Distance 11.4 miles
Ascent 150m
Weather: warm and sunny
Sandmartens, coot, moorhens, grey heron, common terns with babies, sandpipers, a hobby, great crested grebe with ruff, tufty duck, curlews, oystercatcher, lapwings, deer x2, buzzard, reed warbler, sedge warbler, chiff chaff and a blackcap.
Our accommodation was right on route, so we were right out of the door and on our way. The lane led through the farmyard and Roman Fort, then into farmland along the Ribble Way.
The grass meadows had dragonflies and butterflies and there were curlews calling. The first people we saw were a group of children with bikes from the activity centre who were looking quite doubtful about being in the middle of a field with their bikes.
The farmland was mostly cows, who have a way of making things muddy. We followed a footpath which had a sign saying it was closed due to a landslide but that was in 2013 so we decided to try it. The footpath was fine apart from a little dell where Tun Brook flowed. Here the path was a steep muddy slope down to a bridge and back up. Then we walked by a solar energy farm and a noisy industrial estate, where it smelled of toast. Here there was another sign about the footpath closures, this one saying that the route we had taken was the route we had to take as the other footpath was closed. Bit confusing.
At Brockholes nature reserve we visited the visitor centre for lunch then did a bit of nature watching.
A short walk along the river and we were at the hotel, where we have a riverside view, and of the M6.
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