Local Life - St Helens - January 2020

48
Lydiate Loop
by Chris Pearce
Distance: 5¼ miles Difficulty: Easy
There are a couple of factors we consider when
deciding the location of our Jack’s Tracks walks at
certain times of the year. We picked this particular
walk for our January magazines because it’s fairly
easy underfoot – it’s almost wholly-based around
the gravel beds of an old railway line and on canal
towpaths. And with the lack of daylight hours at this
time of year, it’s important that it can be completed
in good time, and so this 5¼ mile Lydiate Loop ticks
all the boxes for a good winter walk which can be
completed in under 2 hours.
Park up on Hall Lane by Our Lady’s Catholic Church
(L31 4HH) and turn left at the main Southport Road
heading towards Maghull. After 200 yards you’ll see
a gate and footpath sign, so cross over the road and
go through the gate.
Follow the clearly defined path round the edge
of the small wood until you reach a field. Turn left
and follow the path around the perimeter of the
field for approximately 1/3 mile until you arrive at a
single-track road (Acres Lane). Turn left and, almost
immediately, you’ll see a concrete track on your
right with a steel gate. Hop over the stile on the left
of the gate.
Follow the track to the left-hand side of a copse until
you reach the Cheshire Lines, then take a left turn
down the path, which used to be an old train line.
The Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway
was used to transport passengers and freight from
the Liverpool area up to the disused Southport Lord
Street station between 1884 and 1952.
550 yards further down the Cheshire Lines path,
you’ll arrive at an opening at the junction with Carr
Lane (this was the actual site of the old Lydiate
Railway Station). Carry on in the same direction for