Worthington Lakes - 17th May 2026

Walk Leader – Rodney Swarbrick

Today’s walk was to start from the car park at Worthington Lakes, near Standish, at 2.00 pm. The later start time suggested that we were to expect a shorter walk than usual. At the end of the walk, two comments overheard were that they considered the walk was the best that Rodney had taken us on and the other was that it had been a pretty walk.

Anyway, enough of the waffle. Thirteen walkers and 1 dog (Noola) took the exit to one side of the car park and we made our way down a short path to the lake, turning left and then eventually crossing the dam at the end of the path. A right turn took us down the opposite bank and to a gate which we went through instead of crossing the next dam. We ducked under a fallen tree and followed the River Douglas on our right and across a bridge. We then went up a steep slope turning left into a wood.

We carried on going up hill, climbing over a tree trunk and turned right to follow the Leeds Liverpool Canal which crossed over the Blackburn railway. After about 10 minutes, when we could see a bridge and traffic lights about 100 meters in front of us, we turned down a path onto a road where we turned right. We made our way along the road to a bridge where we took the opportunity to have a refreshment break and the obligatory group photo for our records. It had been nice to have a chance of chatting to Sister Rose and Jim who both had had a break from walking for different reasons but we all welcomed them back, although Jim did tell us that more surgery was imminent so he will be missing again for a while again. Good Luck Jim

Refreshed, we set off again turning right towards and through Wigan Golf Club (watch out for those golf balls flying overhead). At the ‘T’ junction, we turned left before we turned right down a narrow slippery path. Most of us managed the path without incident, but young Jack was the hero to help the needy. We eventually arrived at Arley Road and went left to follow the river and then railings and back under the tree that we encountered earlier and so arriving back at the reservoir.

At the gate, we turned left to cross the dam, following the path round the water past the next dam and then right at the road, crossing the following dam. Again, we turned right at the end to complete our circular tour of the lakes. We arrived at a large cabin which indicated our turning to take us up the short path back to the car park.

It must be agreed, that Rodney had indeed chosen a lovely walk in ideal weather in what was a little over 4 miles (not the 4.5 miles that Rodney usually declared, no matter what). This starting point was a little bit further out than normal, but there can be no argument that it was well worth the extra effort. Thank you again Rodney!

Report by John Waites

Next walk   -  Sunday 28th June

Start time - 2.00 pm

 pm

Take a look back on previous walks - click on this link - www.midgewalkers.co.uk