River Douglas at Tarleton

 Happy New Year!

It was remarkably warm for January today and sunny too, and I took the opportunity to walk by the river and canal at Tarleton.

The River Douglas flows from Winter hill, southeast of Preston, and heads west, then north, flowing into the River Ribble opposite Freckleton. A spur from the Leeds Liverpool Canal, called the Rufford Branch, joins the river at Tarleton. At one time the West Lancashire Railway crossed the river just north of Tarleton, at Hesketh Bank, and there was a short branch line running south beside the river that connected the station to a trans-shipment point at the end of the canal. Passenger services on the line to Tarleton Halt operated from 1912 to 1913 - just over a year! I guess it was not a success.

There is a free car park at the bottom of Plox Brow, next to the canal. Above is the view along the canal, looking north. Below, we are looking south, and the swing bridge.

You can walk beside the canal, but have to go around a boatyard. I think it is a public footpath, through there are a lot of signs discouraging people.

The canal ends at the sea lock. In the image below, you can see where the canal, on the right, joins the river, which is flowing towards us, having meandered to the east.

This is the approximate site of Tarleton Station, and I think from here northwards the path follows the old railway. Some of the path is in good condition, some was very muddy while I was there, but it did look like this is a work in progress.

The above shows the remains of the West Lancashire Railway where it bridged the river, looking towards Preston. This was a swing bridge, and you can see images of it here.

I walked up as far as a large boat yard, Douglas Marine, which seemed as far as was possible, but looking at the map, I think there was away through. I walked back along the road - much less muddy - through the centre of Tarleton.