1 day Ago
Lytham has an air of affluence that is reflected in the architecture of Clifton Street and in the bustling cafes, restaurants and bars. High end fashion and shoe shops, a fishmonger and a traditional fruit and veg seller whose produce is laid out like a market stall, cheese, pork pies, all seem to thrive even though Booths excellent supermarket is around the corner. It isn’t really what could be called a seaside town, it has no beach nor fairground attractions but does have a beautiful wide promenade that stretches all the way to Fairhaven and its boating lake and sports area, but even this is genteel.
Seaside is at the neighbouring town of St Annes on the Sea about three miles away with its wide beaches and pier and everything one would expect from an English holiday town. Every year the annual five-day Lytham Festival brings world famous musicians to the mile-long green. This year’s event, from July 2-6, will feature Alanis Morrissette, Justin Timberlake, Kings of Leon, Simple Minds and Texas.
According to Lancashire Life magazine , Lytham is also a super place for a walk, with miles of flat paths suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs. Lytham windmill and the old lifeboat house on the Green. PHOTO: John Lenehan 1.
Leave the windmill and cross the main road onto Station Road and follow this, passing The Railway Hotel and Booths on the right and keep on and cross the railway bridge. The road is now Park View Road, then turn left into the park with the children’s playground on the left and follow the tarmac track as it bends right passing the cycling BMX area on the right, then take the turn on the left and cross a bridge into a car park. Cross the car park and exit onto Ballam Road, then turn left.
The Georgian Lytham Hall viewed from The Mount. PHOTO: John Lenehan 2. Reach Lytham Hall’s magnificent entrance gatehouse on the right and go through this and follow the track that runs parallel with the road and keep on this and pass through a metal gate and into a wooded area.
Reach a point where the track meets a junction with a post with footpath arrows on it and turn right and cross the road into the wood and follow the track as it bears left and exits onto the huge front lawn of Lytham Hall. Lytham Hall is an 18 century Georgian building and the 8000 acre estate was in the ownership of the Clifton family from 1606 until 1963 when it was sold to Guardian Royal Assurance Company then purchased by Lytham Town Trust. The building is now leased to and run by the Heritage Trust for the North West.
Lytham Hall was in the Clifton family for more than 350 years. PHOTO: John Lenehan Cross the lawn up to the hall then turn right then left to pass around the side of the hall then keep on the road to reach the dovecote on the right, then turn left and follow the road as it goes around the back of the house. Keep straight on as the road forks left to the delivery area of the hall and onto a point where a small track leads left.
Take this and go through a metal gate and take the steps on the right and climb to the top of The Mount. The Mount was built of the earth dug out to create the nearby Curtains Pond – it is worth climbing for the magnificent view of the house. Curtains Pond in the grounds of Lytham Hall.
PHOTO: John Lenehan 3. Leave The Mount and retrace the route back to the path, turning left. Then leave the road bearing right to reach a track passing Curtains Pond on the right then keep on the track as it passes through the woods.
Reach a gate leading out onto Forest Drive and turn right, then cross the road and then turn left onto Broadwood Way. Follow this and then turn left into Frenchwood Avenue then right into Ringwood Close then take the first cul de sac on the left and at the end there is a track, follow this and cross the bridge over the railway. Our path then joins Church Drive where we bear left and follow this to reach the main road, the B5261.
We cross this and go down Fairlawn Road and follow this as it crosses Clifton Drive to reach the promenade. Get more ideas for great things to do in the latest edition of Lancashire Life magazine A boat on the foreshore at Lytham. PHOTO: John Lenehan 4.
Turn left and follow the promenade all the way back to the windmill. You could also take a detour away from the promenade through Lowther Gardens, turning right opposite the cricket club to return to the windmill through the town centre with its many shops, cafes and pubs. If you take the promenade route, look out over the Ribble Estuary towards Southport.
At low tide you will see what appear to be walls on either side of the main channel of the river. These were built and named as Training Walls to straighten the course of the river and allow a direct route that would be dredged into the Irish Sea. Preston dock is now used for pleasure craft but at one time it was a commercial port that handled large cargo ships from around the world, and a dredged channel was essential for these to navigate the river.
It must have been a sight to behold seeing the ships passing up and down the river from Lytham promenade. COMPASS POINTS START AND FINISH: Lytham Windmill. Ample pay and display parking nearby.
DISTANCE: 3.5 miles/5.6km TIME: 1.
5 hours MAP: OS Explorer 286 Blackpool and Preston. TERRAIN: Really easy walking. Footwear: walking shoes or trainers.
FACILITIES: Public toilets on Pleasant Street, Allanson Square next to the town centre car park, and at Lytham Hall..
