"An easy walk exploring an unexpected and curiously salty corner of Lancashire's coastal plain."
Walk directions
Join the sea wall behind the car park and turn right to the ferry slipway. Go right again past waterfront apartments and the Bourne Arms, rejoining the sea wall beyond. Where the main road swings away, keep ahead along a short street and a path to a slipway. Turn right along Clarence Avenue, crossing the main road to continue along Hackensall Road opposite.
Just before the end, leave left on a footpath between the last two houses. Wind behind to follow a narrow wooded strip and then a field track, later passing below a wooded bank. At the end of the trees, go through a kissing gate on the right and head up the field edge to a farm on top of Curwens Hill. Over a stile, keep ahead through the yard and on along a broad field track between the fields. Ignoring junctions, curve left past a large pool. Becoming a street, the way continues past houses to a T-junction.
Go right for a mile (1.6km) along Back Lane. Shortly after crossing a bridge over a stream, reach a junction where Corcas Lane leaves to the right.
Beyond a farm it degrades to a track between fields dotted with old brine well heads. Eventually, after 0.5 miles (800m), the track swings abruptly right by a caravan site.
There, go right along the Wyre Way. Over a stile at the end of a short grass track, climb onto the flood embankment and follow it away above salt marshes.
After 0.5 miles (800m), the embankment ends at a junction of tracks. The Wyre Way continues along the one ahead, which later becomes metalled as it is joined by a track from a sewage treatment plant. Carry on beside a golf course, the drive later crossing the course and passing into trees. Reaching a junction by Hackensall Hall, go left past the hall and outbuildings before swinging right past the course maintenance yard.
Keep ahead across the golf course to a green shelter. Swing right above shoreline cottages, dropping from the course to pick up a track. Immediately beyond a cottage go left to the sea wall and follow it right past the clubhouse back to the car park.
The salt industry in this part of Lancashire is not of the same antiquity as that in Cheshire and has not had the same profound impact on the landscape, but it still played a significant part in shaping the present scene. Rock salt Extensive deposits of rock salt lie below the surface around... Knott End and Preesall. In the early days of the industry, natural brine was found but more commonly it is extracted by pumping fresh water down bore holes to dissolve the rock salt. The first such wells in this area were drilled in the 1890s and many of the well-heads can still be seen, often standing incongruously in the middle of fields surrounded by contentedly grazing Friesians. Chemical foundations The brine fields provided the raw material on which the Hillhouse chemical plant, just across the Wyre, was originally founded, producing chlorine as well as salt. More recently it has been taken over by Asahi Glass and produces PTFE and ETFE plastics. There's no feel of an industrial town about Knott End today, which is a mixture of modest resort and commuter village. At low tide the sands are exposed for miles, far out into Morecambe Bay, and when it's clear the Lakeland skyline makes a wonderful backdrop. Pilling Pig As you leave the built-up area, you meet the trackbed of the railway line that once linked Knott End to the main line at Garstang. The line was affectionately known as 'The Pilling Pig', a name derived from the note of the whistle of an early engine. The section to Pilling was opened in 1870 but the extension to Knott End had to wait until 1908. It closed in 1963. When you leave the old trackbed you climb a small rise – almost the only one you'll encounter on the whole walk – and from the far side, beyond Curwens Hill, you get your first sighting of the brine fields. To begin with knot end they may look like nothing more than farmland, but then you'll notice several pools – the walk soon passes close by one – left by subsidence. Creeks and salt marsh As the walk continues, you'll see more and more reminders of the salt industry, especially along the track from the lane out to the sea wall. You follow this northward, with extensive creeks and salt marsh off to the left, and views across the Wyre to the chemical works and to Fleetwood. Flying golf balls add spice to the next part of the walk. There's an interlude as you pass Hackensall Hall. The present building was erected in 1656 by the Fleetwood family, but later passed into the hands of the Bournes and was extensively renovated in the 19th century. There's more golf course to cross before returning to the sea wall for the last stretch.
Lancashire was at the centre of the British cotton industry in the 19th century, which lead to the urbanization of great tracts of the area. The cotton boom came and went, but the industrial profile remains.
"An easy walk exploring an unexpected and curiously salty corner of Lancashire's coastal plain."
Walk details
2hrs
Difficulty:
Easy
Gradient:
Gentle
Distance:
5.75 miles (9.2kms)
Ascent:
115ft (35m)
Walk directions
Join the sea wall behind the car park and turn right to the ferry slipway. Go right again past waterfront apartments and the Bourne Arms, rejoining the sea wall beyond. Where the main road swings away, keep ahead along a short street and a path to a slipway. Turn right along Clarence Avenue, crossing the main road to continue along Hackensall Road opposite.
1 of 7
Just before the end, leave left on a footpath between the last two houses. Wind behind to follow a narrow wooded strip and then a field track, later passing below a wooded bank. At the end of the trees, go through a kissing gate on the right and head up the field edge to a farm on top of Curwens Hill. Over a stile, keep ahead through the yard and on along a broad field track between the fields. Ignoring junctions, curve left past a large pool. Becoming a street, the way continues past houses to a T-junction.
2 of 7
Go right for a mile (1.6km) along Back Lane. Shortly after crossing a bridge over a stream, reach a junction where Corcas Lane leaves to the right.
3 of 7
Beyond a farm it degrades to a track between fields dotted with old brine well heads. Eventually, after 0.5 miles (800m), the track swings abruptly right by a caravan site.
4 of 7
There, go right along the Wyre Way. Over a stile at the end of a short grass track, climb onto the flood embankment and follow it away above salt marshes.
5 of 7
After 0.5 miles (800m), the embankment ends at a junction of tracks. The Wyre Way continues along the one ahead, which later becomes metalled as it is joined by a track from a sewage treatment plant. Carry on beside a golf course, the drive later crossing the course and passing into trees. Reaching a junction by Hackensall Hall, go left past the hall and outbuildings before swinging right past the course maintenance yard.
6 of 7
Keep ahead across the golf course to a green shelter. Swing right above shoreline cottages, dropping from the course to pick up a track. Immediately beyond a cottage go left to the sea wall and follow it right past the clubhouse back to the car park.
The salt industry in this part of Lancashire is not of the same antiquity as that in Cheshire and has not had the same profound impact on the landscape, but it still played a significant part in shaping the present scene. Rock salt Extensive deposits of rock salt lie below the surface around... Knott End and Preesall. In the early days of the industry, natural brine was found but more commonly it is extracted by pumping fresh water down bore holes to dissolve the rock salt. The first such wells in this area were drilled in the 1890s and many of the well-heads can still be seen, often standing incongruously in the middle of fields surrounded by contentedly grazing Friesians. Chemical foundations The brine fields provided the raw material on which the Hillhouse chemical plant, just across the Wyre, was originally founded, producing chlorine as well as salt. More recently it has been taken over by Asahi Glass and produces PTFE and ETFE plastics. There's no feel of an industrial town about Knott End today, which is a mixture of modest resort and commuter village. At low tide the sands are exposed for miles, far out into Morecambe Bay, and when it's clear the Lakeland skyline makes a wonderful backdrop. Pilling Pig As you leave the built-up area, you meet the trackbed of the railway line that once linked Knott End to the main line at Garstang. The line was affectionately known as 'The Pilling Pig', a name derived from the note of the whistle of an early engine. The section to Pilling was opened in 1870 but the extension to Knott End had to wait until 1908. It closed in 1963. When you leave the old trackbed you climb a small rise – almost the only one you'll encounter on the whole walk – and from the far side, beyond Curwens Hill, you get your first sighting of the brine fields. To begin with knot end they may look like nothing more than farmland, but then you'll notice several pools – the walk soon passes close by one – left by subsidence. Creeks and salt marsh As the walk continues, you'll see more and more reminders of the salt industry, especially along the track from the lane out to the sea wall. You follow this northward, with extensive creeks and salt marsh off to the left, and views across the Wyre to the chemical works and to Fleetwood. Flying golf balls add spice to the next part of the walk. There's an interlude as you pass Hackensall Hall. The present building was erected in 1656 by the Fleetwood family, but later passed into the hands of the Bournes and was extensively renovated in the 19th century. There's more golf course to cross before returning to the sea wall for the last stretch.
Lancashire was at the centre of the British cotton industry in the 19th century, which lead to the urbanization of great tracts of the area. The cotton boom came and went, but the industrial profile remains.
