START

From the Sankey Valley Heritage Visitor Centre,walk in a northwest direction for 1 mile followingthe old St.Helens Canal and the Black Brook thatflows from Carr Mill Dam. This public footpatheventually becomes a bridleway at a junctionwith a metal bridge over Black Brook, beforegoing under the East Lancashire Road (A580) anda railway bridge on the line between St.Helensand Wigan.

(1.6km) After walking under the railway bridge,bear left up the slope, then left onto GarswoodOld Road and past the bungalow on the left.Continue along the road and tarmac pavement atthe south end of Carr Mill Dam towards theWaterside Inn. This section of the walk providesone of the best views of the Dam looking north.

(1.7km) Just before the Waterside Inn, turnright onto the paved footpath then left up thefootpath on the west side of the Dam which runsparallel with Carr Mill Road on the left. Bear rightwhen another path joins from the left, then bearleft and continue along the main route. Do not goto the water’s edge at this point.

Follow this path towards the north end of theDam, passing fields on your left and the NineteenArches bridge on your right.

(2.5km) Once at the wide vehicle access track,turn right and walk along a public bridlewaybetween the north end of the Dam on your rightand an area of water on the left called the“digpits’. Go straight on through the gap in themetal gate and fence, past Otter’s Swift Farm onthe left.

(3.0km) After a short distance, turn left onto apublic footpath, which is the start of Lime ValeRoad. Follow this track down into a dip and overa stream, passing a sewage works on your left.The partly tarmacked track then heads to the leftof stone houses and on to reach Birchley Roadwhere there is a large stone farmhouse on theleft.

(3.6km) Turn right on the pavement and, after ashort distance, carefully cross this busy road andtake the track signposted as a public footpath,which goes up the left-hand side of the houses.This crosses over a stream in a dip and continueson through fields, passing a group of ponds onthe right before eventually going through a gapin a hedge and reaching a main road, which isRainford Road.

(4.4km) Turn right onto the pavement and walkuphill until you reach a very sharp right bend inthe road.

Carr Mill Dam was formed by dammingBlack Brook Valley and was used topower the industrial mills of the GerardEstate. It was later enlarged and used as

a headwater for the St.Helens Canal, England’sfirst completely ‘dug-out’ canal of the industrialage, dating from the mid 1700s.

It was not until the early 1960s that the sitebecame widely known as the Carr MillEntertainment Park, attracting thousands ofvisitors for a fun day out on and around thewater. Lancashire Powerboat Racing Club hasbeen based at the Dam since 1932 and sharesthe sporting rights with the St.Helens AnglingAssociation. Both hold regular competitionsthroughout the year.

The Dam is a good place to spot an interestingvariety of bird species, including the GreatCrested Grebe, Mute Swan, Grey Heron, andKingfisher.

Standing at 587 feet (179m), Billinge Hill, or‘Billinge Lump’ as it is also known, is thehighest point in Merseyside, and providespanoramic views across southwest

Lancashire, North Wales and Anglesey, theDerbyshire Peak District, plus Winter Hill to thenortheast.

The Beacon building was built in 1788 as a landmark for ships, but was also used as asummerhouse by Winstanley Hall. The hill wasused to monitor aircraft during World War II,and then by the Royal Observer Corps who werebased at the former bunker just below and westof the summit. This bunker post was opened inJanuary 1960 and would have been used tomonitor the location of nuclear blasts and theresulting fallout over Lancashire in the event ofa nuclear war. The post closed in October 1968.

iiStarting point:

Sankey Valley HeritageVisitor CentreThis leaflet is one of a series describing localwalks recommended and used by theSt.Helens Ranger Service. Others in theseries include Bold Loop, Garswood Loop,Bradlegh Loop and Rainford Loop.

Regrettably, this walk is not suitable forwheelchairs. However, the Rangers can becontacted (details on the back of thisleaflet) and can recommend a moresuitable alternative.

Enjoy your walk!

(4.85km) At this point, take great care and crossover the road and follow Red Barn Road. This is afrequently used access for vehicles, so again takecare.

(5.3km) Take the first signposted publicfootpath on the right which heads steeply up ahill and you will eventually arrive at the grassverge of the old Billinge Quarry access road.

(5.7km) Turn left and follow the grass verge onthe road up the hill. Just before the road bends tothe right, leave the grass verge and take thefootpath to the left of the small group of treesand follow the field edge.

Go through the gap between the fence and thelarge sandstone block, keeping the trees on yourleft. After a short distance, turn right at the nextT-junction of the paths.

When you arrive at a metal stile and a tarmacfootpath, turn left and follow this route uphill.

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START/FINISH© Crown copyright and database rights 2012. Ordnance Survey Licence

Number LA100018360. You are not permitted to copy, sub-license,distribute or sell any of this data to third parties in any form.

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1Kingfisher

(11.3km) Once at the Goyt woodland at thebottom of the gentle slope, cross the stream viathe footbridge and turn right. Follow this scenicfootpath through the woodland, passing over thestream and its tributaries by means of a series ofboardwalks. After the last boardwalk, thefootpath rises sharply and continues straight on.Do not take the footpath on the right. Follow thisroute through the ponds and continue parallelwith the field and its fence on your left.

At the end of the field on the left, the route veersright then almost immediately left. Follow thiswider footpath down the gentle slope throughthe Hollins Hey woodland, keeping parallel withthe railway and its metal fence over to the left.

(12.1km) After a railway bridge on your left,continue to follow the railway fence on your leftalong a wide track that is part of Garswood OldRoad. On approaching a fenced compound overto your right, do not take the footpath to theright towards the ‘Boathouse’ but carry ontowards the cottage.

Just before reaching the cottage, the footpathveers to the right and to a metal stile next to theBoathouse wall. Go through this stile andcarefully follow the tarmacked vehicle accessroad along the south-east corner of Carr MillDam.

Start/FinishThe walk starts and finishes at Sankey Valley Heritage Visitor Centre onBlackbrook Road (A58), WA11 0AB.

Map grid ref: SJ535 966

Route Distance – 14.3km (approx 9 miles)

Estimated time – 5 hours

Going – Hard

Further InformationTo find out more about walks in your localarea, please contact St.Helens Ranger Serviceon 01744 677772, orsankeyvalleyrangers@sthelens.gov.uk

www.sthelens.gov.uk/rangers

Contact Centre,Wesley House, Corporation StreetSt.Helens WA10 1HF

Tel: 01744 676789Minicom: 01744 671671Fax: 01744 676895Email: contactcentre@sthelens.gov.uk www.sthelens.gov.uk

Please contact us to request translation ofCouncil information into Braille, audio tapeor a foreign language.

Welcome toBillinge Loop- Trail & Map

This roadeventuallyreaches the pointthat you used earlier on inthe walk.

(12.7km) From here turn left down the publicbridleway beneath the railway and EastLancashire Road and back through Sankey ValleyCountry Park to the start at the Heritage VisitorCentre.

(14.3km) FINISH at the Heritage Visitor Centre.

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16At this point, you may want to look in thegraveyard at the somewhat macabre“coffin-shaped” grave of George and KittySmith, dating back to 1720, on the south

side of the church. The coffin lid shows a skullwith a winged serpent around it. It is rumouredthat the couple died having been bitten by snakeson Billinge Hill!

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northwest end of Beacon Road, continue alongthe left-hand pavement until you reach MainStreet opposite St. Aidan’s Parish Church.

(8.3km) Carefully cross over Main Street andturn right, then left down the pavement ofNewton Road. Continue along the left-handpavement of Newton Road, heading in aneasterly direction, passing the end of WindsorRoad on the opposite side of the road.

(9.0km) A short distance after passing the endof Windsor Road, carefully cross over NewtonRoad and take the vehicle track, signposted as apublic footpath, south towards Blackley HurstHall Farm.

(9.4km) Just before the gate entrance to theyard area, bear sharp right and head towards thehousing estate. Just before you reach a tree-linedditch on your right, veer sharp left on the trackand head south. On reaching the top of a smallrise, you will see St.Helens in the distance andpossibly even North Wales on the horizon.

(10.0km) When you reach an old cobbled track,turn left, then sharp right past an old collieryspoil heap, the ‘Blue Hills’, on your left. As thetrack heads gently downhill, continue to follow itas it bends to the right and then sharply to theleft. You very soon pass a footpath off to theright which you do not take but continue ontowards St.Helens. When you reach a T-junction,turn left and then bear left down a narrowerpath, on the left-hand side of a hedgerow.

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Great Crested Grebe & chicks

The summit of Billinge Hill at sunset

Painted Lady Butterfly6 7

When the tarmac track ends, continue on thenturn right and take the safest route up the steephill to the Beacon building at the summit ofBillinge Hill.

(6.7km) From the summit, take care and usethe safest route down the hill, keeping parallelwith the old quarry fence and dry stone wall onthe left.

Once at the bottom of the steep slope, turn leftand follow the tarmac footpath down the right-hand side of the quarry fence, passing through aseries of metal stiles along the way. Eventuallyyou will reach the tarmacked old quarry road at asmall gas-powered electricity generating stationwhere you turn left.

At the final sharp left bend, turn right off theroad and head down a small slope and along thenarrow tarmacked and concrete footpath, stillwith the quarry fence on the left. This footpathsoon opens out into a wide vehicle access track.Continue on with ‘The Old Vicarage’ on yourright. When you reach the houses at the