The stunningPennington Flash walk worth giving a go this spring

Pennington Flash and neighbouring Lightshaw Meadows offer one of the richest lowland wetland walks in the North West, combining industrial heritage with a landscape now protected as part of the Flashes of Wigan and Leigh National Nature Reserve.

Starting from the Pennington Flash Country Park car park on St Helens Road, Leigh, you’re greeted by expansive views across the 170‑acre flash, formed by mining subsidence and later reclaimed by nature.

Head out on the well‑made paths that fringe the northern edge of the water, sharing the route with dog walkers, runners, and families before the way quietens, narrowing into more rural tracks that lead you east towards the wider wetlands.

Here, the walk leaves the busier core of the country park and picks up the hard‑surfaced paths and pavements that thread through Lightshaw Meadows, a patchwork of pools, reedbeds, and rough grassland alive with birdlife.

The Pennington–Lightshaw circuit gives you regular excuses to stop: bird hides overlooking scrapes and flashes, information boards that explain how these lakes were created, and wide open vistas.

Most of the route is firm underfoot, but due to narrow sections and kissing gates, it’s not suitable for wheelchairs, prams, or bikes.

Looping back, you rejoin the main paths around Pennington Flash, with the option of a final detour to one of the waterside hides before finishing at the café and play area by the visitor hub.