting an escape. A group of English puritans who formed a colony in Massachusetts.
In the 1800's the house was rented out to various tenants the last of which was J B Almond, owner of the Almond Brook brewery. By this time the Standish family line had come to an end. Henry Standish died in 1920 leaving no heir.
His french wife Helena sold Standish hall and the entire estate (3000 acres of land and 130 lots) to a land agent called Beckett Clayhills for the grand sum of 136,000 pounds. At the time of the sale the house contained approximately two and half thousand bottles of wine and a lot of very old furniture!
Beckett thought he'd got a bargain but after five years, he still had not recouped his money back. A lot of the tenant farmers bought their own farms and Standish hall was sold onto a builder and eventually in 1980 to the coal board who demolished the hall. Mining on this plot never came to be.
Now the only legacy of this family visible is in the Standish family coat of arms... an owl clasping a rat, which can be seen in various formats at the restaurant the Owls at Standish, in St Wilfrid's church and at the Boars head pub.
Continuing on our walk we headed through Standish taking the public footpath through town and out into the fields around Gorse Hall farm and back to the Crown pub where some of us enjoyed a hot drink and a well deserved bowl of chips.
A big thank you to all who joined the walk today for making the day so enjoyable. A special thank you to our visitor who came all the way from Australia. He definitely gained brownie points for travel time.
Andrea
Sunday January 4th. Burrs Country Park - Third Time Lucky. 18 miles. Leader: Steve Clark.
14 of us on the walk. Weather: dry; periods of bright sunshine; cold -6C to 2C.
This walk was an extended version of my recent B N B walk - Burrs, Norden and Back. This time taking in Knowl Hill and Greenbooth Reservoir.
Starting from Burrs Country Park on my two previous walks there have been incidents to deal with at the start of the walk. Fortunately today’s start was problem free, if you didn’t mind it being -6C. We set off as planned at 9am.
Exiting the Country Park we use a bridge to cross the M66 and then over Walmersley golf course. Drop into Deeply Vale. At 4 miles in we strike off the previous walk to pass to the west and north of Ashworth Moor Reservoir, before climbing to the top of Knowl Hill. At around 6 miles in to the walk we take the first of two breaks.
Looking down on the beautiful Greenbooth Reservoir we slowly descended to and cross the reservoir dam. Heading south we passed Norden to regain the original route at Ashworh Wood. 12 miles done and the 2nd break was taken.
We followed Naden Brook and part of the valley know as Gelder Wood. We then followed a path on the rim of the steep sided Ashworh Valley. Walking across fields we came to another bridge over the M66 and re-crossed the motorway. Making our way to Limefield we re-entered the Country Park. We finished the walk just before 4pm, 5 minutes before the official setting of the sun and with daylight to spare. 18 miles with circa 600 metres (2,000feet) of ascent. Thanks to the walkers who joined me.
Steve
The lovely day certainly brought out the photographers. Thanks to Stephen, Caz, Ian, Nancy and Steve for their pictures.
