reserved. rights All 2019. rights database or / and copyright Agency Environment Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2019; 2019; right database and copyright Crown © data Survey Ordnance Contains SUGGESTED START: Rishton Road, alongside Mercer Park, LOOK OUT FOR: Smith. H. and Bateman E. Clayton-le-Moors Britland, G. Photography: route. the trialling and developing in 1. The remains of a building from the Bristol Aeroplane support for Foundation Prospects and Society History Harwood DISTANCE: 8 km / 5 miles Company can be viewed from the path. This building was Great and project the funding for Players Lottery National To TIME: 2.5 hours (plus sight-seeing and wildlife watching) one part of a large Bristol factory which made Hercules engines. The nearby industrial estate was once home to you! Thank TERRAIN: Farmland, canal towpath and some pavement. both Bristol Aeroplanes and General Electric Company. The DIFFICULTY: Moderate Bristol Aeroplane Company eventually became what we iPhone. and Android on route app. to accompany this this accompany to app. Life Ribble OS MAP REFERENCE: It is advisable to use OS Explorer Map know today as BAE Systems. the Download 287 with this guide. www.ribblelifetogether.org You are here are You 2. Dunkenhalgh Weir - a pool and visit or more out find to code QR the traverse fish passage was Scan project. Together Life Ribble the for routes circular of series 1, 6, 15 a of part as Trust Rivers Ribble by created been has walk This constructed in 2019 by Ribble Rivers Trust as part of the Ribble Life Dunkenhalgh users other and wildlife consider Code: Countryside the Follow • Together project. This can be Weir drinks and food spare Carry On-street parking on Rishton Road viewed with a short detour from the • Take a charged mobile phone, first aid kit, map and compass compass and map kit, aid first phone, mobile charged a Take footpath. • Forts Arms, The Hyndburn, Canal View Café conditions forecast for suitable clothing and boots sturdy Wear • (please note Canal View Café may be closed during winter) 3. There were several mine shafts on safely Enjoy the Dunkenhalgh Estate which were Catchment Ribble The Trail Fields Clayton • Co-op near Mercer Park part of Dunkenhalgh Park Colliery. Mine Trail Ladybird The cap of one of these shafts is • cap Brun and Calder Walks: River Trust Rivers Ribble still visible today. The site was • Forts Arms, The Hyndburn abandoned in 1883. trails Nearby future. the for legacy positive a leave to aim we science, on based Canal View Café (please note Canal View Café may 4. Madder Mill Wood - Madder (Rubia tinctorum), is a plant be closed during winter) from which red dye can be extracted. It was used in the action, environmental practical Through educate. and inspire the heritage of the rivers, improving access and using the river to to river the using and access improving rivers, the of heritage the calico printing process. Before calico, wool was an system by 2020 for people and wildlife. The project celebrates celebrates project The wildlife. and people for 2020 by system Follow us: us: Follow important textile and the plant also was used in the dyeing is working to create a healthier river river healthier a create to working is Together Life Ribble of wool. WILDLIFE: The fields Leeds adjacent to Hyndburn 5. Mid-point of the Leeds Liverpool Brook are the ideal environment to Liverpool Canal. The marker Canal spot wildlife such as herons. In indicates the halfway point of sunny weather, keep an eye out for the waterway’s 127 mile route. Speckled River Walks dragonflies and damselflies The Leeds Liverpool Canal is alongside the canal. Kingfishers are wood the longest canal in Britain Hyndburn Brook regularly spotted at waterside locations butterfly built as a single waterway. along the route if you are patient and Completed in 1816, it took 46 years to build. quiet enough! Dunkenhalgh and Oakenshaw weirs have been modified by Ribble Rivers Trust to improve access 6. Rishton Colliery, located at the end upstream for salmon and trout. of Walmsley Street, opened in 1884. By the 1930s, 230 colliers were employed. WHAT TO EXPECT: This route celebrates industrial Operations ceased at the site in 1941. East Lancashire and the Starting in Clayton-le-Moors, The Coal Board demolished several relationships between farming, the route leads through of the buildings in 1960 in order Rishton industry, canals and rivers. The farmland adjacent to to install two new pumps to pump walk follows the old packhorse Colliery water to Dean Reservoir. Hyndburn Brook before route from Clayton-le-Moors to joining the Leeds Liverpool the Dunkenhalgh Estate, before Kingfisher Canal. Following the canal 7. Oakenshaw Weir - Constructed in 1844, the weir joining the Leeds Liverpool Canal north for a section, the walk supplied water to Oakenshaw Printworks. For over 150 at its mid-point on the edge of route then returns to farmland and woodland years, the weir has restricted access upstream for Church. It then joins Hyndburn on the journey back into Clayton-le-Moors. Expect varied migratory fish such as salmon and trout. In Brook near Oakenshaw and scenery, ranging from suburban Rishton, to rural fields, 2017 a bypass channel was completed climbs back up into Clayton-le- to canalside views. The terrain is mixed: the sections of by Ribble Oakenshaw Moors. canal towpath are hard surfaced and even, enabling Rivers Trust Weir weir good mobility, however some sections of the farmland as part of can be wet and muddy, therefore wellies or boots are Ribble Life bypass recommended for this walk. Livestock are present in Together to provide channel some of the fields on this route, so please keep dogs on an alternative route Distance: 8 km / 5 miles upstream. a lead. If cattle get too close or become excitable, let the Difficulty: Moderate dog off the lead. ROUTE DIRECTIONS F. Back to the Brook Go through the gate and head diagonally left (11 o’clock A. Mercer Park direction) towards the copse of trees with Pendle Hill in the Starting from the entrance to Mercer background. Near the edge of the field, to the left of the Park at the junction between Grange copse you will see two gate posts. Head through the gate Street and Rishton Road, head down posts and along the path bearing right down the slope. Keep to the right of the fence and go over the stile at the bottom Rishton Road along the side of the park, Mercer passing the play area on your left. Taking of the hill onto the track. Turn right onto the track which Park care, cross Charles Street and at the end continues downhill, and over the brook. of Rishton Road use the public footpath along the Turn right through the vehicle gate on the farm track through the field. woodland trail. Taking the right fork Carry on past the farm, through the kissing gate and follow (uphill), continue through the woods the old packhorse trail along the left-hand side of the field. with views down to your right of Continue along the track as it slopes downhill (where the Hyndburn Brook. On joining the main path splits, take the right-hand fork downhill) with views track, view Oakenshaw Weir from the across to Hyndburn Brook on the right-hand side. Passing bench at the viewpoint, along the track to the old stone trail markers, the path slopes more steeply Fish pass at your right. You then want to take the path directly behind you (the middle of three before crossing the footbridge and continuing on to the Oakenshaw building that was formerly the Petre Arms. paths) to return back through the woods, Weir then take the first turning up the hill to the B. Hyndburn Brook & Dunkenhalgh Weir right, joining a track heading right up to Go through the kissing gate and past the former Petre Arms Oakenshaw Croft and Bates Street. to the A678. Take extreme care crossing the road and follow the footpath sign along the packhorse trail. G. Back to the Park Walking past Oakenshaw Croft (on your right) take the Go through the metal kissing gate. Keep to snicket straight ahead (by the street light) through to the packhorse trail along the left-hand side Freshfield Avenue. Continue along the footpath to the left of of the field, taking in Dunkenhalgh Weir on the Freshfield Avenue sign between the houses, to Chapel the right-hand side (not visible from the Street. At the end of this street take the ginnel on the right path, worth a detour). Continue along the Hyndburn through to Bayley Street before turning left back to Mercer obvious trail heading towards the M65 Park. Brook motorway viaduct to the south. C. Under the motorway Go through the metal kissing gate and continue under the motorway bridge. Once through, bear right up the hill THE RIVERS: Hyndburn Brook before turning left along the gravelled path. After a short begins near Oswaldtwistle before stretch this path then turns right up the hill, eventually joining the River Hyndburn leading to St James Road. Continue along this track until you between Church and Rishton. reach the Leeds Liverpool Canal through the gate at the top Hyndburn Brook then winds past of the hill. Clayton-le-Moors before feeding into the River Calder near Altham. D. Leeds Liverpool Canal The Calder Catchment is Turning right along the canal, pass the mid-point marker on characterised by mill towns such the opposite bank before turning right at the bridge, down as Burnley, Nelson, Colne and Accrington, which were at the forefront of the Industrial the hill past the farm buildings and Revolution.