Log No 189. Mon 25th Nov 2013 - Preston to Southport, 22 miles (2908 miles walked)

With clear skies through the night it was cold and the morning showed a widespread frost.

I caught an early bus and got to Preston for 08.30 and set off on the Ribble Way alongside the river.

This was another good day to be out walking with very little cloud and no wind but you did need to be well wrapped up.

I had on 2 t-shirts, a running top, a light fleece jacket and my waterproof jacket, it was too early for the sun to have any heat.

The first 4 miles were right by the River Ribble and it was all very flat, there was no effort involved in the walking which was just as well with all the layers I had on.

The ground was frozen hard, definitely the coldest it's been since the spring, with all the puddles iced over.

The Way turned inland towards the River Douglas and appeared to stop at the end of a road near Longton.

I took other public footpaths through fields to get to Much Hoole where I met the main road, the A59.

I stayed on the A59 for half an hour and turned off it just after it crossed the River Douglas to take the minor road through the villages of Tarleton, Becconstall and Hesketh Bank. This was effectively just one built up area.

Another footpath bypassed the village of Banks and just over a bridge on the outskirts of Southport I picked up a cycleway.

This cycleway was alongside the coast road into Southport and I arrived at the pier at 15.30 having completed 22 flat miles.

The sea front is very open with the Marine Lake and work is currently ongoing to return the gardens to their former glory.