Herbaceous Border, Arley Hall, Cheshire
The Chorley Ice Cream Walk
A walk from Chorley to Wigan via the Lancaster Canal
This walk begins and ends at the bus station in Hallgate Wigan and is approximately nine and a half miles long on mostly flat terrain, taking up to four hours excluding the bus journey. Take the 362 service from Wigan bus station to Chorley and alight at the bus station just off Shepherd's Way opposite the Railway Station. There are four buses an hour, the fare is approximately £3.10 single without a bus pass and the journey takes forty minutes. After leaving the bus cross the road to the railway station opposite and look for the short pedestrian tunnel to the right of the station,canal pass under the railway lines using this tunnel and emerge into Steeley Lane on the other side. Walk up the hill to the point where Steeley Lane makes a ninety degree turn to the right and continue straight ahead into Seymour Street to its junction with Eaves Lane. Cross Eaves Lane, turn right and continue for some distance before taking a left fork into Cowling Brow. The road here descends into the Yarrow valley and passes new industrial units on the site of the old Thomas Witters factory, when eventually the road begins to climb again look for the entrance to the Lancaster Canal towpath on the left, join it and turn right to follow the canal in a southerly direction signposted Adlington (see picture above left).
Very few directions are required from here on, the canal following a course passing beneath the A6 towards Adlington and the marina at White Bear. On the stretch just before the A6 crosses the canal look out for the sign post directing you to Frederick's Ice Cream Parlour, the ice cream is mouth wateringly good and worth walking twenty miles for, you will almost certainly find it impossible to ignore. Go on - be a devil, the short diversion will only add a few minutes to the walk. Returning to the canal towpath if you have left it, continue ahead passing underneath the bridge carrying the A6 towards Manchester, into Adlington and White Bear with its industrial area and marina. A little further ahead the canal is carried over the river Yarrow in a viaduct, after which the canal bends to the right to follow a more direct route to Top Lock at New Springs and Wigan. On the opposite bank at this point is the disused Lancashire Union Railways trackbed which used to connect with Red Rock and Boars Head stations and the Whelley Loop line, it is possible to leave the canal here and use this as an alternative route as far as Red Rock by taking the exit footpath down to the Yarrow and underneath the canal, however the canal route is probably the more scenic of the two.
A number of miles further on we begin to approach Standish as we reach the bridge at Arley Lane, with Arley Hall the home of Wigan Golf Club behind the wall on the right and Abbey Farm further along on the left. The walk continues from here to Red Rock and the site of the old station, those who chose to follow the railway line from Adlington must now rejoin the canal towpath for the final stretch crossing Pendlebury Lane and Sennicar Lane, passing the site of the old Wigan Rowing Club before reaching the lattice bridge on the main drive from Haigh Hall to the Plantation Gates on Wigan Lane. Leave the canal towpath here, turn right and follow the main drive ignoring the immediate turning on the right leading to Hall Lane. The drive continues for a couple of miles from here crossing an ornamental wrought iron bridge over the disused Whelley Loop line towards the river Douglas which is the continuation of the Yarrow we crossed earlier in the walk. Ignore the left turn which is signposted Whelley and continue ahead, but before the bend to the right towards the bridge over the Douglas look out for and take the footpath going down to the left, cross the brook by the footbridge and take the steps up to the footpath to follow the river across the bottom of Coppull Lane and emerge onto Powell Street/Greenhough Street at the side of the Tesco Supermarket on the site of the old Central Park stadium. Turn right and then left into Standishgate through the centre of town back to the bus station in Hallgate to complete the walk. Just one note of caution, when I did the walk recently the footpath from the plantations along the Douglas Valley into town was closed due to flood defence works at the bottom of Coppull Lane which required a diversion and a climb up to Bottling Wood and Whelley to rejoin the footpath nearer the town.
Palfreyman - November 2010
Click here to see the walk in pictures
Further Reading
Richmond Hill Dairies - Pemberton - These pages contain some personal memories from my youth and my association with Richmond Hill Dairies, a local business I grew up with and remember with some affection. A well known and important feature of the local community in its day and part of the heritage of Pemberton, this is my attempt to commit some small snapshot of its history to print, I hope these pages paint a worthy picture.
Mind Your Language - A humorous poem by "the bard of Haydock" George Anderton, inspired by memories of a trip to Bad Canstatt, Stuttgart Germany with the Haydock Male Voice Choir in 1975. This publication will bring a smile to the faces of not only those members who were there at the time and know the people involved but the wider population of Haydock as well who speak the language.
Wigan and the American Civil War - Wigan Coal and Iron Company, The Right Honourable John Lancaster MP for Wigan, the Confederate Raider Alabama, USS Kearsarge, Cherbourg and the yacht Deerhound all feature in the last great sea battle of the American Civil War.
Wigan Old Bank 1792 - A tragic boating accident on Windermere and a surprising journey through the social history of Wigan during the reign of Queen Victoria, highlighting the relationships between four families who played an important part in the commercial development of the town.
The Brocklebank LineDaniel Brocklebank (1741-1801), shipbuilder and mariner, a brief biography, and some background detail of his family and the shipping line he founded.
Little Ships at ZeebruggeAn account of a heroic attempt to block the port of Zeebrugge during the first World War, to protect supply routes into the UK by denying enemy submarines based there access to the open sea.
A Cricket Calypso - A short biopic of cricketer Cyril Washbrook and a snapshot of his career including his role in the West Indies tour of 1950 recorded in the lyrics of the Cricket Calypso.
Not Much of a Warrior - Wigan RLFC in the fifties and sixties, through rose coloured glasses. A golden age of legendary players and memorable moments, along with some personal memories.
Farthingale Publications:... Is a hobby web site containing articles of local interest to Lancastrians, some favourite walking and cycling routes, selected words and poetry, and some writings of more general nature as well as the authors own picture gallery. Access is available via the homepage and menu at the head of the page.
Local Interest: A Cricket Calypso; A Lancashire Lullaby; Dust Upon God's Fair Earth; God's Choir; Isaac Watts 1674 - 1748; It's a Funny Life; John Byrom 1692 - 1793; John Lancaster Wigan MP; Jubilee Park Memorial, Ashton in Makerfield; Little Ships at War 1918; Mind Your Language; Not Much of a Warrior; Peveril of the Peak; Private Thomas Whitham VC; Richmond Hill Dairies; Scot Lane School Wigan; The Brocklebank Line; The Holy City Liverpool; The Lindsays of Haigh; The Nurburgring 1960; Thomas Aspinwall Miners Agent; Thomas Aspinwall Obituary; Thomas Linacre School Wigan; Upholland Telephone Exchange; Wigan Advertisements 1960; Wigan Old Bank 1792; Wigan Soldier Missing in Action.
Walking & Cycling: Abbey Lakes to Coppull Moor; A Lancashire Linear Walk; Blackrod or Bust; Chorley Ice Cream Walk; Cycle the Monsal Trail; Cycle the Sankey Valley; Douglas Valley Dawdle; Freshfield to Crosby; Haigh to Borsdane Wood; Irwell Valley Trail (Bury to Rawtenstall); Irwell Valley Trail (Bury to Salford); Moss Eccles Tarn; Three Counties Cycle Ride; Wigan Circular by Bike.
Words & Poetry: A Lancashire Mon; A Legend of Montrose; Aw've Turned me bit O' Garden O'er; Boat Song; Calm is the Sea; Classic Poetry; Dombey and Son; Dover Harbour; Dust upon God's Fair Earth; God Bless these Poor Wimmen that's Childer; Hymn Before Action; Jeff Unsworth's dialect poetry; King Cotton; Martin Chuzzlewit; Martyrs of the Arena; Mind Your Language; Only a Cranky Owd Foo'; On Th' Hills; Poet's Corner; Redgauntlet; Rogue Herries; The Antiquary; The Bride of Lammermoor; Th' Coartin' Neet; The Darkling Thrush; The Fair Rosamond; The Fair Rosamond Comic; The Family Man; The Glory of the Garden; The Heart of Midlothian; The Pickwick Papers; The Rolling English Road; The Wreck of the Hesperus; Toddlin' Whoam; When Winds Breathe Soft; Wisdom.
Wallgate Chronicles: Adolphe Adam; A Tale of Two Cities; A Walk in the Hills; Barnaby Rudge; Bookcase; Cat Bells; Desert Island Discs; Eay Times Uv Changed; Fidelio; Frank Whittle and the Jet Engine; Fun with Trigonometry; Hard Times; Hugo Boss comes to Wigan; In the footsteps of the Manchester Rambler; Ivanhoe; Little Dorrit; Lohengrin; Rob Roy; Romance on a Budget; Semele; Surprise at the Philharmonic; The Battle of Solferino; The Bohemian Girl; The Fair Maid of Perth; The Force of Destiny; The Getaway Car; The Marriage of Figaro; The Old Curiosity Shop; The Ravioli Room; The Spectroscope; The Switchroom Wigan; Travels in Time 1960; Travels in Time 2010.
Lyme Hall, Disley, Cheshire