ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPS
Explorer 286, Blackpool & Preston
Explorer 287, West Pennine Moors
Explorer OL41, Forest of Bowland and Ribblesdale
Explorer OL2, Yorkshire Dales (Southern & Western areas)
CHAPTER 1
Longton to Penwortham Bridge
| Distance | 7.5 miles (12.1km) from the Golden Ball in Longton village, 6 miles (9.6km) from the Dolphin Inn at the official start of the Ribble Way |
| Height gain | 125 feet (38m) |
| Route assessment | Quiet lanes, tracks and generally good field paths; no noticeable ascent |
| Time | 3 hours |
| Public transport | Regular bus services between Longton and Penwortham Bridge |
| Parking | By the Dolphin Inn at Longton, and at the entrance to Priory Park beside Penwortham Bridge; also pay-and-display parking in Preston |
| Refreshments | The Dolphin Inn at the start of the Ribble Way and a choice of pubs in Longton and near Penwortham Bridge |
| Toilets | Brickcroft Nature Reserve on Liverpool Road, Longton |
| Map | OS Explorer 286, Blackpool & Preston |
Beginning along the edge of the marsh overlooking the confluence of the River Ribble and the River Douglas, the walk later turns beside the Ribble to follow it in an almost dead-straight line towards Preston. Much of the surrounding land has been reclaimed from the estuary and is consequently rather flat and featureless, but as you progress upriver the buildings of Preston and its near neighbour, Penwortham, become more prominent, each occupying higher ground on opposite sides of the valley. Behind them, to the southeast, Winter Hill is conspicuous, the television and communication masts dotted around its summit an unmistakable landmark. Depending on the state of the tide and amount of recent rainfall, the river may present itself as anything from a disappointingly gentle flow between wide muddy banks, to a full-bodied surge lunging angrily at the flood defences. Yet whatever your first impression, you can be sure that the river will adopt many more moods during its journey. Here you see only its final stage, in which its very direct route to the sea follows a course that is at least partly the result of man’s intervention. But while only occasionally dramatic, this stretch of the Ribble is not without interest – there is birdlife aplenty, and many reminders of the time when Preston was as much a seaport as Liverpool.
The official beginning of the Ribble Way is at the Dolphin Inn, otherwise known as the Flying Fish, which lies some 1½ miles (2.4km) west of Longton. However, as public transport takes you no nearer than the Golden Ball pub in the village of Longton, without a car you must begin the walk from there. Follow Marsh Lane, which leaves the main thoroughfare, Liverpool Road, beside the pub. It is a pleasant start to the walk and you soon leave the houses behind as the lane meanders across a deadflat hedged landscape. Keep going past the end of Grange Lane, but where the main lane then bends left, carry on ahead, still on Marsh Lane, to the Dolphin Inn. The way continues beyond along a short track leading to the outer flood defence, a high grassy embankment that separates the reclaimed farmland from the salt marsh. Climb onto the top and follow it away to the right.
THE SALT MARSH
Although richly green and a good 5 miles (8km) from the open sea, the expanse below the outer face of the dyke is still liable to inundation. Even at ordinary high tide this grassy waste is broken by silvery pools and winding runnels as the rising water invades every vulnerable depression – it is certainly no place for the inexperienced to venture alone. However, the salt marsh is a rich feeding ground for birds, and in winter particularly you will see huge flocks of geese, ducks, gulls and waders. Less appealing is the flotsam washed in on spring tides and by winter storms and left stranded as a snaking line of detritus at the limit of the flood. But look above it and you will see in the middle distance a glinting ribbon that is the River Douglas.
The River Douglas has its source on the western flanks of Winter Hill and is the final tributary of the Ribble before it meets the open sea some 3 miles (4.8km) to the west.
This is the obstacle that prevents the Ribble Way from beginning at the coast, as the nearest crossing over the Douglas is the A59 bridge south of Tarleton, which would necessitate a lengthy and uninspiring detour from the course of the Ribble. During the early days of the Industrial Revolution the River Douglas was made navigable as far upriver as Wigan, so that coal could be transported to the sea for export around the coast and to Ireland.
After ½ mile (800m), swing right with the dyke as it drops alongside Longton Brook to a field access and livestock pens. Instead of simply crossing the culvert, the Ribble Way traces a circuitous route around the enclosures. Over consecutive stiles just to the right, briefly follow the hedge left to another stile. Tackling more stiles, cross a track and then the brook itself. Some 30 yards to the right along the opposite bank, a final stile leads into the corner of a large field. Following the fence away from the brook, maintain your direction as you later cross a farm track and another field, eventually regaining the embankment. The River Ribble soon appears ahead, the levee turning upstream beside it to take the Ribble Way on towards Preston.
MANAGING THE RIBBLE FOR LAND RECLAMATION AND SHIPPING
If allowed to follow its own inclinations, the river would dissipate across a broad tidal estuary. The almost geometrical embankments that now contain it served the two-fold purpose of reclaiming fertile land and rendering the river navigable for maritime trade. However, the wash of the tide from the sea and the silt brought down by the river are liable to obstruct the channel, and during the heyday of shipping regular dredging was necessary to maintain sufficient draught for sea-going vessels.
Posts embedded at regular intervals along the riverbank were used to anchor the dredgers, and some still trail mooring cables and chains into the silted banks below.
THE LANCASTER CANAL
A little further upstream on the opposite bank is the outflow of Savick Brook, recently made passable to allow pleasure barges access to the Ribble from the Lancaster Canal. Begun in 1792, the canal had originally been intended to run between Wigan and Kendal via Preston and Lancaster. The Lancaster Canal was constructed to transport coal, textiles, gunpowder and other manufactured commodities as factory production became established in Lancashire.
The plan involved taking the waterway across two major rivers, and although an aqueduct was built spanning the Lune upstream from Lancaster, there was insufficient capital to finance the considerably greater engineering feat of crossing the Ribble valley. As an interim measure the canal company filled the gap between the truncated ends with a tramway to convey cargoes, but the additional costs and delays associated with double-goods-handling meant that the canal failed to achieve its potential, and then the railway age arrived before it could be completed.
The revival of canals as a leisure resource during the latter half of the 20th century reawakened interest in joining the two halves of the Lancaster Canal, and in 1981 the Lancaster Canal Boat Club put forward a scheme to connect the northern part of the canal to the River Ribble along the course of Savick Brook. As Savick Brook is lower than the canal, locks were needed to enter this section of the waterway, with another lock downstream to retain water at low tide, and it was 20 years