Douglas at the Bar Dot Com: 2014

Walk: Garstang from Country Walking magazine.

Party: Marcus Nyahoe, Steven Hornby

Superbowl Sunday, with an appetiser of West Brom vs Liverpool, coupled with some really wet weather recently, meant that a close, local walk was required. This 7 mile walk around the countryside near Garstang easily fit the bill, and was pleasant enough, through mainly pastures, which was a change from the contrasting terrain (hills, riverside and woods) of the past couple of walks. The mud was incredible though, and made for some hard work.

There were some interesting features of this walk. Evidence of wildlife was around, and it would be nice to linger here in spring or summer to see it really explode into life. As it was we did encounter a couple of female common pheasants.

Also of interest was Greenhalgh Castle. Only the ruins of one of its towers stands there now, the destruction started by Cromwell after the English civil wars of the 17th Century. The castle was built by Sir Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, permission being granted by Henry Tudor after Stanley had turned to his side in the Battle of Bosworth field. This is especially interesting given a recent course I've completed on England in the time of Richard III, and with the increased profile of those times after the finding of Richard's remains under a car park in Leicester last year. To have something so connected and so close to home really helps make history come alive. There is quite a bit of information on the castle at the website here.

The map of the walk

The walk guide

Looking towards the clouds we're due to walk into

Steve not too happy about the clouds

Looking back to the flood barrier on the River Wyre

These little information signs make walks so much more interesting

The Wyre was flowing fast here

The Parish Church of All Saints, Barnacre

A well earned snack break

Approaching Greenhalgh Castle

I just thought this sign near Greenhalgh Castle looked great

Near the end of the walk at the Wyre Aqueduct

Me beside the Lancaster Canal on top of the aqueduct

View of the aqueduct from below besides the River Wyre

Walk: Luneside Paths, from Jack Keighley's book, "Walks in the Forest of Bowland", published Cicerone.

Party: Marcus Nyahoe, Steven Hornby, Peter Rees

First walk of 2014 was a 7 mile trot around the River Lune, starting at the Crook O' Lune, much beloved of Turner amongst others. Despite the wet weather we have had thus far, the ground was not too bad. A fair amount of mud but certainly nothing to put a person off. The one major surprise was just how steep the tarmac road up to Aughton village was.

There is some wonderful scenery here, and plenty of flora and fauna to admire. Unfortunately the wildlife and trees will need to wait until Spring, when this walk will again be undertaken to admire the Sessile Oak, Elm, and numerous birds.