10.00 am Pennington Flash - starting from the Nature Reserve Car Park . Put the following in your sat.nav. - The Hide House Coffee House and Café which should direct you to the car park.

Directions - Coming through Lowton on the A572 take the left turn directly opposite the Robin Hood Pub and follow the road with double yellow lines and speed bumps into the car park. At the barrier press for a ticket and once taken the barrier will open the ticket as bar code which you can scan at one of the many machines before leaving. Payment of £2.50 can be made by cash, card or contactless. There is no free car parking in the vicinity.

Registration from 9.45am, Introduction - 9.55am, Walk commences at 10.00am prompt.

There are toilet facilities next to the café.

Clothing and Equipment - waterproofs, walking shoes or trainers, carry a hat and gloves, hydration, a snack, any medication and your phone with adequate charge.

Walk distance - 4 miles, no short option available.

Terrain - at the time of the last reconnaissance walk the nature reserve paths were generally well trodden with a few muddy areas that can in most areas be comfortably avoided. The towpath is similar. Some of the woodland paths had some muddy sections but again most can be comfortably negociated. There are a couple of sections where we are on pavements alongside the road but only for a short distances. If there is a period of heavy rain before the walk it may be necessary to revise the route which may involve taking a similar route back to the canal towpath. The only way to do a full circuit of the Flash is to follow the woodland paths so hopefully this will be the route we take. There are very few gradients .

Time required - 2 hours.

u3a walk grading - moderate.

Dogs allowed.

Post walk social at The Hide Coffee House and Café which is dog friendly.

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