Manchester Weekend Walkers lead public transport walks into fantastic countryside all year round.
Bus and Train based Walk
Leader: Matthew
Meet Point: The Cenotaph in St Peter’s Square, in time for the bus from stop SD at 09:40 Alternatively, meet the group on the bus, or at the Walk Start at Leigh bus station.
Transport to Walk Start: The 09:40 V1 bus service to Leigh, from stop SD outside St Peter’s Square in central Manchester
Suggested Ticket: The £2 maximum fare applies to the V1 journey from central Manchester to Leigh, and the single from Blackrod back to Manchester is exactly £8.00
Walk Start: Leigh Bus Station at 10:25am.
Waypoints: Leigh Bus Station, Pennington Flash Country Park, The Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Wigan Flashes Local Nature Reserve, Poolstock, Wigan Town Centre, Haigh Lower Plantations, Haigh Upper Plantations, Holly Nook, Haigh Village, Freezeland Farm, Blackrod Railway Station
Return Services: From Blackrod Railway Station, services run direct to Manchester Piccadilly at 16:42, 17:10, 17:42, 18:10, 18:42, 19:10, 20:10, 21:10, 22:10, 23:10 and 23:55, with a typical journey time of 35 minutes. Anyone who needs services to Victoria can change at Salford Crescent
Extra: The toilets at Leigh Bus Station charge 20p and need a coin payment. We will visit a pub in the centre of Wigan at the half-way point of the walk - that will be the lunch stop and will also afford the opportunity of a toilet break. There are no actual toilets from there until the end of the walk.
This route is part of a series of routes that link up to encircle Manchester, see www.roundmanchesterhikingtrail.co.uk for further details (this is Stage 5).
Optional drink at the end of the walk
Please do not bring your dog (apart from assistance dogs).:
This route might appear to be very long at 14 miles, which it is. However, although long, it is not that hard. The first half of it is along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which we follow from Leigh all the way to Poolstock in Wigan, with only a brief diversion to get a good view of Pennington Flash. The next sections are also easy walking, through Wigan town centre, and then through a country park area known as the Haigh Plantations. Then we finally get to the village of Haigh itself, from which we can at last see Winter Hill (which we climb on the next stage) before we get to a last bit of muddy territory before arriving in Blackrod.
