Photo-a-Day  (Monday, 14th June, 2021)

Mick this would have made a good Par-bold-rules photo on Messageboard

So 'man-made' no comparison with nature. Was this a railway track by any chance at one time? Looks as if a big clearing operation has been underway.

The walks of my youth.

Veronica, it was at one time the Standish Mineral Line taking coal down to the tipped onto barges at Crooke. When I was a volunteer at the RSPCA I would walk rescued dogs that were kennelled at Standish along there.

Just read on the message boards that John Chadwick (Chadwick's Butchers Standish) has died. RIP John.

Not a previous railway track , Veronica. It runs from the rear of Beech Hill Council Estate where it overlooked Giant's Hall Colliery through to Standish., and I am told that at one time it was part of the road connecting Wigan with Preston.

Thanks Cyril/ Derek for the information. To me It looks too perfect to be a natural walkway. At least effort has been made to ''cover the tracks'' of previous workings instead of nature taking its course...who knows how it would have panned out.

Veronica, I'm wrong the mineral line was over to the left of the photo before it went to the coal wash at Gidlow and then onto Crooke to be loaded onto barges. There was once a Medieval Pilgrim trail to the Abbey at Whalley along here with marker stones along the way, Mab's Cross was one with other stones still in place further up the lane, there is photos of them on here, it's now a farm track as you can see and now in better condition than it once was.

That's interesting Cyril - what a pity the stones aren't still there. It looks more like a remnant of a Roman Rd it's so straight.

More information on the medieval pilgrimage route through Wigan, Standish and Chorley, and locations of the remaining wayside crosses. Link: https://chorleyarealocalhistory.weebly.com/wigan-to-chorley.html