RUFFORD

 A PIECE of STRING !

STRINGERS :- John R, Jim, Anthony, Danny, Mike, John W

QUESTION - How long is a piece of string ?

ANSWER - Not as long as our walk !

3m ? er..no.  4m ? er.. no.   5m ? er..no.  6m ? er.. nearly.     6.25m    YES !

Todays walk was much longer than we anticipated. It was, however, an excellent walk in the continuing tradition of professor Danny both interesting and picturesque.

We parked up just off the A59 in RUFFORD.

Leaving the cars we set off in the direction of the railway station.

A commuter train was just arriving as we can see from the distant red lights halting the traffic.

In recent times our walk day habits have changed, We now start a little later and quite enjoy a coffee (or tea) and a chat about the day's plans, before setting off on our walk.

 

This cafe, which serves the extensive marinas, was excellent.

The cafe seemed to be situated in an area of large marinas as we discoverd when we dropped down to follow the  canal. Here it was the branch of the LEEDS/LIVERPOOL canal which joins the river Asland or Douglas at Tarleton

 

Jim seemed to be quite intrigued by the workings of the "Lock" mechanisms.

Anthony, a one time narrow boat owner, seemed rather more interested in something else.

More locks and some quite extensive reedbeds as we continued along the canal.

There are always swans on our canals, This one, however , seemed somehow different. It was solitary and rather smaller than most we have encountered. It reminded me of Hans Andersons "The Ugly Duckling. It posed rather nicely for a photograph though.

,

This post seemed rather unnecessary and  we wondered half a mile (?) from or to where ?

We were not on the canal long before we came to this swing bridge which took us across the water and down to the A59 which we crossed over before taking to the fields.

As we walked we passed small areas of civilisation in one of which was this Christmas display.  It looked expensive to me .................. "Aw......C'mon......... TOO DEAR !

We now found ourselves following an arrow straight track with deep ditches on either side. To our left were VERY large fields with narrow drills of what appeared to be grass. ?  My Agricultural and Horticultural friends assured me that it would be "WINTER WHEAT" Which having sprouted would now stay dormant until the warmth of spring would awaken it.

The ditches and dykes alongside the paths were flowing with clear water although it was an amber colour. We wondered if this was caused by iron in the soil or the run off from the peaty marshlands found in this area ?

There are five Meanderthals hiding behind this tree but we can't see them all.

Has John Russell been here before? 

We were now walking through Meresands wood in search of the activity centre and the cafe.

We stopped briefly beside this magnificent florescence of fungi to check  which path to take through the large woodland.

Then............ DOUBLE DISASTER............. my camera's battery ran out and we took a WRONG turn. We were to come past this fungi again after a long deviation which as the blog title suggests made our walk rather longer than planned.

Sorry. No more photos.

We eventually arrived at the Meresands Centre where we had brews and a snack before making our way once again through the wood, across a large field and a lengthy stretch along the Southport road and back to the cars.

NOT THE END YET

(hope to get an odd photo or two from peoples phones)

JW

AVENHAM, PRESTON

 A BRIDGE TOO FAR  5 Miles

BRIDGERS :-  John, Anthony, Danny.....Dave.....Mike.

After parking the car at the "Park & Ride" we set off to see how the new Tram Bridge was progressing.

We had to make our way through an industrial estate to begin with as the track was flooded and barely passable.

Any dip in the track presented difficulties.

Overcoming them was not, however, too difficult.

How wonderful........ A DOUBLE DANNY 😀

Soon after the bridge shown in the photograph we had planned a right turn to reach the river bank and follow it to the Tram Bridge site. BUT NO ! the route was closed. Our planned 3 mile walk was beginning to look rather unlikely.

As you can see we were still some distance from the riverside footpath which can be seen across the sodden fields.

The fields were sodden with agricultural machinery "Abandoned" by the edge

The wide lane ended at the "Waste water" treatment plant. (Sewage) Here we had to take to a narrow footpath. As we were unencumbered by wheelchairs or prams we "Ploughed" on.

There were "Keep out" signs but we had no desire to enter the Sewage works.

The footpath continued with a series of large and sometimes deep "puddles".

Then we came to a wooden staircase rising up to Tram Road.

 

At the top of the stairs was one of the gentlemen working on the new Tram Bridge.

He explained that the Old bridge had been removed and the first of four supports had been planted in the river bed.

Work would soon be suspended and started again in the new year with the hope that the New Bridge would be completed by the end of 2025.

As the Tram Road was fenced off we decided to do a short detour and sit for a nostalgic few minutes visiting the sports fields where John and Anthony displayed their sporting prowess (or more likely lack of it)

Now long gone this road led to VERNON CARRUS  who manufactured medical supplies (bandages etc.) part of the sports fields (cricket) belonged to them, The company still operates in another part of Preston.

Cold, wet, muddy, winter afternoons came to mind as young grammar school boys were obliged to chase a "Fifties" leather case-balls across those freezing acres on pain of physical punishment. When wet, such balls were life-threatening. It took a brave lad to head one.

We returned to the fenced off Tram bridge then followed a footpath across to an embankment which had once carried the East Lancashire  line (I was told)

out of Preston and across the River Ribble and off to the Blackburn and Burnley area and beyond.

 A strange "Sculpture" caught our attention.

After 65 years much of the paths we trod as teenagers had changed completely.

A wayside sculpture telling us........ erm............. WHAT ?

As we arrived at the old railway bridge the work site at Tram Bridge could be seen in the distance.

As we crossed the bridge the distinct outline of the Park Hotel loomed above us.

On the bridge itself the love locks seem to have increased since our last visit.

Some consider them to be tasteless. I myself find them rather charmingly amusing and harmless. No accounting for taste though.

Danny looks up the river where the first bridge support has been placed Below him the river was boiling it's way under the bridge and with a forecast of VERY  heavy rain still to come, flooding was a very real threat.

And so down to the cafe where Dave, who lives quite near, was there to greet us. He had recently turned 80 and as a celebration he had already left a tab at the counter to pay for all our lunches. Thank you very much Dave !

Mike, who had been unable to join us at the start, arrived quite soon after to join us as well.

We had and enjoyable hour chatting and laughing before parting to go our separate ways. Mike accompanied Dave towards his home whilst the rest of us continued through the park and along the Boulevard to finish our walk.

As we passed the northern end of the new bridge build we could see the support already planted on the river bed.

I don't think even a bike would get you to Bamber bridge if you follow the direction the signpost suggests.

The park path rises up to continue along the Boulevard.

Once we were on the Boulevard  a post tells us we have finished the first mile of the Guild Wheel from its start in Avenham Park.

As we approached London Rd. Bridge the name ALFRED HITCHCOCK sprang to mind.

So........ across London Road bridge and a steady trudge through increasingly inclement weather ( Wet   Wet   Wet ) back to the car and home.

Here's to the next walk

JW

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