Meandanthony's walk Fishwick Nature Reserve 8.5 miles

Our walk today began from home. Anthony and I had arranged to meet on Sharoe Green Lane, by the Sherwood Way roundabout. It was a wet morning of fine drizzle, but it was forecast to improve by midday. Anthony has come prepared for the worst.

Moor Park. Barbara and I did this walk last Saturday, setting off in a blizzard of snow. We had been told that there was a pair of Mandarin Ducks on the serpentine in the park, and so there was, but today they were not to be seen. The floodlight towers of Preston North End football ground can just be made out in the misty distance.                                          

A slight detour was required here.

With the rain showing no signs of letting up we travelled through Deepdale to Ribbleton and thence to New Hall Lane. This house on Samuel Street. No 13 was Danny's granddads house long ago. As often was the case in the years after the Second World War, a shortage of housing resulted in many newlyweds moving in with one or other of their parents, and so it was that Danny spent the first 18 months of his life, along with his two elder siblings and his parents in that house. His mum's two maiden aunts lived next door at No 11

The Fishwick Nature Reserve is accessed from Fishwick View. It is a large area of woodland on the steep slopes of a bank  that stretches from Watery Lane ,( known locally as The Loney)  through to London Road, and from Fishwick View and Brockholes View down to Fishwick Bottoms 

Having foregone our morning brew, with our tummies rumbling and with  the rain showing no sign of abating, despite the continued drizzle, with a seat going spare, we succumbed to our appetites and settled down for were butties.

A spare foam rubber seat pad served as a make do table and a means of keeping the rain off ones legs.

This long flight of steps, fortunately is not on our route today.

A BMX Course within the recreation ground off London Rd.

This stairway leading up to Ashleigh Street and Brockholes View is part of our route. Anthony affirms there are 75 steps in total. From the top, we followed Brockholes View (known locally as The Bonk) to Fishwick Rd. 

The darker coloured house is No 6 Fishwick Parade, and is where Danny lived from aged 7 to 21 with his mum and 7 siblings. His dad died in the front room when Danny was 18.

The rain had finally stopped, and we made our way through some of the less salubrious areas of Ribbleton and Deepdale back to Moor Park.

 

The Mandarin ducks had still not returned, so you will have to make do with this specimen. We did however stop and have a chat with an elderly gent who was sat on a bench overlooking the lake. He had lots of badges on his lapels, a cane with a brass ducks head and a pair of binoculars round his neck. He was (as you might have guessed) a keen bird watcher. He told us that he hadn't seen the Mandarin ducks for a couple of days, but told us where around the park he had seen various birds, i.e. tree creepers, nuthatches, long tailed tits, etc etc. And so we commenced on the last lap of our walk, up Plum Pudding Hill and Sharoe Green Lane back home.

                                          A wet but enjoyable walk. DK