Ramble from Much Hoole

Walk Waypoints

1 Your starting point is on Liverpool Old Road, outside the 17th-century Church of St. Michael. Cross the road, find a wooden gate and a stile in the hedge, and proceed straight ahead across the field (if the pathway is not well defined through the crop, then keep to the left of the field with the hedgeline on your left). Exit from the field onto a small lane. Turn right, and follow the lane for 0.5km (1/3 mile) until the road bends sharply left. At this point, continue ahead to a junction with five pathways: ignore the paths left and right, and proceed ahead onto a grassy raised bank aiming for the boatyard and river.

2 Continue along the path with the boatyard across the river on your right. Pass the line of the old railway crossing point, marked by granite bridge supports, and cross the stile next to the gate. Continue on the raised grassy bank with the River Douglas on your right, and cross two more stiles along the path. As you proceed along the path, pass a pipeline construction crossing the river. (Slightly further on, you should see Tarleton lock in operation on the far side bank.) Continue to follow the river on this path until it branches off away from the river, and follow the raised path to the busy A59 (Liverpool Road).

3 Exit onto the A59, and turn sharply left onto a quiet tarmac road. Follow the road, which bends to right and left back to the church where you began the walk.