Pennington Flash Country Park

Pennington Flash Country Park is a 200-hectare (490-acre) country park located between Lowton and Leigh in Greater Manchester, England.

Pennington Flash Country Park
TypeCountry park
LocationLeigh, Greater Manchester
Operated byWigan Council
OpenAll year
Birdlife at Pennington Flash
The Flash

History

A flash is a water-filled hollow formed by subsidence. Pennington Flash is a 70-hectare (170-acre) lake created at the turn of the 20th century by coal mining subsidence, mainly from Bickershaw Colliery.[1] Before the flash the area contained two farms, both of which were abandoned in the early 1900s due to flooding.[2] During the 1960s and 1970s the idea to convert the flash for recreation was emerging and the country park was opened in 1981.[2]

Nature

Pennington Flash Country Park is a nature reserve. Over 230 bird species have been recorded on site including black-faced bunting, nightingale, marsh harrier, spoonbill and Leach's storm-petrel. Additionally, a wide variety of butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies can be spotted in the area.[1]

Facilities

Facilities include a small information centre, Pennington Flash café, a nine-hole municipal golf course, a car park, a children's play area, toilets, picnic and recreation areas, eight bird hides,[3] fishing on certain shores, sailing, windsurfing and rowing through Leigh and Lowton Sailing Club.[4] There is a network of tracks and footpaths suitable for walkers, cyclists, horse riders, joggers and wheelchair users.[5] A Parkrun takes place every Saturday morning.[6]

A course here would have been the venue for rowing and canoeing if the Manchester bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics had been successful.[7]

References
  1. Pennington Flash, RSPB Liverpool, retrieved 3 January 2011
  2. "Pennington Flash - History - LLSC". 29 January 2012.
  3. "Pennington Flash - Country Park in Leigh".
  4. Leigh and Lowton Sailing Club, Leigh and Lowton Sailing Club, retrieved 10 March 2010
  5. Park Information, archived from the original on 26 July 2011, retrieved 30 June 2012
  6. "Pennington Flash parkrun - Pennington Flash parkrun". www.parkrun.org.uk.
  7. "Manchester 2000 Volume 02". Issuu. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
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