Worthington Lakes

A rare sunny morning today (albeit temporary - there was rain forecast later) gave us an opportunity for a stroll and some welcome fresh air. A couple of weeks ago Kevan had told us about Worthington Lakes on the road between Chorley and Wigan, and although it's a place we'd heard about and noticed on the map we'd never actually been before.

Worthington Lakes lies to the north east of Wigan in the Douglas valley, 'lakes' being a slightly fanciful term for the three reservoirs constructed in the mid 1800s to supply the growing town of Wigan with fresh drinking water. Nevertheless, although man-made, the lakes make a nice spot for a walk, surrounded by trees with the hills of the West Pennine Moors behind.

Being early September, the deciduous trees around the 'lakes' are still in full leaf, but in another month or so they will be a mass of autumnal colour, so we may well be back before winter sets in.

There's a couple of options to extend a walk around the back of the lakes, where it's possible to link up to the Leeds & Liverpool canal and then back via the golf club at Standish. For today though we stayed on the lakeside paths along the far shore of the two main reservoirs, turning back over the main dam to the car park.

Here was where most of the birdlife seemed to congregate with plenty of ducks about and what looked like two dark-coloured herons on the iron framework. After consulting the book they turned out to be cormorants instead, which suggests there must be plenty of fish in the water.

Back at home the promised rain never materialised and we even managed to sit out in the garden for a while - a rare treat indeed after a soggy couple of summer months.