wide choice of other paths from which to create a range of circular walks. Suggestions for day walkers, highlighting available transport and possible return routes, are given at the end of each chapter, and ‘end to enders’ might find this information useful in allowing them to extend their stay to see some of the countryside beyond the way. Longridge Fell, Pendle Hill, Pen-y-ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside are obvious attractions, all readily accessible from the route, while any number of uncrowded paths range across the lesser hills.
The Ribble valley is easy to reach from the national road and rail networks, with both the M6 motorway and the West Coast main line passing through Preston. A good rail service from Ribblehead simplifies getting home again at the end of the journey.
MAPPING
Route finding is not a significant problem and, particularly in Lancashire, you will have little difficulty in spotting the distinctive blue RW icon waymarks periodically used to sign the path. Elsewhere the general yellow footpath arrows and occasional informal markers identify paths, and you will need to refer to the text or a map to keep yourself on the correct route. The OS map extracts accompanying the text show the corridor containing the Ribble Way, but do not give the detail found on the 1:25,000 scale Explorer maps – for example, the path in relation to field boundaries. Day walkers and those wanting to appreciate the wider countryside through which they are travelling will find the large-scale mapping invaluable. The four relevant sheets are given below.
ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPS
Explorer 286, Blackpool & Preston
Explorer 287, West Pennine Moors
Explorer OL41, Forest of Bowland and Ribblesdale
Explorer OL2, Yorkshire Dales (Southern & Western areas)
CHAPTER 1
Longton to Penwortham Bridge
| Distance | 7.5 miles (12.1km) from the Golden Ball in Longton village, 6 miles (9.6km) from the Dolphin Inn at the official start of the Ribble Way |
| Height gain | 125 feet (38m) |
| Route assessment | Quiet lanes, tracks and generally good field paths; no noticeable ascent |
| Time | 3 hours |
| Public transport | Regular bus services between Longton and Penwortham Bridge |
| Parking | By the Dolphin Inn at Longton, and at the entrance to Priory Park beside Penwortham Bridge; also pay-and-display parking in Preston |
| Refreshments | The Dolphin Inn at the start of the Ribble Way and a choice of pubs in Longton and near Penwortham Bridge |
| Toilets | Brickcroft Nature Reserve on Liverpool Road, Longton |
| Map | OS Explorer 286, Blackpool & Preston |
Beginning along the edge of the marsh overlooking the confluence of the River Ribble and the River Douglas, the walk later turns beside the Ribble to follow it in an almost dead-straight line towards Preston. Much of the surrounding land has been reclaimed from the estuary and is consequently rather flat and featureless, but as you progress upriver the buildings of Preston and its near neighbour, Penwortham, become more prominent, each occupying higher ground on opposite sides of the valley. Behind them, to the southeast, Winter Hill is conspicuous, the television and communication masts dotted around its summit an unmistakable landmark. Depending on the state of the tide and amount of recent rainfall, the river may present itself as anything from a disappointingly gentle flow between wide muddy banks, to a full-bodied surge lunging angrily at the flood defences. Yet whatever your first impression, you can be sure that the river will adopt many more moods during its journey. Here you see only its final stage, in which its very direct route to the sea follows a course that is at least partly the result of man’s intervention. But while only occasionally dramatic, this stretch of the Ribble is not without interest – there is birdlife aplenty, and many reminders of the time when Preston was as much a seaport as Liverpool.
The official beginning of the Ribble Way is at the Dolphin Inn, otherwise known as the Flying Fish, which lies some 1½ miles (2.4km) west of Longton. However, as public transport takes you no nearer than the Golden Ball pub in the village of Longton, without a car you must begin the walk from there. Follow Marsh Lane, which leaves the main thoroughfare, Liverpool Road, beside the pub. It is a pleasant start to the walk and you soon leave the houses behind as the lane meanders across a deadflat hedged landscape. Keep going past the end of Grange Lane, but where the main lane then bends left, carry on ahead, still on Marsh Lane, to the Dolphin Inn. The way continues beyond along a short track leading to the outer flood defence, a high grassy embankment that separates the reclaimed farmland from the salt marsh. Climb onto the top and follow it away to the right.
THE SALT MARSH
Although richly green and a good 5 miles (8km) from the open sea, the expanse below the outer face of the dyke is still liable to inundation. Even at ordinary high tide this grassy waste is broken by silvery pools and winding runnels as the rising water invades every vulnerable depression – it is certainly no place for the inexperienced to venture alone. However, the salt marsh is a rich feeding ground for birds, and in winter particularly you will see huge flocks of geese, ducks, gulls and waders. Less appealing is the flotsam washed in on spring tides and by winter storms and left stranded as a snaking line of detritus at the limit of the flood. But look above it and you will see in the middle distance a glinting ribbon that is the River Douglas.
The River Douglas has its source on the western flanks of Winter Hill and is the final tributary of the Ribble before it meets the open sea some 3 miles (4.8km) to the west.
This is the obstacle that prevents the Ribble Way from beginning at the coast, as the nearest crossing over the Douglas is the A59 bridge south of Tarleton, which would necessitate a lengthy and uninspiring detour from the course of the Ribble. During the early days of the Industrial Revolution the River Douglas was made navigable as far upriver as Wigan, so that coal could be transported to the sea for export around the coast and to Ireland.
After ½ mile (800m), swing right with the dyke as it drops alongside Longton Brook to a field access and livestock pens. Instead of simply crossing the culvert, the Ribble Way traces a circuitous route around the enclosures. Over consecutive stiles just to the right, briefly follow the hedge left to another stile. Tackling more stiles, cross a track and then the brook itself. Some 30 yards to the right along the opposite bank, a final stile leads into the corner of a large field. Following the fence away from the brook, maintain your direction as you later cross a farm track and another field, eventually regaining the embankment. The River Ribble soon appears ahead, the levee turning upstream beside it to take the Ribble Way on towards Preston.
MANAGING THE RIBBLE FOR LAND RECLAMATION AND SHIPPING
If allowed to follow its own inclinations, the river would dissipate across a broad
