Leycho one

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A good walk between Leyland and Chorley, using a variety of footpaths and roads through good countryside. There are a fair few stiles, steps and it can get muddy, so it should be considered a foot-only route, but a pleasan one at that.

From the centre of Leyland, with its row of shops and selection of bus stops (a rail station isn't too far away), we head south along the main road, passing the transport museum on our left. As the road turns left, we continue ahead, acoss the front of the large supermarket and a few large shops, a large car park on our right. Once through the retail park, we take a right and then a left, and a long straight road eventually brings us to Worden Park, which we enter via a monumental gate. Following the tarmac path through the park, we head through open grass and then a smal wood, until we exit the park and onto another road. After we pass the college, we eventually turn right onto a track that heads uphill and over a bridge spanning the M6.

Over the bridge, we head downhill and into a field, heading towards a patch of trees. It can be a bit wet and muddy here. Through the trees, the path goes through a hollow; at the bottom, a choice of gate or stile brings us onto a little footbridge over the stream, and a muddy path takes us through the next fields and to a track that takes us to the main road. We're on this road for a while:; whilst paved, it is a busy road, but it does take us directly into Euxton. At a crossroads, we turn left, heading under a railway bridge, the road beyond climbing uphill before levelling off a little further on.

As we approach a little industrial estate on the egde of town, we turn right. It is mostly unpaved, and there are a few cars that use it to access the estate on our right, but it quietens down as we pass the houses. Past a junction, we take a footpath on the left, to the left of a gate. A muddy earth path between a tree-line ditch and a fence, we empty out onto an unpaved rural road. It heads downhil, is heaviy wooded with a couple of bends, and we pass a farm, but there is little traffic to deal with. Uphill slightly, we reach a junction by a converted barn, and this too is unpaved until we reach a row of houses. The road curves a few times, passing more houses and farms, until it ends at a junction with a main road.

Following the road until a roundabout, we use a crossing and then turn left, continuing ahead and then following the pavement as it turned through trees and past some houses just beyond. After a short walk along the roadside, the footpath then turns right into the trees. We follow the main path along the top of the woodlands, with the houses on our right and a steep drop to a valley on our left, mostly earth and loose stone. Eventually it drops downhill on some sloping steps, and, once over a bridge, we join a tarmac track uphill through thick woods and eventually coming out near Astley Hall (there are toilets and a cafe in the old stables behind the hall). Past the lake, the path goes uphill slightly and, once through the rusticated gates, we empty out into Chorley, where we end at the bus and rail station a short time after.

A good walk through nice and variable terrain. Even though there are a couple on unpaved roads, they are minor and safe for walkers.

The route from Chorley soon enters Astley Park (I think it’s open all the time) which is very picturesque, and has very good facilities and a Hall to visit if you want. It is easy to miss the point where the Slow Way leaves the main park route, but there is a junction with a bin, and you very shortly cross a river on a wooden bridge. You soon leave the woods onto a road then tarmacked alleyway behind the houses.
A short section of main road (with an island to help you cross) leads to some quieter roads, including an easy-to-miss footpath along a fenced-in field-edge. There is a bench just after this at the midpoint of the walk.
A couple of busier roads (with pavements) take you to the next field footpath. It leaves the road from the non-pavement side and on the outside of a bend, so it is very difficult to cross. However, there are traffic lights to restrict the flow under the narrow railway bridge, and this helps the lowly pedestrian!
The footpath leads to a farm bridge over the M6. The OS public footpath and the Slow Way route are slightly inaccurate here but on the ground the route is obvious. I was soon passing Runshaw College, at the end of the academic day, so it was very busy, but fine nonetheless.
The second park on this route is Worden Park. There are good facilities here too, but be aware that the park is locked at sunset, as detailed on https://www.southribble.gov.uk/wordenpark
A couple more roads take you into Leyland and on to the end point of the route.

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