A few friends have told us about visiting Pennington Flash recently so during the Summer holidays we decided to put on our walking shoes and head to the flash for an afternoon walk. As we had never visited before and couldn't really find much online we didn't know what to expect, other than the flash is a very large body of water.
What To Expect At Pennington Flash, Leigh WN7 3PA
When looking at the map of the flash both online and upon arrival it's quite difficult to see which path leads where so we started out at the car park and took it from there. There are maps dotted around the car park to show the different paths so we took a photo of the map to help us navigate .
The car park is chargeable at £1.50 per day. There were plenty of spaces even though some of the car park was taken up by travellers.
When looking at the flash we headed right towards a toilet block which was closed. These were the only toilets on site which made it a little tricky as we were expecting to be at Pennington Flash for at least a few hours. Someone did tell me that there is a Morrisons about a 15 minute walk away if the toilets are closed on your visit.
Just behind the toilets is a children's playground. It had the usual play equipment, swings, see-saws, climbing frame.
We then followed a path which led us alongside the flash, in towards the woods and up alongside the Liverpool Leeds canal.
There were hideouts alongside the paths which are great for bird watchers and were very popular. Some of the seats where marked as belonging to people, which I assume is just their way of saying they spend a lot of time here watching the wildlife over the year.
After we had walked alongside the Liverpool Leeds canal we had to find our way back on the path which was a little tricky and very steep so we did double back. Luckily we were able to watch a canal boat going past, the man on board looked like he was enjoying himself waving to the kids as he went past. There is a large bridge which takes you over the canal just here and its a great place for taking photos and looking out onto the canal.
We then joined the path but somewhere on that path we should have turned and followed a path back to the car park which is approx a 1-2 mile walk if we wanted a short walk that wouldn't have covered the entire flash.
We continued on a path which took is right around the flash. The path was mostly defined however it was wet and muddy in places so we did have to go in to the bushes a few times and climb over a fence. We managed to get really close to the waters edge at times too which meant we could stop to throw stones and have a little break watching the birds and swans.
We then ended up on a main road but managed to get back in to the country park again on clear paths that took us through some private land with public footpaths through. There are signs to let you know where you need to go and which areas are private.
This walk wasn't what we expected and took us around 3 hours and was approx 7-8km. However it was enjoyable and there was plenty to see along the way including the boats on the flash from the nearby sailing club.
Walking shoes or boots are definitely essential as even though there are defined paths they are rocky and proper walking boats will protect your ankles.
There is an ice cream man at the car park until close each day. Luckily we had £10 cash with us as the ice cream man wasn't taking cards when we visited.
We really enjoyed our walk around Pennington Flash and although we only expected to walk 1-2 miles it was a nice walk and was easy on the legs for most of it. The hideouts are great if you want to spot birds and the walk along the canal was really calm and peaceful.
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Michelle
