Midge Walkers

Walk No.  155

Euxton 3rd July 2022

I have previously mentioned that with the number of walks undertaken by the group, it gets increasingly difficult not to repeat ones already carried out. However, a walk with all the attributes of scenery, interest and variety is always worth doing again. The last time this walk was visited was 4th December 2016, so the organisers make no apologies for repeating it on this occasion, but are anxious to see what alterations may have occurred in the time lapse.

Starting from Pincock Brow, just off the A49 Wigan Rd, 10 of us set off at 2.05 pm, we turned left along the main road crossing Pincock Bridge over the River Yarrow and soon passed the Methodist Church on the right. The route took us to the junction with Dawber’s Lane and the Euxton Mills pub on the left and onwards passing Euxton Hall Gates on the left and Balshaw Lane on the right. Continuing along the main road we crossed Chapel Brook and entered the church grounds of the Anglican Parish Church. After extensive refurbishment costing £330,000 mainly aimed at overcoming problems with dampness, this had just reopened on 19th June.

Having passed through the graveyard, a footbridge allowed us to cross over the main North West rail line and enter an area of housing and subsequently a wooded area, which via a footbridge led us through a gate into a field and ultimately on to Pear Tree Lane. At this point a farm of the same name used to stand, which we noted had now been replaced by three very fine detached dwellings.

Continuing to School Lane, we turned left, following to a point where we passed under the rail line and soon after attained the main road with the war memorial on the right-hand corner. Crossing the road into Church Gardens led us past the Roman Catholic Church of St Mary’s and through a gate into Ransnap Wood following the route of Bank Lane adjacent to the brook through the tree lined path. Emerging into open ground, we rose up a slope towards a bridge over the M6 and by means of a ladder stile crossed this into a further field at the end of which a stile allowed us to pass over a wooden bridge and climb a bank into another field which we crossed. We had noticed along the way that some of the stiles on the former walk, had now been replaced with gates and some just disappeared.

Following a hedge line on our right, we crossed a stile and passed through the middle of a corn field to exit over a stile across Dawber’s Lane in to Mill Lane. This we followed until reaching the ancient property of Armetryding Farm dating back to 1570 where we made use of its large doorstep to sit and have our refreshment break.

Eager to resume our walk, we passed further along the lane bearing left at a house called “The Bobbin Mill”, and soon picking up on the bank of the Yarrow to a point where it passed under the Motorway. Continuing through the tree lined route, soon brought us to an area of land on the left, on which some large detached properties were springing up. These weren’t there last time we walked this route. There were, however a stretch of about half a dozen terraced houses which were now complete with established gardens and patios. Further progress brought us to some cottages on the left and a property on the right called Riverside Cottage which had suffered extensive flooding in 2015 and looks unlikely to ever recover. A little further led us into Pincock Street and around the corner to our starting point.

As I started by saying this had been an enjoyable walk once again and whilst it may have been a repeat for some, for others it was new. It had been a 5-mile walk and taken us just 2.5 hours. We had been lucky with the weather and we had enjoyed the companionship of our colleagues. We eagerly await our next outing which we know will not be a repeat, but will in fact, a Saturday outing on the 23rd July. Don’t forget to watch out for further details.