Around Wrea Green

Wrea Green is a pretty village in the heart of rural Fylde with a population of around 1,800. Its most distinctive feature is the village green – the largest in Lancashire – with a duck pond (‘The Dub’) at one corner.

The heart of the village is the crossroads where the Lytham – Kirkham Road crosses the Westby – Warton Road. The crossroad is at one corner of the Green and is faced to the north by the School, the Pub (The Grapes) and the Church – sometimes referred to as ‘Salvation, Damnation and Education’!

Wrea Green has won the Championship Class of the Lancashire Best Kept Village Award twelve times since 1959 as well as being runner-up on three more occasions. The Church and its grounds are very well maintained and regularly win the award for the 'Best Kept Churchyard'.

The Green is the home ground of the local cricket club and a real ‘old fashioned’ sight is of cricket being played on the green, especially when viewed from the pub! The club celebrated its 100th anniversary in summer 2005.

A mile from the crossroad, towards Kirkham, is Ribby Hall Village – a large leisure complex.

Getting there:-

Wrea Green is just off the A 683 Preston – Blackpool Road, about half way between the two.

The Walk:-

  • Distance – 4 ½ mile
  • Terrain – generally very good and with very gentle slopes; however, some of the field paths especially by Prospect farm, can be very muddy after a spell of rain!
  • Refreshments – the pub (‘The Grapes’) is a well-known venue and serves snacks and full meals; ‘Dizzy Ducks’ is an excellent teashop situated opposite The Grapes. ‘The Villa’ is a pub/hotel/restaurant along the Moss Side road.
  • Toilets – as above. Public toilets are to the rear of The Grapes
  • Car Parking – the village does not have a public car park but there is usually plenty of space around the Green.
  1. With the Church on your left, set off along the B 5269 road to Preston. After ¾ mile turn right up ‘Brown’s Lane’, a small lane signposted ‘Public Footpath’. The lane gently rises with a stone wall on the left over which can be seen Ribby Hall Village. Just past the Ribby Hall Village Hotel the lane turns sharply right and then descends gradually with good views over the Ribble Estuary with Winter Hill in the far distance.
  1. Go down the slope and 200yds past Hill Farm, with Newfold Farm in sight, there is a stile on the right signposted ‘Public Footpath’; go over this stileandfollow the path across the field. At the end of this field and in front of the path there is the end of a long field hedge with an opening on the left and a stile to the right hand side of this hedge. Go over the stile, and walk on ahead keeping the hedge on your left; after 200 yds the path turns sharply left around the edge of the field. The path now goes directly ahead, over a small bridge and then under some electric cables, over another stile to come to a field hedge directly across the line of the path.
  1. Turn right at this hedge and follow the line of the hedge on your left to reach a farm gate. Through this gate is a track which can be very muddy in wet weather and which leads to a stile after 200yds. Over this stile is Prospect Farm. Go ahead through the farmyard and bearing slightly to the left to come to the lane leading from the farm, past Green Valley Farm, and then shortly to meet the main B 5260 road from Wrea Green to Warton at the side of Wrea Green Equitation Centre.
  1. Turn right down the main road by the equitation centre and after 20 yds cross the road and go down the side road in front - Bryning Hall Lane. This road slowly descends, going past Bryning Hall Farm on the left, and then turns gently right and then left. After a further 100 yds the road now turns sharply right to go past New House Farm and then sharply left again; 100 yds past this last left hand turn, look out for a signpost on the right, often hidden in the hedge, signed ‘Public Footpath’.

5.Go over this stile and follow the path directly across the field in front with a hedge in the distance on your left. At the end of the field is a stile. Go over this stile into the next field and carry on in the same straight line to come to another stile leading onto a broad track. Go down this track to the main B 5269 road from Moss Side and turn right along this road into the village, passing the entrance to ‘The Villa’ on the left. After a sharp left hand turn the Green is revealed immediately ahead.

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