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Trust. Rivers Ribble and Higgins D. Society, Civic Annes St. Lytham reserved. rights All 2017. rights database or / and copyright Agency Environment support in developing and trialling the route. Photography: Photography: route. the trialling and developing in support Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2017; 2017; right database and copyright Crown © data Survey SUGGESTED START: Lytham Windmill, FY8 5HF (SD 3698 2708). WHAT TO EXPECT: Vast open skies and wide panoramas Ordnance Contains spanning out to the Irish Sea and across the estuary to Southport for Gene Art and Arts Fable Society, Civic Annes St. and Lytham DISTANCE: 8.4 km / 5.2 miles can be enjoyed on a clear day. The flat landscape here contrasts LoveMyBeach, Estuary, the of Friends Council, Borough Fylde TIME: 2 hrs 30mins (plus sightseeing) greatly with the mountains of the Yorkshire Dales where the River and Together Life Ribble supporting for Fund Lottery Heritage To Ribble begins. This route meanders gently around ‘leafy Lytham’ TERRAIN: Flat and in very good condition; mostly hard surfaces you! Thank to discover hints of the area’s past. and no stiles. Woodland tracks can be slightly wet under-foot in places. www.ribblelifetogether.org LOOK OUT FOR: (see points on the map) visit or more DIFFICULTY: Gentle Lytham out find to code QR the Scan project. Together Life 1. The Lytham Windmill was a Ribble the for routes circular of series a of part as OS MAP: It is advisable to use OS Explorer 286 with this guide. windmill flour mill and is open to the public in the Trust Rivers Ribble by created been has walk This You are here are You summer. It used wheat and oats from Regular buses stop along Clifton Street and the surrounding flat farmland of the Follow the Countryside Code: consider wildlife and other users users other and wildlife consider Code: Countryside the Follow Church Road. The route also passes Ansdell and Lancashire Amounderness Plain. The • drinks and food spare Carry Fairhaven, and Lytham train stations. drainage of the original marsh, or • Take a charged mobile phone, first aid kit, map and compass compass and map kit, aid first phone, mobile charged a Take ‘mossland’, for agriculture has shaped • conditions forecast for suitable clothing and boots sturdy Wear East Beach, near the Windmill; the landscape as it stands today. The • Fairhaven Lake and on the road near Park View earliest records of this drainage date 4U back to medieval times, relating to safely Enjoy Benedictine Monks who lived in Lytham Priory (which was built Park View 4U and Fairhaven Lake Lancashire Coastal footpath footpath Coastal Lancashire on the land that today sites Lytham Hall). • Catchment Ribble The Marsh. Longton leads along the south side of the Ribble to to Ribble the of side south the along leads — Way Ribble The 2. Beneath the playing-fields and Ballam • The RNLI lifeboat shop, Woodands Road, Ansdell Road water pumping station lies a and the Ribble Discovery Centre RSPB shop trails Nearby storm water storage tank . The Queens on Lytham Green and the Railway generations. 3. The Clifton family, who lived in Hotel on Station Road future for legacy positive a leave to aim we science, on based Lytham Hall from the C17th, played a Lytham major role in the drainage of the ‘moss action, environmental practical Through educate. and inspire Park View 4U, Woodlands Road, Ansdell, Lytham Hall’s land’ for agriculture. to river the using and access improving rivers, the of heritage the Follow us: us: Follow Hall and Fairhaven Lake celebrates project The wildlife. and people for 2020 by system entrance is working to create a healthier river river healthier a create to working is Together Life Ribble 4. The Clifton family, of Lytham Hall, rode THE RIVERS: The route gives good views of the River Ribble down Church Drive (intersecting Witch and the daily cycle of its estuary, as it flows in to the Irish Sea. Wood) to St Cuthbert’s Church. The gravestone marks the resting place of Drainage of Lytham Moss began in the C17th, eventually a family horse - ‘The Witch’. forming Liggard Brook, the Main Drain, and their tributaries. Liggard Brook is fed by surface water drains (and some The Lytham St Annes Civic Society River Walks maintain the route through the The combined sewers) as it passes through the town. It flows into woodland. The town is locally knows as Witch‘s the Ribble, along with Main Drain, at the Lytham Dock a little ‘leafy Lytham’, owing to its greenery. further east. This was where the Ribble Pilots’ had their first grave Ribble Estuary land base, meeting ships at the Nelson Buoy and guiding them into the docks at Preston. For more information about this, 5. Cobble walls and pavements can still take a look at our ‘Riversway Docklands’ route guide and its Bath be seen around the town. In the associated digital walk guide available with the Ribble Life app. Street absence of alternative materials, cobbles from the estuary have been used for hundreds of years to create This route celebrates the link between the WILDLIFE: The estuary is a fantastic place to see various structures. The Clifton family river and sea, taking in Liggard Brook, the migrating birds as they meet our shoreline. Its granted permission to extract the Ribble Estuary and railway. In the 1800s, combination of wetland, mud and sand flats, sand dunes and cobbles which are now much depleted. Lytham was a small fishing village with a saltmarsh make it an internationally important roosting site for few cottages. It grew with the industrial wading birds, wildfowl, terns and other migrating species. Care 6. The RSPB’s Ribble Discovery Centre at Fairhaven Lake is a revolution, along with the rest of the Fylde is needed to avoid disturbing them during their much needed great place to hear about the latest wildlife sightings in the area. coastline, as the railways allowed easier rest. It is classed as a Special Protection Area, National Nature Also look out for the Lytham Spitfire. access to the coast from the surrounding Reserve and RAMSAR Wetland of International Importance. area and towns for workers. These habitats support shellfish and insects that provide a 7. Small fishing vessels still enter the estuary at the slipway. valuable food source for resident and visiting birds. The mixing of salt water and river water 8. The town’s former mussel tanks are situated near the makes these brackish waters home windmill, one of which has been newly refurbished by Lytham St to sole, flounder and plaice. Annes Civic Society as a public open space. The others now Porpoises and grey seals can be accommodating the Ribble Cruising (sailing) Club and RNLI sighted and blooms of moon lifeboat station. The station houses a small visitor centre where jellyfish even bring turtles to this you can view their lifeboat. For further details and photographs coast. The area is also rich with of the mussel tanks, please see the reverse. Lytham Green, the Oyster flora specific to sand dunes and strip of grass that you have walked along-side was built as a sea Distance: 8.4 km / 5.2 miles catcher salt marshes, including samphire. defence after a severe storm in 1720. Difficulty: Gentle ROUTE DIRECTIONS D. To Fairhaven F. Along the front The changing face of the River Ribble’s mouth Taking care, cross Blackpool Road and Exit the car park and follow the The channel’s course has changed greatly, through both head down Bridge Road, bearing right footpath to the left along the natural and human processes. It is an accreting (growing) A. The Lytham Windmill to Oxford Road. [After around 500m, seafront, heading east and ‘upriver’. coast as more sediment is building up than wearing away. From Lytham Windmill (1), head away from the estuary crossing and before the road turns right, take East Beach and heading up Station Road – for safety, use the the flight of steps up to Woodlands Follow the coastal path past In the C19th, the Port of Preston was constructed to trade zebra crossing at the mini roundabout. Continue up Station Road.] (For a more accessible route, Fairhaven Lake and cross Granny’s and transport goods, including those used in the textile Road, passing the Railway Hotel and Booths Supermarket. Cross see the * below and green dashed Bay along the sand, before joining industry. The build-up of silt and sand posed a challenge. So, the railway bridge and continue to a mini-roundabout. line on the map.) the coastal footpath again at the to enable sea vessels to navigate to the docks, the River junction between Inner Promenade Ribble was dredged. This resulted in a deeper, Tramway * Follow Oxford Road as it bears and Ansdell Road South. Slipway narrower and straighter river B. Park View 4U Sand right. Turn left on Rossall Road, then passenger channel. Training walls were also Turn left into the Queen Elizabeth II Park left to Woodlands Road with the Ansdell Institute on constructed to delineate the dunes View 4U playing fields at the gates. shelter Continue along the coastal path by Lytham Green, your right. Continue up the hill and over the railway channel and reduce siltation. passing Lowther Gardens and the slipway (7). A short way bridge, past the steps leading up from Oxford Road. Follow the path through the park with further along the promenade, you will pass the refurbished Dredging ended here shortly the play areas on your left and the mussel tank (8), Ribble Cruising Club and the RNLI Lifeboat Cross the road to the taxi rank and turn left.

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