Walk Leader- Sue Keyburn

Number on walk- 12

Distance- 10.5 miles

Weather- Nasty day!

Tuesday 9 April was a pretty nasty day with steady rain and very blustery wind so it was heartening that the walk was well attended.  Many thanks to all those who braved the elements.

I want give special thanks to Noreen and Steve Martin who gave me so much help in developing and recce-ing the walk.

The walk meeting point was alongside the graveyard of St Michael's Church on St Michael's Road opposite the car park of the Stanley Arms.

The walk started by walking back past the front of the pub to locate a hidden footpath after about 200 yards, actually part of a garden. This leads to the A59 which was crossed to a path opposite.  The route follows field paths to Walsh Hall Farm and then a track leading to Formby Lane. A short distance later we crossed the lane to follow Clieves Hill Lane. A very gentle ascent led to the summit(!) from where it is possible most days to see the Liverpool and the Mersey estuary with the Welsh hills beyond, unfortunately not possible on Tuesday.

We followed quiet lanes and field paths to reach the Leeds-Liverpool canal at the Ship Inn which has an extensive beer garden. The pub wasn't open so we continued along the canal eventually sheltering under a large bridge to eat our lunch. 

Some of the party had walked on to the Canal and Countryside Cafe for a comfort and coffee break where we all joined them for a welcome hot drink. Fortunately the rain had subsided when we resumed our walk.

We followed the canal then more quiet lanes and field paths to the Southport Road leading into Lydiate. We visited the ruins of St Catherine's Chapel and also viewed the Scotch Piper pub, at 700 years-old, one of the oldest in Lancashire and very quaint inside. 

From Lydiate we rejoined the canal for about a mile and followed more field paths and quiet lanes back to the start, the last part of the walk being in sunshine.  Most of us visited the Smithy Arms for a well-deserved post-walk drink.

In summary, the walk is easy and very rural in character with plenty to see and, with the number of pubs on route, ideal for a hot summer's day. Given the amount of rain we'd had, the field paths were surprisingly good with no major muddy parts.

Thanks again to all who attended.