Today was our first visit to the River Yarrow Country Park. The park lies close to Chorley and was created through the redevelopment of the once industrial Birkacre area. Nature has pretty much reclaimed the land and it proved a very pleasant place to spend an hour or two.
Our walk started from the main car park by the Birkacre Visitor Centre. There are a few information boards dotted around the car park and, having looked at a potential route, we headed off on the "woodland walk". A nice path led through a picnic area and up through the woods. We soon lost our way though and had to retrace our steps having reached another park exit somewhere near Longworth Avenue. Not that it mattered, there were plenty of woodland paths to choose from and we soon found ourselves back on a substantial footpath and a bridge over the river Yarrow.
We followed the riverside path up to the weir and continued until we reached what I imagine was a capped coal shaft. Here, the main path seemed to loop back sharply to the left, towards Burgh Lane.
We followed the path up the hill and out on to open scrub land. After a short game of fetch (thistles somewhat spoilt the fun) we worked our way round the trees and down the hillside, returning to the riverside path, and retracing our steps to the bridge.
On reaching the bridgewe decided to take a stroll round the main lodge. Until this point the dog was entirely off lead but I played it safe until I was sure there were no fishermen about. The path round the lodge provided a chance for the dog to attempt to scavenge bread from several children trying to feed the ducks, but unfortunately for him, the ducks were quicker!
We returned to the car park, having walked for a little over an hour, and found a good spot for a further game of fetch.
The park is huge and there are plenty of other places to walk. I'm sure we'll return again.
Click here for further information about the River Yarrow Country Park, on the Chorley Borough Council website.
Doggy rating 7/10
Keep safe!
You are responsible for your own safety and that of your dog. The walks listed in this blog are not detailed guides. Plan your route! Click the landrover image for safety advice from Bowland Pennine MRT.
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2 comments:
Another good start point for walking in Yarrow Valley is here ...
http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=53.638188,-2.652099&spn=0.002096,0.007167&t=h&z=18&om=1
There's a small car parking area just off Butterworth Brow (it should be dead center of the map) and you can see the paths leading down through the meadows on the satellite view. Great for dog walking!
Cheers, we'll give that a go too.
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