Pennington Flash

Last Sunday we decided to re-visit Pennington Flash; a short walk to 'break-in' my new walking boots. The last time we visited we were doing the RSPB bird watch (February'ish); we think it was probably 2years ago.
Carvings were the main highlight of this particular walk...

The kingfisher was the first one we spotted but...

...made Chris jump as she spotted it out of the corner of her eye as we headed towards a hide.

and...

...were two others found on the walk.
The Flash was formed by mining subsidence; the vast amounts of coal extracted by local collieries (all now closed) eventually caused the land to sink and by 1905 a large lake had formed. The Flash was larger than it is today. It was partly filled with colliery waste creating the spoil heap between the Flash and the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, known as Ramsdale's Ruck.
The southern part of the Flash was filled with 'domestic waste' to prevent the regular flooding of St Helens Road.

During the 1960's and 70's ideas for developing the site for recreation and conservation began to emerge and in 1981 Pennington Flash Country Park was officially opened.

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